.jpg) Owen circa 1930 | |
| No. 9, 36, 44, 50, 12, 55, 6 | |
|---|---|
| Positions | Tackle,guard |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1898-04-21)April 21, 1898 Cleo Springs,Territory of Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | May 17, 1964(1964-05-17) (aged 66) Oneida,New York, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 237 lb (108 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Aline (OK) |
| College | Oklahoma A&M College, Phillips (OK) |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| |
Coaching | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | NFL: 153–100–17 (.598) WIFU/CFL: 21–27–3 (.441) |
| Postseason | NFL: 2–8 (.200) WIFU/CFL: 0–4 (.000) |
| Career | NFL: 155–108–17 (.584) WIFU/CFL: 21–31–3 (.409) |
| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |
| Stats atPro Football Reference | |
Stephen Joseph Owen (April 21, 1898 – May 17, 1964)[1] was an American professionalfootball player and coach. He earned a place in thePro Football Hall of Fame ashead coach of theNational Football League (NFL)'sNew York Giants for 24 seasons, from1930 to1953.[2][3]
Owen's skill at designingdefenses, his fundamentals-centered approach to the game and his innovative "A formation," a variation on thesingle-wing, also helped hisoffenses thrive and were key to his success. His personal style was memorable for the odd congruence of gravelly voice and easy disposition to go with his perpetualtobaccochewing.
Born inCleo Springs inOklahoma Territory, Owen was raised in an area known as theCherokee Strip, where his original goal was to become ajockey, a dream denied by his 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 230 lb (104 kg) frame that earned him the nickname "Stout Steve."
While working on acattle ranch, he attendedPhillips University inEnid, where he was an all-around athlete in 1917–18. He supplemented his income at that time as a professionalwrestler under the pseudonym "Jack O'Brien," a ruse to preserve his amateur status.
Owen served in theU.S. Army training corps inWorld War I, then returned to coach for a year at Phillips before going to work in oil fields in various parts of the Southwest.
Owen started to play pro football in 1924, at$50 a game, for the NFL'sKansas City Cowboys (who played all their games on the road). After playing for the Cowboys and then theCleveland Bulldogs in1925, he was sold to theNew York Giants in1926 for $500. After a futile attempt to get a cut of the purchase price from Kansas City coachLeroy Andrews, he later said of the sale:[4]
I had seen a lot of fat hogs go for more than they paid for me. But in those days, a fat hog was a lot more valuable than a fat tackle. I was going to New York even if I had to walk there.
His leadership became clearly evident during the1927 season ascaptain of a team that outscored opponents 197–20, went 11–1–1 and won the NFL title.
In1930, he was promoted to co-player-coach for the final two games of the season with another future Hall of Famer,Benny Friedman. The 2–0 finish was a premonition of Owen's future long-term success as sole head coach starting the following season.[5] In an unusual move for the time, he didn't sign a formal contract with ownerTim Mara. He would coach the next 23 years on a handshake. He retired as a player following the1931 season, except for a brief comeback in1933, helping the Giants go 11–3 and get to the title game, the first of eight appearances the Giants would make during his tenure.
The team slipped to 8–5 in1934, but still made the NFL championship game again. Facing the 13–0Chicago Bears, the Giants came in as huge underdogs and trailed 10–3 at halftime. The icy conditions and 9 °F (5.0 °C) weather led to an adjustment between halves that became a memorable part of National Football League lore. A friend of the Maras owned a nearby shoe warehouse, and opened it on that freezing Sunday afternoon to supply the entire team with new sneakers for better footing on the frozen turf than they had had with conventional cleats, enabling them to run off 27 unanswered points in the second half for a 30–13 win and the team's first title. More than seven decades later, the contest is still remembered as "the sneakers game."
Despite the institution of theNFL draft due to the continued dominance of the Bears and Giants, the Giants returned to the championship game in1935 and won their second and last title under Owen in1938, 23–17 over theGreen Bay Packers despite being outgained in yardage 379–208, with nine points on two blocked punts the margin of victory. New York appeared in four more season-ending NFL title clashes under Owen, but lost them all. An earlyWorld War IIThree Stoogesshort referred to them when Moe sarcastically asked a hulking adversary, "Did you ever play footborl for da Giants?!"
