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'True honor' for Owen Pappoe and Chandler Wooten

Justin Hokansonby:Justin Hokanson•08/26/21•

_JHokanson

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Chandler Wooten and Owen Pappoe (Courtesy of Auburn Athletics)

AUBURN | Owen Pappoe remembers seeing the bricks with the names of former Auburn captains engraved on them.

It was during Pappoe’s first ever visit to Auburn years ago, that he thought to himself, “that’d be cool to have one day.”

Well, that day has come. Pappoe, along with linebacker Chandler Wooten, were voted permanent team captains by their teammates.

“It was amazing,” Pappoe said. “Auburn was my second offer, I got that in the eighth grade. I remember taking the tour on campus. They showed me the bricks on the ground, those are the captain bricks. When you’re elected captain, you get a brick on the ground. To be selected by my teammates, that means a lot. It’s an amazing feeling. I’m ready to lead.”

Bryan Harsin said on Wednesday that Pappoe and Wooten have demonstrated daily the leadership he desires on his football team. Harsin called it a great honor.

[Harsin expresses ‘deep appreciation’ for Chandler Wooten]

Wooten certainly isn’t taking the recognition for granted. After sitting out the 2020 season with COVID concerns, and making his voice heard regarding racial issues last summer, Wooten has long been viewed as a leader by his teammates. Now, everyone knows.

“It was awesome to hear those words come out of his mouth,” Wooten said. “It was a true honor and a blessing. To go from opted out to coming back and earning the respect of my teammates, it’s a blessing. It’s a great honor and something I don’t take lightly.”

Wooten recalls his first meeting with Harsin. The new head coach wanted to learn more about his commitment to the football team after sitting out a season. The conversation between Wooten and Harsin was an important one, and has helped shape the culture that Harsin is trying to build today.

“Our first meeting was supposed to be quick. It ended up being 45 minutes. We talked about life, fatherhood, my goals and his goals,” Wooten said. “I remember walking out of the office and talking to Coach (Jeff) Schmedding and saying, ‘that’s the kind of coach I want to play for.’ Ever since then, we’ve been real tight, real close. I told him I’m a leader — looked at him and said, ‘coach, I’m a leader.’ I have a lot of respect for him and the kind of person he is.

“If I was in his shoes, I would have questioned it, too,” Wooten said of Harsin’s curiosity about his commitment to football. “He didn’t know why I opted out. He just knew I wasn’t here and I wanted to come back. If I was building a new culture from the ground up, I would have had the same types of questions. Us having that conversation, talking about life, brought us close together. We talk all the time about anything and everything. I’m glad we had that conversation.”

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