Steve Owens (American football)

This article is about the professional football player, running back and Heisman Trophy winner. For the professional football player, lineman and coach, see Steve Owen (American football).

Steve Owens

No. 36
Position:	Running back
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1947-12-09) December 9, 1947
Place of birth:	Gore, Oklahoma
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Miami (OK)
College:	Oklahoma
NFL draft:	1970 / Round: 1 / Pick: 19
Career history
Detroit Lions (1970–1974)
Career highlights and awards
Consensus All-American (1969) Heisman Trophy (1969) Walter Camp Award (1969) Pro Bowl (1971)
Career NFL statistics
Rushing yards: 2,451 Rushing TDs: 20 Rush attempts: 635 Receptions: 99 Games played: 53 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR
College Football Hall of Fame

Loren Everett "Steve" Owens (born December 9, 1947) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1970s. He played college football for the University of Oklahoma, and was the 1969 Heisman Trophy winner and an All-American. He was drafted in the first round of the 1970 NFL Draft, played professionally for the NFL's Detroit Lions, and became the first Lion to rush for over a thousand yards in a season.

Early years

Owens was born in Gore, Oklahoma, and raised in Miami, Oklahoma. He attended Miami High School, where he was a standout high school football player for the Miami Wardogs.

College career

Owens attended the University of Oklahoma, where he played for the Oklahoma Sooners football team from 1967 to 1969. As a senior in 1969, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, and became the second Oklahoma Sooner to win the Heisman Trophy (after Billy Vessels, and preceding Sam Bradford, Jason White and Billy Sims). He was the Sooners' all-time scorer with fifty-seven touchdowns until DeMarco Murray beat his record in 2010, and retains the third highest Sooners career rushing total with 4,041 yards.

Owens holds the distinction of executing touchdowns on the first three forward passes of his NCAA career. He also established the career rushing record of 3,867 yards that stood for two years until Ed Marinaro broke it in 1971. His 1967–1969 career points per game record would be broken the following season by Arkansas' Bill Burnett.

In 2006, the university erected a bronze statue of Owens on its campus in Heisman Park, commemorating his 1969 award. He was also a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at the University of Oklahoma.

Professional career

The Detroit Lions chose Owens in the first round (nineteenth pick overall) in the 1970 NFL Draft, and he played for the Lions from 1970 to 1974. In 1971, he rushed for 1,035 yards, becoming the first player in the history of the Lions' franchise to run for more than 1,000 yards in a single season, and was selected for the Pro Bowl. Owens was forced to retire in 1975, after a series of knee injuries plagued him from 1972 through his retirement announcement in 1975.

Life after football

He served as the athletic director for the Oklahoma Sooners athletic program at his alma mater for several years during the 1990s.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I FBS players with at least 50 career rushing touchdowns
• List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders

External links

• Steve Owens at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Steve Owens at the Heisman Trophy official website