This article is written from the point of view of a reporter doing a piece on Colorado running back Ashley Owens.
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Drip… drip… drip…
The icicles on the gutter melt slowly, even as snow still covers the ground. The temperature in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, is just above freezing for the first time in over a week. This place is different from Austin and San Antonio, where he spent three of the last four years; cars still trudge along, even on roads where the snow plows haven’t reached yet.
Ashley sighs and stands up straight, no longer leaning on the railing. I ask him why he doesn’t use the rocking chair: “dad normally sits there.” A smile crosses his face as he reaches down to pet his dog, and after letting it into the house, he gestures to the car. “Let’s get going, yeah?”
He pulls himself into the driver's seat of a Ford truck that must older than he is, and away we go. No doubt he notices my surprise as we leave behind a relatively new (but snow-covered) Mercedes in the driveway: “I got that for my parents. They wouldn’t let me buy them a new house or anything after I signed my rookie contract, but once I signed with Colorado I realized they can’t stop me from just leaving a nice car in their driveway. This old girl meanwhile, she was my first car. Drove my girlfriend to prom in this thing, made stupid memories with friends… that stuff’s irreplacable.”
Ashley Owens comes from humble beginnings, and he’s got a lot of pride in where he comes from, that being both the people and the place. A native of Sturgeon Bay, a city of 10,000 in northern Wisconsin, he would only agree to an interview if we did it while he drove me around the city and showed it off. Our first stop is Sturgeon Bay High School, where Owens’ football career began.
He never played a single down of football in middle school, with his only extracurriculars being track and field, helping his family to repair whatever had broken down around the house, and taking part-time jobs as soon as he was old enough to pass as 16. Luckily, this all kept him in pretty good shape, and when high school came around, Owens joined the football team mostly to show his older brother who had played tight end (who stands 6’2” over Owens’ 5’10”) that he could be just as strong as him. Even as a freshman, Ashley was immediately a dominant force. Though he mostly played wide receiver in his first year, over the next four, he frequently took snaps at every offensive position other than offensive line. When I asked him his favorite position to play… “running back. Always running back. Don’t get me wrong, obviously I love to take snaps out wide, and throwing the ball is pretty fun, but as a running back every play is a battle with the defender -- or multiple defenders -- in your way. You’ve gotta bluff them, or double bluff them, on practically every play, whether it’s a counter or an outside toss or a wheel route. And the real physical plays, the dives up the middle on the goalline, those are always fun too.”
Pretty soon, Ashley was a senior, and he had a college decision to make. “I got offers from a lot of places, but nowhere outside the region. A few local schools actually recruited me as a quarterback, but all the biggest football schools were after me as a running back. Well, except Northwestern, who was hoping I’d fill a receiver role.” He laughs. “Their mistake I guess.” As we drive away from the school, he points out a specific parking spot in the lot. “When the Wisconsin recruiter visited, he went to my house, but I wasn’t home like I should’ve been. My dad drove out to find me and I was in my car in that spot making out with my girlfriend. Boy did I get a talking to that day. It’s a wonder the Badgers still wanted me, but, they made a scholarship offer. My family’s always gotten by okay, but we sure couldn’t afford most universities with what tuition is at these days. Wisconsin was the best school to give me a full ride, so it was pretty much a done deal.”
As we’re driving away from the school and down commercial streets with all number of small mom and pop shops, Ashley is recalling a memory from every one. The pawn shop where he bought a guitar that he never learned to play. The bait shop where he got his first fishing rod. The ice cream place his dad always took him to after Packers games. He grew up a Green Bay Packers fan, if you were wondering; he never followed the National Simulation Football League until they showed interest in him during college.
When we stop at a light behind a car with a Wisconsin Badgers license plate, I’m finally able to get to open up about his college career. I have to tread carefully, though, knowing he doesn’t like to talk about it much.
“Yeah, well, there’s not much to talk about. The story’s pretty much out there. Freshman year I sucked. We brought in a new OC my sophomore season who I vibed with a lot better, and who gave me more chances, but I can’t blame the first one. I sucked bad. … Once I bulked up over the summer, I was back to being a proper running back, I think. Coach still had me in the flex, or as a third down back a lot more often than I just took the ball out of the backfield, but hey, I was a sophomore. I know I’m lucky to have gotten the touches I did, especially since the guy ahead of me - a senior - was pretty darn good.” Then came Ashley’s junior year, the one he’s famous for. It was an incredible season where he exploded for 1800 combined rushing and receiving yards, and 16 touchdowns, becoming an instant Wisconsin star who dragged a largely struggling team to second in the Big Ten West. As Owens described it, “yeah, it was a pretty good season, I guess.”
