 Owens with the Packers | |||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | (1894-12-09)December 9, 1894 Hebron, Wisconsin, US | ||||||
| Died: | August 22, 1970(1970-08-22) (aged 75) Appleton, Wisconsin, US | ||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| College: | Lawrence (1913–1915) Nebraska (Unknown) | ||||||
| Position: | Guard | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
Ralph B. "Rip" Owens (December 9, 1894 – August 22, 1970) was an American professionalfootballguard. He playedcollege football for theLawrence Vikings andNebraska Cornhuskers and later played one season in theNational Football League (NFL) for theGreen Bay Packers. After his football career, he worked for theAmerican Can Company.
Owens was born on December 9, 1894, inHebron, Wisconsin.[1][2]Pro Football Reference lists him as having attendedWaukegan High School, although one article inThe Post-Crescent identified Owens as being "ofFt. Atkinson".[1][3] He first attendedLawrence University in Wisconsin, where he started atleft guard for theLawrence Vikings as afreshman in 1913.[4]
Owens also served as aplacekicker and was named to Lawrence coachMark Catlin's all-state team for the 1913 season.[4] The paper described him as "only a freshman, but [he] is a powerful man on both offense and defense. Several times during the season he broke through the line and blockedpunts. As a place kicker he distinguished himself and tied the Lawrence record if not the secondary college record."[4] He helped Lawrence win the Wisconsin and Illinois collegiate championship, kicking threeextra points in the deciding 30–0 win overCarroll.[3]
Owens then won avarsity letter at Lawrence in 1914.[5] He was named an all-state selection again by Catlin and was described inThe Post-Crescent as "by far the best guard in the conference and his work in every game of the season stands out so prominently that little need be said about it."[6] In 1915, he helped Lawrence to the state title game and saw action atquarterback, in addition to guard, repeating as an all-state performer.[7][8] He had left Lawrence by the 1916 season.[9] He later enrolled at theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln where he played his last season of college football for theNebraska Cornhuskers.[10]
Owens served inWorld War I in theUnited States Army overseas,[11] being ranked asecond lieutenant.[12]
Owens signed to play professional football in 1922 with theGreen Bay Packers of theNational Football League (NFL).[13] He became the joint-second Lawrence Viking ever to play in the NFL, along withEd Glick who also played for Green Bay in 1922.[14] Prior to joining the Packers, he worked in a steel mill inWaukegan, Illinois.[10] TheGreen Bay Press-Gazette described him as a "corking good guard ... Owens goes over 200 pounds and [is] as hard as a rock ... For a man of his weight Owens gets over the ground rapidly and often is down the field as fast as theends on punts."[10] The paper also described him as one of the "greatest line men in professional football," and he was noted as one of the Packers who was "shining brightly" in the team's 19–14 loss to theRock Island Independents.[15][16] He ended up appearing in three games for the Packers in the 1922 season, two as a starter, as they compiled a record of 4–3–3, seventh in the NFL.[17] He did not return to the team in 1923.[18]
During his football career, Owens was nicknamed "Rip",[1] "Zip",[19] or "Brick".[18]
Owens married Josephine Gehrmann in 1917, and had three daughters and a son.[12] After his lone year with the Packers, he moved to Waukegan, Illinois, where he began working for theAmerican Can Company in 1925.[2] He worked there until 1959 and later moved with his wife toLakeview, Arkansas, in 1968.[19] Afreemason, he was a member of theAmerican Legion, Bull Shoals United Methodist Church and theAmerican Association of Retired Persons (AARP).[12] He died inAppleton, Wisconsin, on August 22, 1970, at the age of 75, after having suffered aheart attack while visiting family.[19]
