Owens also acknowledges that he is fortunate in that he and his two sisters are part of a comfortable family in Russellville, Ark. His mother, Teresa Owens, was a point guard in college, which shows in her minute-by-minute vigilance in his recovery. His father, Lee Owens, was a star college baseball player, and Derek ruefully admits he probably should have concentrated on that sport, saying, “I was the ideal size for a middle infielder.” He readily identifies himself as a Southerner who loves hunting and the outdoors, and he sticks to his causes, including the sport of the South.

“I was a big-play guy,” Derek Owens said of his outstanding high school career, sounding matter of fact, not boastful. “We’d get in the huddle and I’d say, ‘Get me the ball and I’ll make a play.’ ” He recalls a third-down-and-35 that he converted by being inventive after making the catch.

He said he had two concussions in high school but went back in when he felt better. In the summer of 2008, he reported to workouts at Central Arkansas conducted by the players. “They said it was optional, but everybody knew it wasn’t,” he said. In a simple passing drill, without pads or helmets, he collided with a larger teammate and was so stunned that he had to give up the so-called optional drills. He said no trainer was present, and the university had not given any instructions about potential concussions or other injuries.

When the actual camp began, Owens was feeling better. He dressed for the first game but did not play, and in midweek he collided with a large linebacker and went down again. He was driven to his apartment, and he said the solicitous team trainer told a roommate to wake Owens every few hours to make sure he was all right.

Teresa Owens said she never would have known her son was injured if she had not sent him a text message. When he responded with gibberish, she drove the 45 minutes to campus and found him bedridden, in a fog. The school decided to give him redshirt status, to hold him out for the season, but he said there was never any discussion of potential lingering conditions.

He had signed an official N.C.A.A. form agreeing to report any injuries so they could be treated. (The athletic director, Brad Teague, said the university declined to comment on the suit.)

‘Wom-Wom-Wom’

Owens played in 2009, mostly as a spare receiver and punt returner and holder for placements. Early in 2010, the Tulsa long snapper raced downfield and nailed Owens, later professing regret that Owens’s helmet did not come flying off — a sure ticket to prominence in the brave new world of YouTube, in which others’ pain or embarrassment becomes instant entertainment for the masses.