Then comes the controversy. “Don’t get me wrong, and don’t go twisting it like a lot of shifty reports do. I love and respect my coach. But I worked hard for my spot on the team, and I wasn’t gonna sit back and let it be taken from me.” Wisconsin had (somehow) landed one of the best running back prospects in the nation, and Ashley was told that he would be put back into the second running back spot as a senior. “Bullshit. That’s what I told him. I sat behind people, and I waited my turn. I paid my dues. And I wasn’t even gonna get a chance to be the starting back, I was gonna be put right back to flex duties? … I love being a receiving back, everybody who knows me knows it. But I am a receiving running back. I told coach it was bullshit and I walked out of his office. If I go out, it’s on my terms.”
And on his terms it was. Ashley Owens declared for the DSFL draft shortly after, and was wide and far considered the best prospect in the draft. Unsurprisingly, he was selected first overall by the San Antonio Marshals.
My questioning is interrupted as we pull into a new parking lot, this time the one for the Fincantieri Bay shipyard. “If I didn’t get any offers, I would’ve been working here.” Ashley’s dad works here, and has for as long as Owens can remember. His older brother did too, from during high school to just a couple months ago, he tells me. Ashley’s gazing at the shipyard, but no doubt pondering things much less clear, much farther away. “Life is good. I’m really grateful for the life I’ve lived so far, and the blessings I’ve received. Sometimes.. I just wonder if, you know... things would be simpler if life had gone a different direction.”
Being a first overall pick doesn’t necessarily make life easy. When Owens went to San Antonio, he was leaving behind the only state he’d ever known. The only people he’d ever known. And when he arrived, despite being the first overall pick, he shared lots of snaps with a running back who would go on to never even have an NSFL career; a situation similar to the one he left Wisconsin because of. Then, he became a first overall pick in the NSFL draft, joining an exclusive club of people to be selected first in both drafts, and still things remained complicated.
He was selected by the Austin Copperheads, a team who had him splitting snaps with another running back they’d chosen in the first round the year prior. Ashley didn’t complain though. They were both taking plenty of touches, both performing well, and they formed a good friendship. So, when Owens took his player option and entered free agency after just his second season with the Copperheads, he turned a lot of heads. “Money whore. Weasel. Selfish. Traitor. Yeah, I just about heard it all. … but Dad always told me to follow my gut, and so I did.”
We’re back now, pulling into Ashley’s parents’ driveway. The Mercedes is gone now. “She must be visiting him right now.” He gives a sad smile and chuckles to himself. “I told her to text me when she left, but she probably didn’t want me getting a text while I drove. Mom’s always been like that.” After leaving Austin, Ashley headed back north when he signed with the Colorado Yeti, but “football has never, and will never be the biggest of my concerns or problems. Life has so many things that are more important.”
In his third season in the NSFL, his first with the Yeti, Owens had the best season of his young career thus far. They even reached the NSFC wild card game. But after a nasty 17-39 loss to the Baltimore Hawks, he was unable to get in touch with either of his parents from the locker room. Hours passed, and still nothing. They’d texted him right after every one of his 39 career games thus far, 52 if you count the DSFL. Finally, around midnight, he finally got a call; his mom was crying. “Ashley, your dad is in the hospital. Please come back as soon as you can.”
While the rest of the team flew home to Colorado the next day, Owens was at the airport and on a plane to Green Bay by the next day. Once there, he drove through the early morning hours to reach the hospital back home in Sturgeon Bay. His dad had suffered a severe stroke from a blood clot in his brain and was in a coma. “They weren’t sure if he’d ever wake up again. He finally did after two weeks.” There are tears in his eyes. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
I ask him what’s next. “Well, Colorado fans don’t need to worry. Dad’s improving quick, but it was a stroke, but.. He wouldn’t let me stay too long anyways. First thing he said to me when he woke up was that he loved me. Second thing was him asking if we’d won the game. … I’ll be sticking around to help mom out until the season starts back up, and by that time my brother will be back to help until dad’s all better. He just entered a lease on an apartment in Milwaukee, too, but he’s letting me pay it off for him. My family’s all too proud for their own good, but, I guess so am I. But drastic times call for drastic measures, and all that, so.. Yeah. I think it’ll all work out.”
Ashley opens the front door and the dog jumps up to greet him, drawing a smile. He turns back to me once more: “Thanks for putting up with my rambling. Hope you can make a good story out of it.” Turning back to the dog, who he clearly and fairly prefers, his smile grows. “Yeah, I missed you too, bud. It’s good to be home.”
