EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsASHBURN, Va. -- The play, viewed more than 18 million times on one social media platform, went like this: Washington Commanders special-teamer Tyler Owens, ready to cover a punt, stepped outside then cut back inside and ripped through a double-team at the line of scrimmage. He flung one blocker to the side then stiff-armed the other as he raced downfield. When the other blocker caught back up to Owens, he shoved him to the ground then did the same to the second one.Owens looked like a man chasing someone stealing his car.And then Owens reached the returner, who decided to leap. Bad decision. Owens corralled him and body-slammed him to the ground. Owens then got up and casually walked to the sideline, as if he had just clocked out of work for the day."It was just a good rep," he said. Others begged to differ. Former Pro Bowl defensive end J.J. Watt called it "legitimately one of the greatest football plays I've ever seen." It has been viewed more than 11.6 million times on the NFL's X feed and another 6.9 million times on the NFLmemes feed. More than 40,000 people liked it on the NFL's Instagram page."I was just out there playing football," Owens said. "It never really stood out to me until after."And though it introduced Owens to the sporting world, his teammates needed no introductions. They already knew what he could do -- and has done. They might have been impressed by the play, but they were not surprised.There's a reason Owens made the Commanders as an undrafted free agent in 2024; he made two plays that summer to stand out. Those plays also prompted coach Dan Quinn to make an unusual announcement in a team meeting about Owens. His special teams coach at Texas Tech, Kenny Perry, could point to plays in college that prompted him to tell Owens he would make a long living in the NFL."That's what he's been doing," said Washington safety Jeremy Reaves, a special teams Pro Bowler after the 2022 season. "He's done that over and over and over again. That's who he is."Commanders punter Tress Way, who has been in the league since 2014, said he gets the same question from coordinators or assistant coaches on other teams."Just about every team we play, they're like, 'What do you guys feed 18?'" Way said. "I tell them punt returners."Three days after the play, after he had become a teaching tool for special teams coaches at every level and after seeing the reaction and appearing on "The Pat McAfee Show," Owens knows it was more than "just a good rep."And though other plays stand out in his mind, this one vs. the Eagles vaulted to the top."I would say this is my favorite," Owens said. "Just because of the physicality. ... It's just rewarding. You put in all this work, finally get to see something come out of it."What he saw was a viral reaction."Just all the GOATS retweeting it and stuff like that. It's pretty dope," Owens said. "I like it."But he admitted that he ran downfield angry, perturbed, because he said the Eagles' jammers had been holding him during the first three punts, grabbing his jersey and even his hair. Owens made it tougher on him on the fourth one by taking an outside release after going inside on the previous punts. It created a space to turn back inside and split the double-team.One of the players he shoved to the ground was Jonathan Jones -- a teammate in 2025. Jones wasn't shocked by the play either: He knows Owens has size (6-foot-2, 213 pounds) and speed (he ran the 100-meter dash in 10.35 seconds in high school). Owens' broad jump of 12 feet 2 inches at the NFL combine in 2024 fell 1 inch short of tying the event's record -- and was 10 inches better than any other defensive player that year.On Owens' first sprint downfield to cover a punt Sunday, he was clocked at 21.19 mph. Owens made the tackle for a 1-yard loss. On Washington's final punt -- after Owens had returned from an ankle injury -- he was clocked at 21.31 mph as he beat the double-team to the outside, was 3 yards ahead of his blockers and forced a fair catch."He's aggressive. He's athletic," Jones said of Owens. "He's basically a linebacker and a safety."Eagles returner Britain Covey discovered what that combination can do. He also regretted leaping as Owens approached."I have no idea what I was doing. It was the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life," said Covey, who gained 12 yards on the return. "There was a moment in the air where time stopped and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm taller than [6-foot-8 teammate] Jordan Mailata. Right now, I'm going to die.'"But Covey didn't mind his role in Owens' stardom."I feel honored to be part of that play, even though I was on the not-so-good end," Covey said. "Anytime you see great football like that, you tip your hat. It was a really cool play to watch and shoutout to him. He's a menace. We double-teamed him, and it was like a fly to him."Reaves was at the bottom of that pile. "He actually slammed him on me," Reaves said. "I didn't know what happened until after the play. I looked back and I'm like, 'Somebody just f---ed him up. My expectation was it was him or [Percy] Butler [Washington's other gunner]. I expect [Owens] to make everything."Quinn said it was "awesome" to see the effort and speed result in this moment. He said Owens reacted like, "Thanks, man, that's what I do. ... It was no big deal.""And [I'm] like, 'Man, this is a really big deal,'" Quinn said. "It was one of my favorite plays in a long time on special teams for sure."Ditto for special teams coach Larry Izzo, who pointed out that the Commanders' other gunner, Butler, is equally accomplished. But Izzo knew Owens' play was unique."When you combine that mindset and that play style with the freakish skill-set he has, that's what you're left with," Izzo said, "which is an exceptional play, one that in 30 years in the NFL I don't know if I've seen a better demonstration of just a dude whupping people's asses."That was just a sheer ass whupping. Pretty cool play."In Washington, Owens' ascension started with his first preseason game in 2024. Lined up on the left side, he beat solo blocking and sprinted downfield. Because it was a windy day, the returner let the 55-yard punt hit at the 35-yard line; he caught the bounce at the 28 -- just as Owens arrived and decked him.The punt was the first Owens had covered in the NFL."It was like all of a sudden, he just gained 12 yards of speed and took this guy out," Way said. "I remember thinking, how did that happen so fast?"Then, a week later vs. Miami, Owens knocked the man blocking him 5 yards backward and directly into the path of the returner, who then flipped over his teammate."You look at the Miami game, that's how he made the team," Reaves said. "He put the guy on his ass."After that Miami game, in which Owens also de-cleated a Dolphins gunner, Quinn told Izzo after reviewing the film that this effort is what he wanted as the Commanders' identity.Izzo said Owens was just "crushing dudes on kickoff." So, several days after that Dolphins game, Quinn told Owens in a team meeting that he had made the 53-man roster.While playing for Miami in 1996, Izzo enjoyed the same words from then-coach Jimmy Johnson, who told the team that he knew of two players who were locks: quarterback Dan Marino and Izzo."It's a pretty cool deal," Izzo said.That came as no surprise to Perry, who coached Owens for two seasons at Texas Tech after he had transferred from Texas. Perry saw it in practice and in games."When we got here, I saw him and I'm like, 'Holy s---, this kid's a freak,'" Perry said. "Nobody could ever block him. I kept telling him, 'You're going to make a lot of money in the NFL doing this.' And he's like, 'You really think so?' I'm like, 'Hell yes.' I'd tell all my dudes that I knew in the NFL, there's a guy here that he's going to play a long time doing this in the NFL. And I wasn't wrong."Eagles reporter Tim McManus and Jets reporter Rich Cimini contributed to this story.
