Skip to main content

Jets-The Co-Pilots: Burgess Owens

 Ask any Jets fan who the greatest players are in franchise history, and you'll get a lot of similar answers: Joe Namath, Don Maynard, Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko, Curtis Martin, Wayne Chrebet, Darrelle Revis. There might even be a little love for the likes of Matt Snell, Marty Lyons, and Mo Lewis. Well that got me to thinking, is that all there is to our history? Do we only have about a dozen players who are worthy of celebrating? Conversely, are there Jets who played well for the team for a long period of time through the leaner years, but don't get the recognition they deserve, likely because they played on a lot of lousy teams? 

Well, I would argue we have many players who fit said description. And so in this series, titled the Co-Pilots, I will profile the careers of various New York Jets players who made notable positive contributions to this franchise but have flown under the radar in retrospect. And for my first profile, I have selected safety Burgess Owens.

Owens played college football at the University of Miami in the early 1970's, where he majored in Biology and Chemistry. He was the third of four black athletes recruited to play at the U and the third black student to earn a scholarship. He was named a First-Team All-American defensive back, Most Valuable Defensive Player of the North–South All Star Game, and MVP of the Coaches All-American Game. 

The Jets selected Owens with the 13th pick in the first round of the 1973 draft. He wasted no time in making impact plays. During his rookie season, he recorded his first career interception against Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers. In his next game in Denver, he returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. This turned out to be the Jets' only touchdown scored on a kickoff return during the 1970s. He earned the respect of his teammates to where he was named defensive team captain for three straight years. He led the Jets in interceptions five of his seven 7 years, amassing 21 total, and returning two for touchdowns. Only eight Jets have recorded more interceptions than Owens. We don't know his tackle stats as tackles did not become an official NFL stat until 2001.

Unfortunately, he never got to experience prosperity as a Jet, as Gang Green finished .500 or below during each of his 7 years with the Jets. Before the 1980 season, he was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a mere sixth round pick. The thinking at the time was Owens was the team's representative for the NFL player's union and the Jets had a tendency to appoint players to this position and quickly move on from them. It may have been management not trusting the players or vice versa or both, but the results were swift. Between 1980 and 1985, Owens, Clark Gaines, Kenny Schroy, Greg Buttle, and Marvin Powell were all gone within two years of taking the player rep position. 
 
In a 2019 interview on Thursday Night Tailgate, Owens reflected on how his time with the Jets prepared him for this run with the Raiders. 

"All the losing was well worth it to get there. I came out of high school losing in my last season, went to four years of University of Miami losing, seven years with the Jets losing. Twelve solid years of losing to get to that 13th."

That 13th season was his first with the Raiders and he played a big role in helping them win the 1980 Super Bowl, recording a game-high seven tackles. But even before the big game, he picked off Dan Fouts in the AFC Championship game in San Diego. 

In 1982, he led the Raiders in interceptions, recording four in just eight games during a strike-shortened season. He was selected as 1st Alternate to the NFL All Pro-Bowl. After 3 years with the Raiders, he retired following the 1982 season.

Owens ended his 10 year NFL career having played 137 games, recording 30 interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries, and four pick-6 touchdowns. He missed only 3 games due to injury. 

Today Owens is a Congressional representative in Utah, having won his election in November 2020.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jets Black Helmets Review

There are very few topics on which all Jets fans agree. There are a few things we all agree on, such as Joe Klecko belongs in the Hall of Fame, the 2022 draft class has the potential to be one of the best ever, and Adam Gase was a disaster in every way. But with most topics like uniforms, Jets fans tend to be divided. When the team redesigned the logo and uniforms in 2019, everything from the logo to the font to the addition of black became a topic of debate.  It seems as though a lot of people have now warmed up to the black as perhaps the sleakest and most appealing uniforms in the team's arsenal now. But in recent months on Jets social media, there has been a heavy demand for a throwback uniform reminiscent of the 1980's with the Jets airplane logo and the kelly green. So this week, when team owner Woody Johnson teased a helmet reveal on Twitter, it got fans talking. Now that the NFL is allowing alternate helmets for the first time, what would the Jets add? They did not add ...

Predictions for 2022 Jets Rookies

In the 30 years I've been a Jets fan, I am hard pressed to remember a time with this much young talent on the team. And maybe no draft class has caused as big a stir as 2022. So let's look at this new crop of rookies and try to come up with an idea of what they can contribute to Gang Green in the upcoming 2022 season. Sauce Gardner, CB Cornerback is probably the toughest non-quarterback position in the NFL for a rookie since opposing teams can single them out and design their gameplan around exposing them. That's why I was so happy to see the Jets draft Sauce Gardner at #4 overall.  Now  I think teams will test him early, and there will be a bit of a rough adjustment at first. Playing quarterbacks like Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson will be a rough go in the first half of the season.  However, his ability to win one on one will emerge early and by the second half of the season, teams will realize this is a rookie not to be picked on. I will say h...

The best July day in Jets history

 July 27, 2022. The first day of Jets practice. Let's recap what an amazing day this was, actually in my mind, the greatest July day in Jets history.: 1. Mekhi Becton willingly accepted taking the role of right tackle, which in turn allows George Fant to play left tackles, where he is a superior player compared to when he plays right tackle. There was no tackle controversy, like many fans and media thought would happen. No, Coach Robert Saleh addressed it immediately. 2. The kickers! The Jets haven't had a credible placekicker on their roster since Jason Myers. Now they have 2. Veteran free agent Greg Zuerlein and last year's late signing Eddy Piniero have made all 8 kicks they have attempted thus far. 3. Denzel Mims. The most maligned wide receiver in all of football. The second round bust. Well he looks ready to play now. 4 catches on 5 targets, including 2 catches where he had to go up and get the ball. He knows his career is on the line and he playing like it. He may no...