In1950, the Giants faced a powerful new foe with the arrival of theAll-America Football Conference championCleveland Browns. The Browns consigned them to runner-up finishes in each of the next three seasons, though Owen's "umbrella defense" shut down passing attacks and made life miserable for the first-place Browns. New York won four of their six regular-season meetings but dropped a defensive playoff struggle with them after finishing tied with the Browns for the Eastern Division title at the end of the 1950 season.
Owen was the host ofPro Football Highlights on theDuMont Television Network from 1951 to 1953.
After the Giants slipped to 3–8 in1953, Owen announced his retirement as head coach days before the end of the regular season, ending his 28 years at field level with the Giants.[2][6] As the final minutes ticked away in his last game as Giant coach, a late-game loss to eventual championDetroit, television cameras showed him standing alone on the sidelines in tears. His record as head coach was 150–99–17 (.596) and his 150 wins are still the most in franchise history.
Owen remained with the Giants as head scout. During the1954 season, he served as a collegiate spring practice assistant, first atSouth Carolina and then atBaylor. He returned to the collegiate ranks full-time in1955 as an assistant coach at Baylor.[7][8]
Just weeks after the end of the1955 season, thePhiladelphia Eagles hiredHugh Devore as head coach and added Owen as his assistant soon after.[9] But two seasons of struggling in Philadelphia led to the entire coaching staff's dismissal, and Owen eventually became a head coach yet again, this time on an interim basis with theCanadian Football League'sToronto Argonauts on September 21,1959.
The Argonauts declined Owen's offer to stay on as full-time head coach for1960, but retained him as a scout and advisor before he moved to the CFL'sCalgary Stampeders on August 23, 1960, as interim head coach, but as in Toronto Owen was replaced at the end of the season. On December 29 of the same year, he was named head coach of theSaskatchewan Roughriders, a CFL team that had won just once in1960. Owen's1961 team nearly reached the playoffs, then did sothe following year and was voted CFL Coach of the Year.[10] But after suffering aheart attack late in 1962, he resigned on January 6, 1963.
Unable to stay away from the sport, however, he soon came back as head coach of theUnited Football League'sSyracuse Stormers on March 20, 1963. After an 0–12 season, Owen returned to theNew York Giants that November to scout for them.
Owen was stricken with a terminalcerebral hemorrhage in May 1964. After eight days in critical care, Owens died at age 66 on May 17 inOneida, New York.[1] He was buried at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Oneida.
Owen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of its fourth class in 1966, enshrined on September 17.[3][11]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NYG | 1931 | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 5th in NFL | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1932 | 4 | 6 | 2 | .400 | 5th in NFL | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1933 | 11 | 3 | 0 | .538 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | LostNFL Championship toChicago Bears |
| NYG | 1934 | 8 | 5 | 0 | .538 | 1st in Eastern Division | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | WonNFL Championship overChicago Bears |
| NYG | 1935 | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | LostNFL Championship toDetroit Lions |
| NYG | 1936 | 5 | 6 | 1 | .455 | 3rd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1937 | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 2nd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1938 | 8 | 2 | 1 | .800 | 1st in Eastern Division | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | WonNFL Championship overGreen Bay Packers |
| NYG | 1939 | 9 | 1 | 1 | .900 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | LostNFL Championship toGreen Bay Packers |
| NYG | 1940 | 6 | 4 | 1 | .600 | 3rd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1941 | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | LostNFL Championship toChicago Bears |
| NYG | 1942 | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 3rd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1943 | 6 | 3 | 1 | .667 | T-1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | LostEastern Division playoff toWashington Redskins |
| NYG | 1944 | 8 | 1 | 1 | .889 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | LostNFL Championship toGreen Bay Packers |
| NYG | 1945 | 3 | 6 | 1 | .333 | 3rd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1946 | 7 | 3 | 1 | .700 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | LostNFL Championship toChicago Bears |
| NYG | 1947 | 2 | 8 | 2 | .200 | 5th in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1948 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 3rd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1949 | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 3rd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1950 | 10 | 2 | 0 | .833 | T-1st in American Conference | 0 | 1 | .000 | LostAmerican Conference playoff toCleveland Browns |
| NYG | 1951 | 9 | 2 | 1 | .818 | 2nd in American Conference | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1952 | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 2nd in American Conference | - | - | - | - |
| NYG | 1953 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .455 | 5th in Eastern Conference | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 153 | 100 | 17 | .605 | 2 | 8 | .200 | |||
*was an interim coach; co-coached the last two games of the 1930 season alongsideBenny Friedman
