Broncos Tight End Owen Daniels: 'Weather Is A Part Of My Life'

DENVER (CBS4)- The Denver Broncos have their very own meteorologist who happens to play tight end-- Owen Daniels graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in meteorology.

Daniels teamed up with CBS4 Meteorologist Justin McHeffey to take a tour of the Chevy Mobile Weather Lab.

"I think most of the guys don't know about the weather thing quite yet. They'll learn as we go along. It's not like, 'Hey guys, I love weather! I've got my meteorology degree from the University of Wisconsin. Nice to meet you. What did you do in college?' Nah. They'll learn along the way. I'll be like, 'Yo, guys, check out that cloud right there. Just stare at it a little bit.' And then their minds will be blown," said Daniels.

Daniels said despite being an athlete his whole life, he's always been drawn to weather.

"Growing up in Chicago, you see pretty much everything. I just remember being a little kid and afraid of severe storms like high winds and stuff like that. And that kind of grew into more of an interest and intrigue that grew into a passion for weather. I wanted to work with weather in some capacity," said Daniels.

He said his dream would be to combine his love of sports with meteorology.

"Long, long hours in school studying and getting my degree, so I would love to use that. If I could parlay something with sports and weather together, I'm brainstorming ideas for that but definitely want to have weather be a part of my life," said Daniels.

While McHeffey was giving Daniels a tour of the Chevy Mobile Weather Lab, he expressed his desire to chase down some storms.

"I've always wanted to be close to a tornado. I've seen funnel clouds before and I've never seen a tornado on the ground or have any perspective on that. That whole super cell thing is pretty fascinating to me." "I want to, just one time, storm chase and I want to see something awesome," said Daniels.

But he said convincing his wife would be a little more difficult, "She's not down with it right now. I've got to convince her."

Daniels admitted that he sometimes studies the sky while out on the field, "I do that all the time. Last year in Baltimore, those guys were getting to know me a little bit, and I was like, 'Check these out.' Not every day, I mean people don't just look up into the sky, and actually take a second to look at the cloud. It's like, 'Oh, there are clouds up there.' No, actually take a minute and stare at it for a couple of minutes, it's pretty unbelievable what's going on."

When asked what conditions he would rather play in, Daniels chose snow but took a moment to weigh the pros and cons of each season.

"The wind is really tough. That makes throwing the ball, hearing anything, It's hard enough to hear where I am on the line of scrimmage anyway, and then you throw the wind involved in it and it's silent out there because all you hear is the wind blowing through your helmet," said Daniels. "Cold and wind is about as bad as you can get. The wind just blows right through you and you know, guys don't wear sleeves...
I'd rather play in snow. Snow, because it's a little wet but a little more bearable than just a freezing cold, windy day."