Chase Sowell knows what it feels like to be told he isn’t part of the plan.
When Deion Sanders took over Colorado in December 2022, his first meeting with the team made the message plain: plenty of players could move on. Sanders told them, “Go ahead and jump in that portal and do whatever you’re going to do, because the more of you jump in, the more room you make.”
For Sowell, that jolt turned into a winding path that eventually landed him at Penn State. He called that moment a “blessing in disguise” during a recent media availability, and it set off a transfer trail that went from Colorado to East Carolina, then to Iowa State, and now to Happy Valley.
“I didn’t think this was possible,” Sowell said, looking back on his high school days. “I didn’t think that football would go that far for me.”
That line makes sense when you hear where he started. Sowell once thought baseball might be his real ticket.
As a freshman in high school, he was 5-foot-6 and 120 pounds, and he expected football to be something he skipped. His father, who played baseball at the University of Florida, pushed him to try anyway.
The sport hooked him right away. He liked the locker room energy, the camaraderie, and the fact that the same kids he battled in Little League were now cheering him on.
He was also good from the jump. Put on defense, he led the non-varsity team in interceptions.
A year later, the body caught up to the talent. The growth spurt arrived, and by his junior year he had moved up to varsity. Colorado didn’t come calling until his final high school game as a senior, when he learned he had his first Power 4 offer.
But that opportunity didn’t turn into a long stay. Even though Sowell had been taught by his father since he was 4 years old to learn every position and even though he was willing to help Colorado on special teams or in any role, Sanders didn’t see him as part of the future.
“Being so young, it definitely was hard at first, hearing somebody tell you that you’re not what you think you are, that you’re not enough,” Sowell said. “I think it was moreso him trying to find his guys.
And, like any other coach, that’s kind of the mission. Nothing’s personal, it’s business - and learning that business early on in my career helped me so much more. ...”
“I definitely had some hard feelings, obviously right after everything happened. But the more things went on, I was grateful almost. Kind of blessed.”
East Carolina became the first stop after Colorado, and Sowell made it count. In his first year there, he led the team with 47 catches and 622 receiving yards.
He followed that with 678 receiving yards in his second season even though he missed four games. That production pushed him to move up again, this time into the Power 4.
He passed on a scholarship offer from Florida, where both of his parents had played - his father in baseball and his mother in soccer - and chose Iowa State instead because of Matt Campbell. Sowell said Campbell’s message that he doesn’t give up on players mattered to him.
Now Campbell has him again at Penn State, and the coach says he sees “elite ability” from a receiver who still needs consistency to reach another level. Wide receivers coach Kashif Moore drew a comparison to Skyler Bell, his former UConn standout who was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round earlier this year. Tight end Ben Brahmer, Sowell’s roommate during camp, is just as sold on what he’s seeing.
“He’s obviously been to a few different schools and he didn’t come out of high school as a huge recruit. So, just to see him get all the way to this level, he’s built himself a lot of confidence,” Brahmer said. “And I think he’s going to have a great season, and I’m excited to watch him play.”
“If you look at him, you think, ‘Holy crap, he’s going to be a good receiver,’” Brahmer added. “That’s what he is.
He’s big. He’s fast.
He’s strong. He can get open all the time.”
Sowell said he would have laughed if someone in high school told him he’d end up a Nittany Lion. He never saw this path coming. Now that he’s here, he has put numbers on it, writing down goals on his smartphone of 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns.
More than the stats, though, he says the goal is simple.
“Whatever I can do to help the team win,” he said, “I’ll do it.”
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