Kendall Gibson
Flint Hill School
Great Falls, VA
When asked what 20 year old LaDarius Owens’s ambitions for the coming Auburn football season, his response was simple: “I just wanna play.”
LaDarius Owens is Auburn’s new starting quarterback, replacing Cameron (or “Cam”) Newton. LaDarius will be a sophomore this coming fall at Auburn and is majoring in Human Sciences. Cam Newton’s spot is a difficult one to fill after Auburn won the football championship Bowl on December 5th, 2010. Sports writers and fans have accused the Auburn Tigers as a “one hit wonder”. These claims do not faze LaDarius whatsoever. He stuck his chin up and said, “I like being and underdog. I’ve been an underdog my entire life.”
This statement is difficult to believe for LaDarius was ranked by Rivals.com as the 4th ranked player in the entire state of Alabama. He finished his senior season with 80 tackles, 20.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Needless to say, Owens was a very sought after player in his high school years for College coaches. Colleges like Florida Tech, Alabama, and Tennessee fought over LaDarius before he committed to the Auburn Tigers.
Owens said that he had chose Auburn because they had “a family atmosphere” and that they had treated him like a part of a family and not “just another football player”.
Family is very important to Owens. He spoke of family many times, mostly of his mother Ora Owens and his uncle James Owens. James Owens was the first black person to receive a scholarship to Auburn. LaDarius credited his uncle as an inspiration to him. Along with family, LaDarius values a good work ethic. He is a self-proclaimed “workaholic” which granted him a spot on the Deen’s List last semester. He plans to continue feeding his work ethic into his new spot on the Auburn team.