(2,074 words)
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Drip… drip… drip…
The icicles on the gutter melt slowly, even as snow still covers the ground. The temperature in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, is just above freezing for the first time in over a week. This place is different from Austin and San Antonio, where he spent three of the last four years; cars still trudge along, even on roads where the snow plows haven’t reached yet.
Ashley sighs and stands up straight, no longer leaning on the railing. I ask him why he doesn’t use the rocking chair: “dad normally sits there.” A smile crosses his face as he reaches down to pet his dog, and after letting it into the house, he gestures to the car. “Let’s get going, yeah?”
He pulls himself into the driver's seat of a Ford truck that must older than he is, and away we go. No doubt he notices my surprise as we leave behind a relatively new (but snow-covered) Mercedes in the driveway: “I got that for my parents. They wouldn’t let me buy them a new house or anything after I signed my rookie contract, but once I signed with Colorado I realized they can’t stop me from just leaving a nice car in their driveway. This old girl meanwhile, she was my first car. Drove my girlfriend to prom in this thing, made stupid memories with friends… that stuff’s irreplacable.”
Ashley Owens comes from humble beginnings, and he’s got a lot of pride in where he comes from, that being both the people and the place. A native of Sturgeon Bay, a city of 10,000 in northern Wisconsin, he would only agree to an interview if we did it while he drove me around the city and showed it off. Our first stop is Sturgeon Bay High School, where Owens’ football career began.
He never played a single down of football in middle school, with his only extracurriculars being track and field, helping his family to repair whatever had broken down around the house, and taking part-time jobs as soon as he was old enough to pass as 16. Luckily, this all kept him in pretty good shape, and when high school came around, Owens joined the football team mostly to show his older brother who had played tight end (who stands 6’2” over Owens’ 5’10”) that he could be just as strong as him. Even as a freshman, Ashley was immediately a dominant force. Though he mostly played wide receiver in his first year, over the next four, he frequently took snaps at every offensive position other than offensive line. When I asked him his favorite position to play… “running back. Always running back. Don’t get me wrong, obviously I love to take snaps out wide, and throwing the ball is pretty fun, but as a running back every play is a battle with the defender -- or multiple defenders -- in your way. You’ve gotta bluff them, or double bluff them, on practically every play, whether it’s a counter or an outside toss or a wheel route. And the real physical plays, the dives up the middle on the goalline, those are always fun too.”
Pretty soon, Ashley was a senior, and he had a college decision to make. “I got offers from a lot of places, but nowhere outside the region. A few local schools actually recruited me as a quarterback, but all the biggest football schools were after me as a running back. Well, except Northwestern, who was hoping I’d fill a receiver role.” He laughs. “Their mistake I guess.” As we drive away from the school, he points out a specific parking spot in the lot. “When the Wisconsin recruiter visited, he went to my house, but I wasn’t home like I should’ve been. My dad drove out to find me and I was in my car in that spot making out with my girlfriend. Boy did I get a talking to that day. It’s a wonder the Badgers still wanted me, but, they made a scholarship offer. My family’s always gotten by okay, but we sure couldn’t afford most universities with what tuition is at these days. Wisconsin was the best school to give me a full ride, so it was pretty much a done deal.”
As we’re driving away from the school and down commercial streets with all number of small mom and pop shops, Ashley is recalling a memory from every one. The pawn shop where he bought a guitar that he never learned to play. The bait shop where he got his first fishing rod. The ice cream place his dad always took him to after Packers games. He grew up a Green Bay Packers fan, if you were wondering; he never followed the National Simulation Football League until they showed interest in him during college.
When we stop at a light behind a car with a Wisconsin Badgers license plate, I’m finally able to get to open up about his college career. I have to tread carefully, though, knowing he doesn’t like to talk about it much.
“Yeah, well, there’s not much to talk about. The story’s pretty much out there. Freshman year I sucked. We brought in a new OC my sophomore season who I vibed with a lot better, and who gave me more chances, but I can’t blame the first one. I sucked bad. … Once I bulked up over the summer, I was back to being a proper running back, I think. Coach still had me in the flex, or as a third down back a lot more often than I just took the ball out of the backfield, but hey, I was a sophomore. I know I’m lucky to have gotten the touches I did, especially since the guy ahead of me - a senior - was pretty darn good.” Then came Ashley’s junior year, the one he’s famous for. It was an incredible season where he exploded for 1800 combined rushing and receiving yards, and 16 touchdowns, becoming an instant Wisconsin star who dragged a largely struggling team to second in the Big Ten West. As Owens described it, “yeah, it was a pretty good season, I guess.”
