RENO, Nev. – Former National Football League star Terrell Owens played in six Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl during his 16-year NFL career, and he tried his hand at another premier event as he made his United States Bowling Congress Open Championships debut at the National Bowling Stadium on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old right-hander made his first march down the tournament’s famed Center Aisle and helped Bowlers Journal International of Chicago to games of 835, 850 and 880 for a 2,565 team total. Owens rolled games of 185, 129 and 161 for a 475 series.
The team included Professional Bowlers Association Commissioner Tom Clark, Mike Jakubowski and Jason Thomas, who are the on-air personalities for Xtra Frame, the PBA’s online bowling channel and USBC Open Championships titlist Ed Baur.
Owens is the celebrity owner of the Dallas Strikers, one of eight five-player teams in the new PBA League, so he has spent a lot of time around bowling this year. When the opportunity arose for him to hit the lanes at the Open Championships, he was excited about the unique experience.
“The first game went pretty well,” said Owens, who was drafted in the third round of the 1996 draft by the San Francisco 49ers. “I’m still new to this, so when I saw some of the guys switching balls, I felt I should switch, too. I probably should have stayed with the same ball. I ended up going back to the first ball I used and made some other minor adjustments with my feet and eyes.”