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Texas Tech linebacker Tyler Owens might have jeopardized his NFL Draft stock with his recent admission about his belief system.
According to Owens, who was speaking at the NFL Draft Combine, he does not believe in “space and other planets” and argues that flat-earth conspiracy theorists make some good points.
“Nah, I don’t believe in space. Like, I’m very religious, so I think we’re on our own right now. I don’t think there’s other planets and stuff like that. I don’t know. I used to believe in the heliocentric thing, we revolve around the sun,” Owens said.
“And I started seeing Flat Earth stuff. And I was like, ‘That’s kind of interesting.’ And they start bringing up valid points. So I don’t know. It could be real, couldn’t be,” he continued.
Texas Tech's Tyler Owens, who's a favorite to post the fastest 40 at this year's NFL combine, doesn't "believe in space," as in "other planets," and feels flat-earth theories have some "valid points." pic.twitter.com/jE2jv9vyLv
— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) February 29, 2024
Owens is projected as being a late-round pick or being signed as an undrafted free agent, which means making these comments certainly hasn’t improved his draft stock. If he were projected as being a 1st round pick, maybe he could get away with sharing his fringe beliefs, but as a player that’s already on the cusp of draft-ability, being so forthright about this topic was a gamble.
In addition to his comments about outer space, Owens also made some bold claims about his 40-yard-dash time as he predicted he “should be in the 4.2s somewhere,” which would be a record for a linebacker.
The current 40-yard-dash time for a linebacker is currently held by former Seattle Seahawks linebacker Shaquem Griffin, who ran it in 4.38 seconds when he was coming out of the University of Central Florida in 2018.
During his five years in college football, Owens played three seasons at the University of Texas before transferring to Texas Tech University. In his final season at Texas Tech as a fifth-year senior, Owens registered 30 tackles and two pass breakups.