Football returned to Levi's® Stadium on Wednesday, if only just for the afternoon. Forty prospects with Bay Area ties, a handful of free agent tryout players and Hall of Fame wide receiver and San Francisco 49ers great, Terrell Owens, were on hand for the organization's local pro day.
Owens called it career following the 2010 season after spending 16 years in the league, so his attendance to Wednesday's workout was strictly in supportive father capacity. His eldest son, Terique Owens, is a 2024 wide receiver prospect, looking to land a spot with an NFL team at the end of the month.
"I'm proud of him just to get to this point," Terrell Owens said. "He has to take these moments as huge opportunities for him show what he can do.
"He doesn't have a lot of film-work, a lot of football-work throughout the course of his college career but there are different paths to making it to a team and making some history and success for yourself. This is definitely a step in the right direction."
Despite what you might expect about growing up with a Hall of Famer as a father, Owens didn't show interest in football early.
"I always played basketball. That's what I wanted to play growing up," Terique Owens said. "I wasn't a big fan of football. My mom, she tried to get me to play football growing up, but I didn't care to play. I didn't really want to play. I didn't like contact."
Owens' friends were the reason he gave football a try his sophomore year, and after joining Bishop O'Dowd's team, the wideout noted that his playing time was fairly limited through his senior year.
His collegiate football journey included stops at Contra Costa College, Florida Atlantic University and Missouri State. Owens spent three seasons with the Bears, and in his final campaign, made 10 appearances (two starts) and caught 28 passes for 528 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Given the late start to his football career, Owens has tempered expectations of what could happen come draft time but is ready for whatever opportunity comes his way.
"I'm a late bloomer to this, so I see myself going as an undrafted free agent," Terique Owens said. "Obviously, I have been working to get that opportunity to be drafted, but like I said, I'm a late bloomer. I've just been getting progressively better and hoping I will have the opportunity to get drafted."
Owens' father has and continues to be a key figure in his pre-draft process, which is nearing its end. The final day for all prospect evaluations is April 24.
"We've been working every year, all through the year, putting work in the offseason, so it means a lot that he is out here (at local pro day) supporting me," Terique Owens said.
"Just to see where he is now, the progression that he's made even within just the end of last year, the last few games he had at Missouri State to where we are today, he's made leaps and bounds as far as becoming a really good receiver," Terrell Owens said.
