Burgess Owens | |||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2020 | |||||||||
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromUtah's4th district | |||||||||
| Assumed office January 3, 2021 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Ben McAdams | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | Clarence Burgess Owens (1951-08-02)August 2, 1951 (age 74) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||
| Political party | Republican | ||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||
| Children | 6 | ||||||||
| Education | University of Miami (BS) | ||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||
| Website | House website Campaign website | ||||||||
| Football career | |||||||||
 Owens with theMiami Hurricanes in 1972 | |||||||||
| No. 22, 44 | |||||||||
| Position | Safety | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 199 lb (90 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Rickards(Tallahassee, Florida) | ||||||||
| College | Miami (FL) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1973: 1st round, 13th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Clarence Burgess Owens (born August 2, 1951) is an American politician and former professionalfootball player. Since 2021, he has served as theU.S. representative forUtah's 4th congressional district.[1]
He playedsafety for ten seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) for theNew York Jets and theOakland /Los Angeles Raiders, winning a championship with the Raiders inSuper Bowl XV in 1980. Since leaving the NFL, Owens has founded several businesses and is the CEO of a nonprofit dedicated to helping troubled and incarcerated youth. A member of theRepublican Party, Owens was first elected to Congress in2020, when he narrowly defeated incumbentDemocratBen McAdams. Owens is one of fourblack Republicans in the House of Representatives.[2]
Owens was born inColumbus, Ohio, where his Texas-born father had come to do graduate studies that he could not complete in Texas due toJim Crow laws.[3] The family later moved toTallahassee, Florida, where Owens's father taught as a college professor. Owens was raised in aBaptist home.[3] Owens graduated fromRickards High School inTallahassee, Florida, in 1969.[4] He was one of four African-American players who were integrated onto a football team at a historically white high school.[5] Owens earned aBachelor of Science degree inBiology/Chemistry from theUniversity of Miami.[6]
Owens was the third of four black athletes recruited to play at theUniversity of Miami and the third black student to earn a scholarship.[5][3] With theHurricanes, He was named a First-teamAll-Americandefensive back, Most Valuable Defensive Player of the North–South All Star Game, and MVP of the Coaches All-American Game. He was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall Of Fame in 1980, and itsOrange Bowl "Ring of Honor" in 1999.
TheNew York Jets selected Owens with the 13th pick in the first round of the1973 NFL draft. During hisrookie season, he returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown against theDenver Broncos. This was the Jets' only touchdown scored on a kickoff return during the 1970s.[citation needed] He was a regular starter for the Jets for most of the 1970s, and was a part of the Raiders'1980 Super Bowl XV championship team.
In 1983, Owens moved toNew York City. Shortly after leaving professional football, he and his brother ran a business that sold electronics to other businesses to track business expenses. The venture failed, and Owens eventually declared bankruptcy.[3]
Owens later relocated to a small apartment inBrooklyn, where he worked as a chimney sweep and security guard. He later moved toPhiladelphia, where he took a sales job withWordPerfect.[3] In later years, he was an account executive withSprint andMotorola, and from 2009 to 2013 he owned a business called Pure and Simple Solutions.[7]
He is a founder, board member and CEO of Second Chance 4 Youth, a nonprofit dedicated to helping troubled and incarcerated youth that was founded in 2019.[8][9]
Owens has been a frequent guest contributor atFox News.[10]
In November 2019, Owens announced that he would run for theU.S. House of Representatives inUtah's 4th congressional district. He was one of four candidates in the Republican primary.
