The NFL Scouting Combine is a place for rumors, wind sprints, and stage-setting before the two-month blitz of the NFL offseason. It also produces some of the most bizarre quotes you’ll get at any point in the NFL calendar.
This is the window where most college players haven’t had their rounds of media training fully take hold, so we get a real glimpse into some truly unique individuals. Case in point: Texas Tech cornerback Tyler Owens, who does not believe in space.
“I don’t believe in space,” Owens said when asked what he does not believe in. “I’m really religious, so I think we’re in a dome right now. I don’t think there’s other planets, other stuff like that. I don’t know.”
Owens continued, saying he discovered the belief system by exploring Flat Earth conspiracy theories.
“I thought you should believe in the heliocentric thing, like we revolve around the Sun, but then I started seeing ‘flat earth’ stuff. I was like, ‘This is kind of interesting,’ and they started bringing up valid points.
“Could be real, could not,” Owens concluded with a shrug.
Another wild revelation of the combine came from Illinois tight end Tip Reiman, who has “bought into” the viral conspiracy theory that birds are not real.
“Have you ever seen a baby pigeon?” Reiman asked college scout Owen Riese. “How do we know that power lines aren’t pigeon recharging stations?”
Other prospects fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, arguably being too realistic. NFL coaches want irrational confidence and a willingness to get the job done at any cost. Let’s hope that top wide receiver prospect out of Washington Rome Odunze didn’t hurt his draft stock by saying he couldn’t land a plane in a crisis.
“We’re all going down,” Odunze said. “All souls are perished.”
