Don Landry | Argonauts.ca
The rookie receivers made the grade. The veteran leader is jazzed.
“We’ve got five guys across the board that can make plays and that’s kinda scary,” said sixth-year Argo slotback Chad Owens. “I’m excited about that.”
When the Argonauts travelled out to Fort McMurray, Alberta, last weekend, there were questions to be answered, perhaps most notably in a receiving corps laced with newcomers behind the proven duo of Owens and Andre Durie.
Vidal Hazelton, Kevin Elliott and Tori Gurley were measured against what’s thought to be one of the toughest defences in the CFL. And they came away with passing grades in a game marked by Durie and Owens’ usual statistical prominence (Owens had 7 catches for 99 yards; Durie hauled in 7 passes for 63 yards).
“They’re all bought in,” said Owens of the new trio, impressed by not just their talents, but by their commitment. “We’ve got a solid group and we’re only gonna get better.”
That game in Fort Mac saw Gurley grab three passes for 32 yards and a touchdown. Hazelton was held to one catch for 3 yards – though it was a touchdown – and Elliott grabbed three passes for 77 yards, 53 of those yards on an electrifying diving catch that put him near the top of highlight of the week consideration.
Training camp promise gives way to regular season production – or disappointment – and as the Argos ready themselves for a Week Two clash against the Roughriders, in Regina on Sunday, Gurley, Hazelton and Elliott are progressing as well as could be hoped for, particularly when it comes to fitting in and working hard. It’s impressing vets like Owens, who is well-known for his determination and dedication to a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of philosophy.
I asked the Flyin’ Hawaiian to size up the rookies, beginning with Hazelton, the 27-year-old from New York City:
“He’s just a happy go lucky guy. He’s a competitor, but he’s always got a smile on his face and he just loves this game. He’s out there flying around. Getting blocks, getting involved. He’s just excited about it. He’s got the energy. He’s also only going to get better.”
One quick glance at Hazelton’s interview on Argos TV this week confirms the assessment. He practically crawls through the lens with energy. “I’ve just been out there having fun,” Hazelton said in the interview. “I’m having a complete blast. It’s so much fun out there.”
On Tori Gurley, Owens offers these observations:
“Down to earth guy. Team guy. He’s hungry for his opportunity. He said it today, he’s in it to the end. He’s gonna help us out a lot.” As far as Gurley’s football attributes, Owens sees what everyone else sees; qualities that could help the 27-year-old native of Birmingham, Alabama dominate. “His physical presence is what got us tight away. Just really physical.”
Finally, on Elliott, Owens says this:
“A young, fiery competitor. Understands football. He wants to be great. Although he’s young, he understands, he studies, he knows what he’s gotta do. He takes it very seriously and he’s a big playmaking guy.” Owens also loves the energy level of the 26-year-old native of Fayetteville, North Carolina. “After every catch he makes, whether it’s a 45, 50 yard diving catch or a 3 yard hitch route, he’s spinning that ball after he catches it. He just gets excited about the game.”
The three rookies have a ready tandem in Owens and Durie when it comes to guidance in year one of their CFL careers. “Me and ‘Dre got the receivers,” Owens says, enthusiastically. “We’ve taken care of our guys and trying to to our best to lead.”
Durie, the quiet one, leads mostly by example. Owens, the vociferous one, likes to engage his mates and talk them up while matching his talk with work ethic. He says he knows only that way, for pretty obvious reasons. “When you work hard, you get the results and you understand that. And you’ve just gotta keep going and not be satisfied.”
So, as Owens continues to work on his own game, be it in the film room, the weight room or on the field, he’ll continue to preach the gospel of gettin’ at it, full force.
“That’s got to be our identity,” he says as the Argos look to step forward as the weeks go by this season. “It’s been my identity. Always out working the next guy. I’m sure there’s a lotta guys out there like that.”
Does he feel that it’s contagious?
“Yup,” he says firmly and slowly.
“I’m starving for more success regardless of what I’ve accomplished,” Owens says of a career that has given him a Grey Cup Championship and a Most Outstanding Player of the Year Award (2012). “I’m just gonna continue be that leader that, I guess, portrays that.”
“It truly is a decision,” he insists, of how far one can go on a football field, circling back to that decision being all about dedication to work.
He preaches it, he teaches it, he adheres to it.
And right now, he seems to have a trio of new disciples who have bought into it.