Sooner Legend Steve Owens, Looking back at His Heisman 50 Years Ago

Sooner Legend Steve Owens.

BY: Chris Plank

Steve Owens is a legend and a key figure that put University of Oklahoma football back on the college football map, but despite all that he has given, the proud Sooner is still trying to give back in appreciation for all the university has done for him.

As the Sooner nation closes the book on another football season and yet another Heisman finalist, the celebration of Owen’s Heisman trophy win 50 years ago cannot be cherished and valued enough.

As an Oklahoma native, Owens always dreamed of playing for OU. Born in Gore, he was growing up in Miami as Oklahoma compiled its 47-game winning streak.

“I can’t think of anything that brought as much glory to the state as those teams did,” Owens said of the legendary teams led by coach Bud Wilkinson. “Everybody followed them. When I got older and was working at Hub’s Bootery on Main Street, we didn’t sell many shoes between noon and 4 on Saturdays.”

Owens developed quite a reputation on the football field, and that put him in position to live out his childhood dream. As a halfback at Miami High School, he averaged 7.2 yards per carry and gained 4,000 yards. But it was Arkansas that had their eyes on him. Arkansas assistant coach Jim MacKenzie was not about to let the diehard Sooner fan end up in Norman.

But fate stepped in and changed the course for both Owens and MacKenzie.

“Coach Jim MacKenzie had recruited me at Arkansas, and at that time they were coming off a national championship,” Owens said. “But my dream as a kid was to be a Sooner, and I kept telling him I love Arkansas, but Oklahoma was in my heart. He was recruiting me hard. He kept telling me that the coach was going to be fired, and I would have to go through a coaching change.”

In the end, Mackenzie was right.

“Of course, what happened is Gomer (Jones) got fired and they ended up hiring coach MacKenzie,” Owens laughed, recalling how quickly MacKenzie’s tone changed. “The first thing he did was call me and tell me to forget about Arkansas, you need to follow your dreams and come to Oklahoma.”

As they would say, the rest is history.

Oklahoma football struggled for a time after Bud Wilkinson retired. The team won the Big 8 title but lost in the 1962 Orange Bowl. The Sooners failed to win another conference title the following four seasons and were only chosen for a bowl game once.

In 1965, the year before Owens stepped on campus, the Sooners fell below .500 for just the second time in 23 years.

“Our teams in 1967, 1968 and 1969 got us back on the right path. I’m so proud of the guys I played with,” Owens said. “I tell everyone the guy that should have won the Heisman was Mike Harper. He was my fullback for all three years, and we never missed a practice or game. He, and Steve Zabel and Jack Mildren, they did the tough work. I just had to carry the football and stay healthy.”

And carry the football was what Owens did… over and over and over. Owens’ sophomore season resulted in the Sooners’ first Big 8 Championship in four seasons and an Orange Bowl win over Tennessee. It was the first bowl win for the Sooners since 1958.

During his junior season, Owens burst onto the scene with jaw dropping performances of power, durability and strength. Owens had a particularly memorable performance against powerhouse Nebraska, scoring five touchdowns in a 47–0 win on national television. Through the season, Owens rushed for 1,536 yards and 21 touchdowns, putting him in the Heisman race his senior season.

“He was a workhorse,” said Barry Switzer, who was OU’s offensive coordinator when Owens won the Heisman. “Not many people could carry the ball as many times as he did a game and hold up physically, but he did. He carried it 30-something times a game, but he was physically and mentally tough. Basically, of all the yards he made, 90 percent of them were inside the tackles.”

Owens was a battering ram, a physical presence that had the ability to run away from you, but his consistency was what wore opponents down. Throughout his Sooner career he recorded only one rushing attempt that resulted in more than 40 yards.

During his senior season, Owens racked up 1,523 rushing yards on 358 carries and 23 touchdowns. That individual excellence put Owens right in the thick of the Heisman conversation.

In 1969, the Heisman process was much different than it is today. Owens wasn’t sitting in a ballroom in New York when he found out he won the Heisman, nor was there a television show dedicated to the finalists. He still had a regular season football game to play when he found out he was in contention for the prestigious award.

