NFL player comes home to Concord High to teach children character

Wisdom can only be obtained if a person is willing to listen, Montell Owens told 300 local youths at his daylong football camp at Concord High School Monday.

“Wisdom. You can’t get enough of it,” Owens said. “Every time somebody speaks, you be quiet and listen to what they have to say. That’s how you get far. If you don’t listen, you won’t be successful.”

Owens, a Concord grad and a player for the Jacksonville Jaguars, held his first daylong football camp at his alma mater with help from a few of his former teammates at the University of Maine – Ryan Bird and Onyi Momah – as well as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware and TheInsightfulPlayer.com.

The camp was not so much about catching, throwing, agility and speed drills, said the 5-foot-10, 225-pound Owens, signed as an undrafted rookie in 2006. It was more about using football to instill character in local children. That included drills that encouraged kids to work as a team and to finish off whatever they were doing – even if they fell while trying to get through a blocker.

Owens said he has a platform to do something to change the climate in the community.

“One of the things we see nowadays is you’ve got extremely talented athletes, but what tends to put a cap on our young people is their character,” Owens said. “They put themselves in comprising situations, where they can’t fully achieve what their potential has in store for them.

“We really want to focus on being positive, building good character in these young people and that’s really what’s going to profit them more than their physical attributes,” he added.

As the youths participating in the daylong football camp broke for lunch, one individual from each group of 10-15 kids was named the sportsmanship winner. Their prize was an autographed cap.

“I didn’t come in first place,” Savion Jones, 9, of Wilmington, said to Owens. “Does that mean I lost?”

“Man, you never lose when you give it the best that you can,” Owens said. “In my own career, when I have those games where things don’t seem to work the way I anticipated, I can sleep at night because I gave it my best.”

Naquan Myatt, 13, was among those who won an autographed ball cap.

“I was determined,” Myatt said. “You should always be confident and always have a good attitude. If you don’t know how to do something, you can learn happily and achieve in your life.”

Claymont resident Bill Case watched his 9-year-old grandson Chris participate in the camp.

“I thought it was fantastic to see somebody local that’s made a success out of himself come back, giving back to the kids,” Case said. “It’s great.”

Concord high players Mike Finegan (6'3", 245) and Greg Shelton (5'10", 170) , both 18-year-old rising seniors, and 2009 Concord grad Travis King (5'8", 170), 19, a cornerback for Moravian College, were among the squad leaders for the camp.

Owens’ emphasis on character parallels the mission of Concord, King said.

“They mold you into an amazing person,” he said. “They just make you want to come back, do things like this and help kids around the neighborhood.”

Concord coach George Kosanovich said he loves to see all former players come back to share their success stories. Owens is “a multitalented kid” who made honor roll, was a musical All-State selection for the trumpet, ran indoor track and was a baseball power hitter with speed, he said.

“He could do everything. Most importantly, he’s just a super person,” Kosanovich said. “He’s a religious man. He practices what he preaches. It’s not do as I say, not as I do .He lives it. He’s got a strong family with his dad and mom and everything else.

“It’s been a positive thing being around him,” he said. “You learn from a lot of people. Sometimes you don’t think you can learn from a kid but you can.”