Texas Tech’s Tyler Owens sparks controversy with flat earth comments at the NFL Combine

Owens is one of the fastest defensive backs in this year's draft class.

Texas Tech’s Tyler Owens sparks controversy with flat earth comments at the NFL Combine

Tyler Owens (via Imago)

A hundred years ago, the people were certain that technology would have advanced to a point where there would be flying cars and whatnot. It is bizarre to consider the fact that in 2024, there still exist people that are convinced that the earth is flat.

Tyler Owens, the defensive back for Texas Tech, is expected to be one of the fastest athletes to run the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine this year. But his name is already making circles, not for his athletic prowess but his flat earth beliefs.

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Here’s what Owens said in the recent presser,

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I don't believe in space. I'm real religious, so I think we're alone right now. I don't think there's other planets and other stuff like that.

It does not stop there; he went on to add, 

I thought I used to believe in the heliocentric thing where we used to revolve around the sun and stuff. But then I started seeing flat earth stuff and I was like, this kind of interesting. They started bringing up valid points, so I mean I don't know, could be real...

Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, and other prominent scientists who provided evidence about the existence of other planets and the fact that the earth revolves around the sun ought to be turning in their graves at this moment. In addition to supporting the flat earth theory, he dismissed the existence of space, which has been proved and photographed by satellites.

Tyler Owens based his beliefs off of the Roman Catholic Church during the early Renaissance period

Annually, hundreds of rockets are sent into space and there are satellites revolving around our planet and many of them have landed on far-off planets, such as Mars. Despite this, it is ridiculous to think that the earth is still flat and that there are no other planets in this universe.

Tyler Owens
Tyler Owens (via Screengrab on X)

Tyler Owens has played at Texas Tech for the past two years. This season, he had 37 tackles in total. 10 out of those came in one game against Houston. He has played 5 seasons in college football. The speedy prospect’s beliefs are not likely to have any impact on his draft stock. Teams in the NFL are looking for athletes with the physical skills required to stack up in the league.

Their personal beliefs seldom matter. Tyler Owens is expected to run a 4.2 second, 40-yard dash. Some of the fastest 40-yard runs by DBs in recent times would be Jalen Myrick’s 4.28-second run and Stanford Routt’s 4.27-second run. Will Owens be able to successfully beat these records and establish himself as the fastest DB to run the 40-yard dash? It remains to be seen.

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