On June 30, Owens won the primary with 43% of the vote, defeatingUtah State RepresentativeKim Coleman by 20 points. He also defeated two other challengers:KSL radio personality Jay McFarland and businessman Trent Christensen.[11][12]
Owens was a speaker at the2020 Republican National Convention.[13]
Owens faced Democratic incumbentBen McAdams in the general election. On November 14, eleven days after the election, and with 99% of precincts reporting,PresidentDonald Trump and UtahU.S. SenatorMike Lee congratulated Owens on winning the election, based uponBreitbart News calling it for Owens.[14] McAdams conceded to Owens on November 16,[15] and theAssociated Press called the race for Owens.[16]
Owens won the Republican primary with 61.9% of the vote against challenger Jake Hunsaker. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Darlene McDonald andUnited Utah Party nominee January Walker, running with the endorsement of theForward Party.[17]
Owens ran unopposed in the Republican primary. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Katrina Fallick-Wang and United Utah Party nominee Vaughn Cook.[18]
On January 6, 2021, during the certification of electoral votes for the2020 United States presidential election, Owens opposed the objection to the electors fromArizona, butsupported the objection to the electors fromPennsylvania.[19][20]
In 2021, Owens opposed theFor the People Act, a Democratic-sponsored bill to reform election laws.[21]
In 2021, Owens co-sponsored the Fairness for All Act, the Republican alternative to the Equality Act.[22] The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, and protect the free exercise of religion.[citation needed]
Owens has said that his views were liberal upon leaving the NFL in 1982. During his 2020 Republican primary campaign, he described his current views as "very conservative".[27][3] In June 2019, Owens provided testimony to aUnited States House Committee on the Judiciary subcommittee opposing a bill that advocatedreparations for slavery.[28] He has also criticizedU.S. national anthem protests andColin Kaepernick.[29] In November 2019, Owens calledDonald Trump "an advocate for black Americans".[30] On January 6, 2021, he voted toreject Pennsylvania's electoral votes for President-elect Biden but did not vote toreject Arizona's.[31] At a June 1, 2020, Republican primary debate, Owens said that Democrats in Washington are held in thrall byMarxists andsocialists. He said, "The days ofRonald Reagan andTip O'Neill are over. We're dealing with people who hate our country".
He said early in 2020 that theAffordable Care Act should be repealed and that he supported President Trump.[32] Later on in the campaign, Owens changed his stance regarding the Affordable Care Act, saying that coverage for preexisting conditions should be protected, and that he did not support repeal of Obamacare.[33][34][35]
In a candidate forum in October 2020, Owens said that the country's top economic need was to reduce business regulations and cut taxes. He also stated his opposition to a minimum-wage increase.[36] When asked about the need for bipartisanship, he responded:
The first thing we have to do is make sure that the Republican Party gets control again... We're at a point now we just cannot afford to go off the cliff and allow a socialist to actually take the lead now... We have to be honest about this. There are truly people who don't love our culture and do anything to destroy it and transform us into something else.
On July 19, 2022, Owens was among 47 Republican representatives who voted in favor of theRespect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.[37] However, Owens voted "present" on final passage on December 8, 2022.[38]
In August 2022, Owens co-sponsored a bill put forth byMarjorie Taylor Greene that would criminalizegender-transition medical treatments for trans youth.[39]
In 2022, Owens was one of 39 House Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.[40][41]
Owens was married for 34 years to Josie and had six children before divorcing.[42] His eldest child is Summur-Rayn.[43]
He is aprostate-cancer survivor.[42]
Owens is a member ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has spoken publicly about his faith.[4][44] He joined the Church during his final season with the Oakland Raiders.[5] Crediting the influence of teammateTodd Christensen, Owens (raised Baptist) and his wife Josie (raisedCatholic, withHindu influence[43]) were baptized on December 31, 1982.[5] In 1988, he spoke at a meeting sponsored by theCharles Redd Center for Western Studies held on the 10th anniversary of the1978 Revelation on Priesthood.[45]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromUtah's 4th congressional district 2021–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 277th | Succeeded by |
| Territorial (1851–1895) |
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| Oneat-large seat (1895–1913) |
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| Two at-large seats (1913–1915) |
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| Districts (1915–present) (3rd district established in 1983) (4th district established in 2013) |
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Black people and the Latter Day Saint movement | |
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| Overview articles | |
| Historical teachings | |
| Living people | |
| Deceased people | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
