The San Francisco 49ers will land the son of a former star after all amid three NFL Draft prospects whose fathers once played for the team.
Missouri State wide receiver Terique Owens, the son of Hall of Fame wideout Terrell Owens, will sign with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Besides Owens, former 49ers greats Jerry Rice and Frank Gore also had sons enter the draft this year.
Rice’s son, Brenden, got selected in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Chargers on April 27. Gore’s son, Frank Jr., signed with the Buffalo Bills according to NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe.
San Francisco could use more receiver depth amid the uncertain futures of Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel and ongoing trade rumors. The 49ers drafted two wide receivers on April 25 and April 27 respectively to aid that depth.
Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall went in the first round at No. 31, and the 49ers took Arizona wideout Jacob Cowing in the fourth round. Owens will face plenty of other competition to crack a roster spot behind 49ers receivers Jauan Jennings, Ronnie Bell, Tay Martin, Chris Conley, Danny Gray, and Trent Taylor.
At Missouri State, Owens tallied 46 receptions for 765 yards and four touchdowns in three seasons after a short stint at Florida Atlantic. He’s 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, and he has some athleticism with a 4.54 40-yard dash and a 38 1/2-inch vertical jump from his Bay Area pro day.
Owens’ father played for the 49ers from 1996 to 2003 after the team took him with a third-round pick in 1996 out of Chattanooga. The elder Owens played for another five teams between 2004 and 2012, and he retired with six Pro Bowls, and five first-team All-Pro honors.
Terrell Owens had 1,078 receptions for 15,934 yards and 153 touchdowns in his career. He joined the Hall of Fame in 2018.
Terrell Owens: ‘I’m Proud of Him Just to Get to This Point’
Owens attended his son’s pro day, and the former 49ers star expressed how much it meant for Terique Owens to get this shot.
“I’m proud of him just to get to this point,” Terrell Owens said in March via 49ers.com’s Lindsey Pallares. “He has to take these moments as huge opportunities for him to show what he can do.
“He doesn’t have a lot of film-work, a lot of football-work throughout the course of his college career but there are different paths to making it to a team and making some history and success for yourself,” Owens added. “This is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Terique Owens Liked 1 Sport Instead of Football
Terique Owens didn’t immediately follow in his father’s footsteps. The younger Owens liked basketball.
“I always played basketball. That’s what I wanted to play growing up,” Terique Owens said. “I wasn’t a big fan of football. My mom, she tried to get me to play football growing up, but I didn’t care to play. I didn’t really want to play. I didn’t like contact.”
It changed in high school at Bishop O’Dowd where his friends encouraged him to go out for football, Pallares wrote. Now, Owens could make his mark with the 49ers as his father did.
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