VALRICO, Fla. — A talented kicker is a weapon few high school football programs can consistently count on.
"He’s kicked some clutch field goals for us,” Bloomingdale head coach Jake Coulson said.
David Owen has been Bloomingdale’s kicker and punter for the past two seasons.
“In the humbleness way, I have made a lot of progress since my freshman year,” Owen told ABC Action News sports anchor Kyle Burger.
Owen does more than kick for the Bulls. As soon as the game clock hits zero for halftime, he swaps his helmet for a trumpet.
“I think it was 7th or 8th grade, I saw one of the seniors playing a saxophone in a football uniform,” Owen said. “It made me realize with the coaches and band director, it’s possible.”
As his teammates run to the locker room, Owen runs toward his trumpet case just off to the side of the field. There is not enough time for him to change into a band uniform, but he makes it work in shoulder pads.
“I march with the band without a helmet,” he said. “The band director is okay with it. He doesn’t mind. I don’t look the same as everyone else, but it works.”
“That’s why I think we have something special at Bloomingdale High School,” band director Jon Sever said. "We teach the kids about music, about sports, about commitment and teamwork.”
Owen has football practice every day from 4 p.m.-6 p.m., then twice a week he attends band practice from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
“It was a first-grade teacher who told us school is always going to be easy for him,” his father Sean Owen said. “Always make sure he’s involved in something then just school work.”
For Owen, there’s no pressure to hit the notes and split the uprights.
“For some reason when I am performing for that or when I am kicking,” Owen said. “There is a lot of pressure but neither of them gets in my head very much.”
