Owen Pappoe, Chandler Wooten named team captains

[aubiefifty 16,754]

Owen Pappoe, Chandler Wooten named Auburn team captains for 2021 season

A pair of veteran linebackers will serve as Auburn’s team captains this season.

Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin announced Wednesday morning that junior Owen Pappoe and senior Chandler Wooten were selected as team captains, as chosen by their teammates, calling it “the ultimate honor.”

Pappoe is heading into his third season as a starter at linebacker for Auburn, and the former five-star recruit is coming off a season in which he was second on the team with 93 tackles, including six for a loss, and tied for the team lead with four sacks. He was one of Auburn’s two player representatives at SEC Media Days last month -- with Harsin joking at the time that he brought Pappoe to Hoover because “you don’t want that guy upset with you” -- and he also represented the team last Saturday during Auburn’s dedication ceremony for its new Football Performance Center that is currently under construction.

“He is, without question, a leader on our football team,” Harsin said at SEC Media Days last month. “Guys respect him. He does things right. He works himself to the best of his ability every single day. Does all the things you ask him to do. He’s incredible in the weight room and running and some of the testing that we did. So I’m excited about Owen. Owen’s a guy that I have tremendous respect for. If anybody is going to represent our program, Owen Pappoe is going to be one of them.... He’s a good man and he’s going to be a hell of a player for us this year, there’s no doubt about it.

“He’s one of the reasons why I feel like our team has made the decision to continue to keep improving and growing and doing the things we’re asking them to do is because we’ve got some leadership on our team from guys like him that are influencing all that to make sure, like, hey, we want to win. Here’s the things we have to do, and guys like Owen are the one’s leading the charge.”

 

Fatherhood, events of 2020 gave Chandler Wooten a "new drive"

Chandler Wooten became a father in 2020, found his voice when it came to social issues and opted out of the season due to the pandemic. Now he's back with Auburn with a new purpose and drive heading into his senior season.

 

 

The team’s decision to elect Wooten as a co-captain, meanwhile, speaks volumes about the respect he commands within the program. The fifth-year senior earned the designation of captain a year after he decided to opt out of the 2020 season -- becoming the first Auburn player to make that decision last year -- while awaiting the birth of his first child.

Wooten used the time away from the game to reflect, as he and his longtime girlfriend Camryn Collins became first-time parents, and he returned -- as planned -- in the spring with a renewed motivation. After reacclimating himself to the game and shaking off some rust during the spring, Wooten has been a prominent figure for Auburn’s defense in the preseason, and he said earlier this month that he believes his best is yet to come on the field.

“I took time to spend time with my family and I was able to reflect on not just football, but my whole entire life,” Wooten said this month. “That was the first time I actually had the opportunity to sit down, slow down and reflect. It made me a better person. It made me a better teammate. Now I’ve got a different reason for why I’m out here. I was just playing for me. Now I’ve got an entirely different outlook. I feel like it made me stronger, made me wiser. So now I’m just in a different mental space. I’m ready to roll now.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[DAG 33,973]

They deserve it!!

[woodford 3,655]

Based 

[homersapien 11,362]

What a great photo of the Wooten family.

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,294]

I'm so glad to have Wooten back. He's going to be a big part of this year's defense

[Randman5000 4,226]

Owen has gotten a lot of flack but he's grown a lot. Good to hear he's captain and taking the leadership role. 

[AUpreacherman22 3,884]

2 solid Auburn men!