Then comes the controversy. “Don’t get me wrong, and don’t go twisting it like a lot of shifty reports do. I love and respect my coach. But I worked hard for my spot on the team, and I wasn’t gonna sit back and let it be taken from me.” Wisconsin had (somehow) landed one of the best running back prospects in the nation, and Ashley was told that he would be put back into the second running back spot as a senior. “Bullshit. That’s what I told him. I sat behind people, and I waited my turn. I paid my dues. And I wasn’t even gonna get a chance to be the starting back, I was gonna be put right back to flex duties? … I love being a receiving back, everybody who knows me knows it. But I am a receiving running back. I told coach it was bullshit and I walked out of his office. If I go out, it’s on my terms.”
And on his terms it was. Ashley Owens declared for the DSFL draft shortly after, and was wide and far considered the best prospect in the draft. Unsurprisingly, he was selected first overall by the San Antonio Marshals.
My questioning is interrupted as we pull into a new parking lot, this time the one for the Fincantieri Bay shipyard. “If I didn’t get any offers, I would’ve been working here.” Ashley’s dad works here, and has for as long as Owens can remember. His older brother did too, from during high school to just a couple months ago, he tells me. Ashley’s gazing at the shipyard, but no doubt pondering things much less clear, much farther away. “Life is good. I’m really grateful for the life I’ve lived so far, and the blessings I’ve received. Sometimes.. I just wonder if, you know... things would be simpler if life had gone a different direction.”
Being a first overall pick doesn’t necessarily make life easy. When Owens went to San Antonio, he was leaving behind the only state he’d ever known. The only people he’d ever known. And when he arrived, despite being the first overall pick, he shared lots of snaps with a running back who would go on to never even have an NSFL career; a situation similar to the one he left Wisconsin because of. Then, he became a first overall pick in the NSFL draft, joining an exclusive club of people to be selected first in both drafts, and still things remained complicated.
He was selected by the Austin Copperheads, a team who had him splitting snaps with another running back they’d chosen in the first round the year prior. Ashley didn’t complain though. They were both taking plenty of touches, both performing well, and they formed a good friendship. So, when Owens took his player option and entered free agency after just his second season with the Copperheads, he turned a lot of heads. “Money whore. Weasel. Selfish. Traitor. Yeah, I just about heard it all. … but Dad always told me to follow my gut, and so I did.”
We’re back now, pulling into Ashley’s parents’ driveway. The Mercedes is gone now. “She must be visiting him right now.” He gives a sad smile and chuckles to himself. “I told her to text me when she left, but she probably didn’t want me getting a text while I drove. Mom’s always been like that.” After leaving Austin, Ashley headed back north when he signed with the Colorado Yeti, but “football has never, and will never be the biggest of my concerns or problems. Life has so many things that are more important.”
In his third season in the NSFL, his first with the Yeti, Owens had the best season of his young career thus far. They even reached the NSFC wild card game. But after a nasty 17-39 loss to the Baltimore Hawks, he was unable to get in touch with either of his parents from the locker room. Hours passed, and still nothing. They’d texted him right after every one of his 39 career games thus far, 52 if you count the DSFL. Finally, around midnight, he finally got a call; his mom was crying. “Ashley, your dad is in the hospital. Please come back as soon as you can.”
While the rest of the team flew home to Colorado the next day, Owens was at the airport and on a plane to Green Bay by the next day. Once there, he drove through the early morning hours to reach the hospital back home in Sturgeon Bay. His dad had suffered a severe stroke from a blood clot in his brain and was in a coma. “They weren’t sure if he’d ever wake up again. He finally did after two weeks.” There are tears in his eyes. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
I ask him what’s next. “Well, Colorado fans don’t need to worry. Dad’s improving quick, but it was a stroke, but.. He wouldn’t let me stay too long anyways. First thing he said to me when he woke up was that he loved me. Second thing was him asking if we’d won the game. … I’ll be sticking around to help mom out until the season starts back up, and by that time my brother will be back to help until dad’s all better. He just entered a lease on an apartment in Milwaukee, too, but he’s letting me pay it off for him. My family’s all too proud for their own good, but, I guess so am I. But drastic times call for drastic measures, and all that, so.. Yeah. I think it’ll all work out.”
Ashley opens the front door and the dog jumps up to greet him, drawing a smile. He turns back to me once more: “Thanks for putting up with my rambling. Hope you can make a good story out of it.” Turning back to the dog, who he clearly and fairly prefers, his smile grows. “Yeah, I missed you too, bud. It’s good to be home.”
(2,074 words)