Born in Gore, Oklahoma, Owens was raised in Miami, Oklahoma. He attended Miami High School, where he was a standout high school football player for the Miami Wardogs. He is in the Miami Wardogs Hall of Fame. There is a sculpture of him by the Wardogs football field.
College career
Owens played college football for the University of Oklahoma in Norman 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, Billy Sims, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray). 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.[1] He also established the career rushing record of 3,867 yards that stood for two years until Ed Marinaro broke it in 1971.[2] His 1967–1969 career points per game record would be broken the following season by Arkansas' Bill Burnett.[3]
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 Sigmafraternity at OU.
Professional career
The Detroit Lions chose Owens in the first round (nineteenth overall) in the 1970 NFL draft, and he signed in June.[4] He played for the Lions for five seasons, from 1970 to 1974, and struggled with injuries. In his rookie year, he had a severely separated shoulder that kept him out of the season's first half.[5] Healthy, Owens rushed for 1,035 yards in 1971, becoming the first back 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.
On Thanksgiving in 1974 at Tiger Stadium, Owens opened the game with 46 yards in four carries but went down in the first quarter with ligament damage to his left knee.[6] and sat out the entire 1975 season. He retired during training camp in August 1976,[7] after a series of injuries that plagued his pro career.
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