 Owens, circa 1952 | |||||||
| No. 27, 37 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | End, Halfback | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | November 12, 1934 Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||
| Died: | June 17, 2012 (aged 77) Manteca, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Santa Monica (Santa Monica, California) | ||||||
| College: | College of Idaho | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 1956 / Round: 14 / Pick: 160 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||
Raleigh Climon Owens (November 12, 1934 – June 17, 2012) was an American professional football player who was an end and halfback from 1957 through 1964 in the National Football League (NFL). Owens graduated from Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, and attended the College of Idaho (where his roommate and teammate was Elgin Baylor). He played amateur basketball with the Seattle-based Buchan Bakers the year after their national championship.[1]
Owens then joined the NFL. He had his best years playing for the San Francisco 49ers, where he was noted for his "Alley Oop" receptions of quarterback Y. A. Tittle's passes. The Alley Oop was essentially a jump ball that Tittle would throw high over the end zone and Owens would catch. The tall, long-armed Owens was known for his jumping ability; he once blocked a field goal by jumping up at the cross bar and knocking it down.[2] The next season, "goal tending" was made illegal.[3] Owens's best year by far was 1961, when he gained over 1,000 yards receiving. He joined the Baltimore Colts in 1962 in the last NFL free agent signing before the Rozelle rule was adopted in 1963.[1]
Owens played four games for the 1961-1962 San Francisco Saints of the American Basketball League.[2]