R.C. Owens

The legendary talent of receiver extraordinaire R.C. Owens of the San Francisco 49ers brought excitement and rules changes to the NFL.

In our modern era, football has seen some pretty remarkable transitions of basketball stars becoming gridiron producers. Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzales come to mind right away. However, back in the 50's, we had a guy named R.C. Owen who played alongside NBA legend Elvin Baylor at the college level. Yes, Owen was a two sport star, as he could also jump with the best. This amazing jumping ability earned him a 14th Round Selection in the 1956 NFL Draft, by the San Francisco 49ers. It would be thought that the rookie would have not a snowball's chance in the Sahara to make the team with the likes of Gorden Soltau, Hugh McClellenny, Billy Wilson and Cloyd Connor already on the roster, but with an exhibition game where R. C. hauled in three passes for 109 yards against Chicago Cardinals, including a desperation pass from quarterback Y. A. Tittle that Owen bounded over a group of defenders and took in for a score. The Niners brass wisely saw fit to put R.C. on the roster. He and Tittle would combine to many more "Alley-Oop" plays in their time in SF that brought the Niners Nation to its feet. On one famous play from the duo they would throw the ball high into the air in the endzone, and Owen would use his superior leaping ability to jump up and grab it. Coaches in the Bay Area used the skillset of this unique man for many other advantages as well. One time R.C. blocked a field goal by leaping up at the crossbar and knocking it down. That feat did not go unnoticed however, as the very next season "Goal tending" was made illegal. R.C. once jumped up at the crossbar to knock down a field goal. That feat did not get noticed however, because the very next year, "Goal tending" was outlawed in the NFL.

When you have special talented athletes like Mr. Owens, with exceptional abilities sometimes the rules of the game change to try and level the playing field.

Special thanks to the cool book Game of May Life San Francisco 49ers by Dennis Georgatos, the Pro-Football_Reference.com and Wikipedia