Waylon Jones
Flomaton High School
Flomaton, AL
A 6’2, 242 pound formerly red-shirted linebacker, LaDarius Owens is starting his starting year with Auburn off with the right attitude.
He has come to terms with the fact that he was redshirted his freshman year at Auburn. He said he took advantage of that year of time to prepare himself both mentally and physically for some on-the-field action.
He spoke with students in the AU Summer Journalism Workshop in a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon and discussed some of the reasons that he chose Auburn and what he expects to do with his life after college.
After playing football his freshman, junior, and senior year of high school, Owens was heavily recruited by several Southeastern Conference universities. For Owens, after touring several campuses, the choice was easy. Owens chose Auburn because, he said, at Auburn he was “treated like family.”
This, however, was not the first time Auburn University had treated his family like family of its own. In 1970, Auburn awarded its first scholarship given to an African American football. That player, James Owens, was LaDarius’s uncle. When asked if that swayed his decision at all, he responded, “It[‘s] been in my family.”
He told members of the press Wednesday that the sense of family between his actual family and his Auburn University family was so close that his mother, Ora Owens, frequently texts and calls Auburn’s head football coach, Gene Chizik. She even called to wish him a happy Father’s Day this June.
It was that same single mom, he said, who raised him and instilled a sense of good work ethic in her son. He is a self-proclaimed “work-a-holic” and tries to push himself and his teammates to the very best of their potential.
He says that he hopes to eventually use that strong will to become an NFL player. However, he says he knows that it is in God’s hands.
For now though, he is going to focus on maintaining his grades and playing hard during college.
Flomaton High School
Flomaton, AL
A 6’2, 242 pound formerly red-shirted linebacker, LaDarius Owens is starting his starting year with Auburn off with the right attitude.
He has come to terms with the fact that he was redshirted his freshman year at Auburn. He said he took advantage of that year of time to prepare himself both mentally and physically for some on-the-field action.
He spoke with students in the AU Summer Journalism Workshop in a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon and discussed some of the reasons that he chose Auburn and what he expects to do with his life after college.
After playing football his freshman, junior, and senior year of high school, Owens was heavily recruited by several Southeastern Conference universities. For Owens, after touring several campuses, the choice was easy. Owens chose Auburn because, he said, at Auburn he was “treated like family.”
This, however, was not the first time Auburn University had treated his family like family of its own. In 1970, Auburn awarded its first scholarship given to an African American football. That player, James Owens, was LaDarius’s uncle. When asked if that swayed his decision at all, he responded, “It[‘s] been in my family.”
He told members of the press Wednesday that the sense of family between his actual family and his Auburn University family was so close that his mother, Ora Owens, frequently texts and calls Auburn’s head football coach, Gene Chizik. She even called to wish him a happy Father’s Day this June.
It was that same single mom, he said, who raised him and instilled a sense of good work ethic in her son. He is a self-proclaimed “work-a-holic” and tries to push himself and his teammates to the very best of their potential.
He says that he hopes to eventually use that strong will to become an NFL player. However, he says he knows that it is in God’s hands.
For now though, he is going to focus on maintaining his grades and playing hard during college.