Former University of Hawaii football players Chad Owens and Bryant Moniz did not make Canadian Football League rosters this weekend.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders released Owens, a receiver/returner who won two Grey Cup championships and was given the CFL’s most outstanding player award in 2012. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats cut Moniz, who was one of five quarterbacks on the roster.
Owens, 36, signed with the Roughriders in 2017 but was limited to three games last season because of foot issues. He reportedly suffered a shoulder injury this preseason and did not play in Friday’s preseason game.
Owens, a Roosevelt High graduate, had a breakout career at UH. He is the Rainbow Warriors’ career leader with 5,461 all-purpose yards. Owens was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ sixth-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. After a brief NFL career, Owens found success in the CFL, notably during a six-year career with the Toronto Argonauts.
Moniz, who was UH’s starting quarterback for three years through 2011, was caught in a numbers game at Hamilton. During the preseason, the Tiger-Cats had five quarterbacks on the roster, including 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel and last year’s starter, Jeremiah Masoli, a Saint Louis School graduate.
Moniz played in one of the Tiger-Cats’ two preseason games, completing three of seven passes for 17 yards against Montreal last weekend.