“Johnny Keys, our sports information director, called and said we had a call from the Downtown Athletic Club, and I was a candidate. They wanted me to be ready for a phone call. It was supposed to be on a Tuesday, and we had OSU on Saturday,” Owens recalled. “So, they put me in a room on the third floor of the Student Union, just Barbara (Steve’s Wife) and I. They were supposed to call at 11 a.m., and in those days, they just called the winner. They didn’t call to tell you if you finished second or third.”

They waited and waited on the call but finally gave up. The Heisman hope had apparently passed, and Owens had a football game to get ready for.

“The phone never rang… It was just the two of us sitting there, and when 11:15 came with no call, I told Barbara I have to get ready for practice. We walked out of the room … but then a kid from the radio station KGOU yelled at me down the hall and said, ‘Hey Steve, you just won the Heisman.’ I found out I won the Heisman from a college kid who just yelled down the hallway.”

There was a celebration waiting for Owens, but so was Oklahoma State. Even though the season had not gone as planned from a win/loss perspective, the Sooners had one more opportunity to make a mark.

“We struggled that year,” Owens said. “We had great expectations, but it was a disappointing season. Since I had won the Heisman the week before the OSU game, the media coverage put the whole team under a lot of pressure.”

Owens excelled in his final collegiate performance.

“I remember when we lined up in the I-formation, we were looking east and a sign in one of the windows of a dorm across the street read ‘Steve Who Won What?’ I remember looking at that sign every time we lined up. That really inspired me.”

Owens responded with 55 carries, 261 yards and two touchdowns as OU ground out a 28-27 victory.

“I felt blessed as an Oklahoma kid to have been able to dream and see those dreams come true,” Owens said during the 50-year celebration of his Heisman win. “Just having the Oklahoma experience, being a part of this great tradition was enough for me. The Heisman was great, but I won the Heisman because I played for a great school and had great coaches and great teammates.

“When I look at the trophy, I think about my school, coaches and teammates. That is why it’s so important to me.”

Owens was finally able to celebrate the honor on a Dec. 4, 1969 trip to New York with his wife, parents, coaches and teammate Mike Harper. The trip went from memorable to legendary when President Richard Nixon called to invite Owens and his wife to watch the Texas vs. Arkansas game with him.

Since the Sooners didn’t have a bowl game, Owens took the president up on his offer and flew in Air Force One to take in the match-up between No. 1 and No. 2.

As time has progressed, Owens has become the keeper of the Heisman Trophy winners that wore Crimson and Cream. While that number continues to grow by the year, Owens stays true to a promise he made to his hero.

“Billy Vessels was my hero, our first Heisman winner. He told me after I won the Heisman… you know we are going to have more winners. If I’m not here, you’re responsible for taking care of them. I’ve found out that can be a tough job,” Owens said, with a laugh.

Since Owens won the Heisman in 1969, Oklahoma football has added five Heisman Trophy winners. During the Lincoln Riley era as offensive coordinator and head coach, the Sooners have registered five Heisman finalists in four years including Jalen Hurts, with a runner-up finish this past season.

Through it all, as important as the Heisman Trophy may appear, nothing is more important to Steve Owens than being a part of the Sooner Nation.

“The most important thing to me was not the Heisman. It was the fact that I played at Oklahoma. I had great coaches; great teammates that really played a part in turning OU back around after they finished 3-7 during my senior year at high school.”

His appreciation to the Sooner Nation is unwavering and genuine.

“Our fans are truly the greatest fans in the country,” Owens said. “Jason (White) and I go out and do different appearances and to see the fans come and support us and bring their kids and grandkids. It’s such a great time and a great experience for us. As a former player, I just want the fans to know how much we love and appreciate them. They are the very best.”

His appreciation goes beyond the fan base.

“I really appreciate Oklahoma. I’ve said this before, since I left OU I’ve tried to repay the university for what it has done for me. I don’t think I can ever repay OU for what they did for Steve Owens. The people that I have met along the way… administrators, coach, the support group, I don’t think I could ever repay those folks for the gifts they gave me. I don’t think I could ever do it though I keep trying.”

As Steve Owens works to try give back to the University of Oklahoma, one thing is abundantly clear. The impact Owens has made goes well beyond the bronze statue lives in Heisman Park. Steve Owens is a major piece of the fabric that has held Oklahoma football together for years. He is a true Legend. – BSM