Friday, November 20, 2015

Career finale seals bond between SCSU star and family he saved

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- The drunk driver of the white Chrysler 300 in front of Reggie Owens barreled into the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and West Gwinnet Street, T-boning a Nissan Altima. Metal crumbled and windows shattered, as three small bodies were ejected from the Nissan.

Maybe football had prepared the 21-year-old senior South Carolina State University defensive end for the most important moments of his young life. Football is based on split-second decisions that often make or break a team's season. In the early morning hours of April 4, Owens reacted as he had been taught to by the sport he loves. Rush to the point of attack. Make a play.

Owens, 10 minutes from his mother's house, on the tail end of a two-hour trip he had made countless times down I-95 from campus in Orangeburg, South Carolina, sprinted toward the Nissan with a fourth-quarter adrenaline rush. Aside from the initial impact, the scene was eerily quiet. No car alarms, no horns, no mass panic. The only sound he recalls were faint shrieks from the kids, which he credits for helping him maintain focus.

Owens pulled 8-year-old Dontrell Griffin from ...

CONTINUE READING

No comments: