Meet the Temple wide receiver taking the no pain, no gain approach to his football career

Ian Stewart can tell you all about adversity.

After his first two seasons at Temple were plagued by injuries, the Owls redshirt junior wide receiver just finished the spring season, healthy, happy, and with aspirations of completing his first full season as a member of the Owls offense when the season kicks off against Oklahoma on Aug. 30 (7 p.m., ESPN).

He also wrapped it as the only single-digit jersey left on the roster — an honor given by the program to players who exhibit not just talent but leadership qualities. That’s impressive, considering Stewart has played in only 11 games and has been a huge piece missing for the Owls’ offense since transferring from Michigan State in 2021.

Through it all, however, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound wideout has kept a positive mindset through a time when he often has been unable to play.

“One thing I’ve always learned is that anything you want in life worth anything isn’t gonna come easy,” Stewart said. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career at Temple, but, like I say all the time, if there’s anyone who this could happen to I’m kind of glad it’s happening to me because I know how I’m gonna bounce back and recover from this.”

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In 11 games over those two seasons, Stewart has accumulated 11 catches for 124 yards. The toughest blow was game two of the 2023 season, in which Stewart was preparing to make his season debut at Rutgers but suffered an injury in pregame warm-ups that took him out of action for the majority of the season. In each of those seasons, the excitement for what he can bring to the table offensively hasn’t wavered. Neither has the notion of keeping Stewart as a single digit.

“When you put that single digit on, you have an obligation to be an example of how you deal with adversity,” head coach Stan Drayton said. “Single digits attack adversity. They understand that their role will be tough. For Ian, his role has been tough due to injuries. [But] he’s responsible for providing a type of example of work ethic and preparation of how to get to a certain standard of play that we’re trying to get in that room.”

Temple’s wide receivers room has a lot of players who plan to return like John Adams, Zae Baines, and Dante Wright, who’s the top returning receiver. It’s one of the deeper position groups coming into the 2024 season, and Stewart is thrilled to be back in the mix.

“Those are all amazing players,” Stewart said. “Just to have a room like that with [new wide receivers] coach [Tyron] Carrier coming in and bringing a new energy and new perspective of things. It’s a blessing just to be in this situation. Expect a lot out of us this year and expect something that you haven’t seen from that room in a couple of years.”

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Heading into the third year under Drayton, the Owls believe that they are heading in the right direction after back-to-back 3-9 seasons. Stewart’s presence on the field would be a big help in 2024. But he won’t be thinking about his injury history through his preparation for the season.

“The whole time that I’ve been hurt, I’ve never stopped working for even a second,” Stewart said. “I’m making sure standing up for the plays, grabbing young guys, doing what I’ve got to do, hitting the jug machine. Just do whatever I have to do. So I would say the number one thing is preparation.”