Football & Faith

Nine-year-old Austin Lafleur gets a turn at quarterback during the Richard Owens Faith Football Camps at Middleburg High School Friday.

NFL tight end Richard Owens’ camp draws a big crowd at Middleburgh High

By BILL JOHNSON / bill.johnson@myclaysun.com

Monday was the first Richard Owens Faith Football Camp at Middleburg High School, and as with any first-time event, the success meter can swing wildly.

“Up until a week or so ago, Robbie was just hoping we would get 50 kids to come out,” said Mary Justino, wife of Middleburg High football coach Rob Justino.

But the Justinos’ faith in the Owens camp paid off a lot more than that Monday as nearly three times that many kids showed up at Middleburg’s Powers Field to learn the intricacies of football as well as the power of faith.

Approximately 140 young football players took to the turf for morning drills with Minnesota Vikings tight end Richard Owens, surprise guest Ciatrick Fason (Vikings and University of Florida running back), Justino, Ridgeview head coach Tom MacPherson and many other volunteer coaches and Middleburg High School players who were there to help out.

With a fee of only $25 per camper, volunteers were a key ingredient for the camp’s success.

Owens was pleasantly surprised by the number of players who showed up.

“I thought 50 to a hundred kids would be great, but we’ve far exceeded that and that’s just great,” he said.

“The biggest thing I want is for the kids to have fun. But I also want them to know that coming out of Middleburg you can make it.”

That lesson was drilled home very simply: Richard Owens, Minnesota Vikings tight end, from Middleburg.

Owens played college football at the University of Louisville after he left Middleburg, but he was never an outright starter with the Cardinals. He shared starting time with another tight end.

That meant he didn’t get the statistics he needed to be noticed and drafted by the NFL, but that didn’t stop him from making it happen anyway. He had faith.

“If you work hard, keep after it, have a strong belief in what you’re doing, the sky is the limit,” he said.