[4/1/04]By the time Don Owens set foot on a practice field at Southern Miss, word had gotten out that something big was on the way.

The new guy was a 6-foot-6, 250-pound ex-Marine drill instructor who was quick, strong, and tough as nails. No one ever expected him to have a heart as big as his body.

Owens, who played offensive and defensive tackle for Southern Miss from 1953-56 and went on to enjoy a seven-year career in the NFL and was as well-known for his work and attitude off the field as his talent on it.

After his NFL career ended, Owens worked in the NFL Players Association and the Missouri AFL-CIO labor union. He was beloved in Hattiesburg and his native St. Louis, and will be posthumously inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on Friday.

“He was a good guy. He was a big guy, but he was a big old teddy bear,” said former USM star Hamp Cook, a teammate and longtime friend of Owens.

Owens came to Southern Miss in 1953, and went straight from Camp LeJeuene to training camp. He had been a drill instructor at the U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina, as well as a player on the base football team there. The style of play was considerably rougher than college or pro ball.

“Service ball is very dirty,” said Gerrie Owens, Don’s widow. “I couldn’t believe some of the things they’d do. They’d punch each other, spit at each other. And that was my first introduction to football.”

Don Owens came to USM, in part, because the school offered scholarships to married players. When he got to Hattiesburg, talk of the massive new recruit as well as a nickname had preceded him.

USM players mistook Owens for a visiting pro player when he ate with them in the cafeteria. They called him “Sarge”. When he actually got on the field, his huge frame seemed to block out the sun.

“He was an older guy. He had been in the military. He came in preceded by his reputation,” Cook said. “I think we all were equally awed by his size, even though the buzzword had gotten out.”

Owens lived up to his reputation right away. He was a two-way player at offensive and defensive tackle for USM in his freshman season, and lettered all four years there. The Golden Eagles went 31-9-1 in that span, appeared in two bowl games, and beat Southeastern Conference foes Georgia and Alabama.

Owens was strong and powerful enough to open holes for runners on offense, and fast enough to chase down opposing ballcarriers on defense. His skills were a big part of USM’s success during that era, and he was selected to five different All-America teams over the course of his college career.

“Don had the ability to play as well on one side of the ball as he did on the other. He went into the (NFL) as a defensive lineman, but he could just as easily have been an offensive lineman,” Cook said. “Along with the size, he had quickness and speed to excel. And he played hard.”

Owens was selected by Pittsburgh in the third round of the 1957 NFL Draft and then traded to Washington. He was a steady player over the course of his pro career, playing in 87 games over seven years, but injuries cut it short.

He had played with a broken ankle, cracked ribs, and other minor injuries. A shattered kneecap suffered in a game in 1963 proved to be too much to overcome, though.

Owens had surgery to repair the knee, but was unable to move backward. That made him a sitting duck for opposing linemen, and led to his retirement.

“It was years of battering it, and then eventually he had the knee replaced years ago,” Gerrie Owens said. “He didn’t like the idea of retiring. It was not his choice, but it was a medical one.”

After his playing career, Don Owens had a variety of jobs. He was a scout for the Cardinals and Packers, returned to Hattiesburg to serve as USM’s defensive line coach in 1967 and 1968, and worked for a winery in Jackson.

He went back to St. Louis in the early 1970s and was working in a machine shop when he grew dissatisfied with the conditions there and became heavily involved with union work.

Owens had previously worked with the NFLPA and had a degree in management and labor relations. His experience, status as a former football player, and his outgoing nature opened doors and allowed him to quickly rise through the labor union ranks.

He served as secretary-treasurer for the Missouri AFL-CIO for 15 years, and was the St. Louis Labor Man of the Year in 1992. He also served as a lobbyist for the union, a job he loved.

“He loved going to the Capitol. He loved arguing with the senators and representatives,” Gerrie Owens said. “Football helped. Not only to get in the door, but no matter where he was somebody would want to talk football.”

And that wasn’t just at the Capitol. Don Owens was a well-known sports figure in St. Louis, and was selected to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s St. Louis Team of the Millennium in 1999. He is also a member of the Southern Miss Hall of Fame.

“If we were in a restaurant, we never really got to eat dinner. Somebody would want to talk or send a drink over,” Gerrie Owens said with a laugh. “His father was a plainclothes detective in St. Louis, and everybody knew who Don was and who his father was.”

Unfortunately, Don’s strength wasn’t enough to overcome one of his habits. He was a a heavy smoker, and contracted lung cancer in 1996. A year later, he passed away at age 65.

Throughout his battle with cancer, Owens remained upbeat. He continued his work with the union until just before his death, and never let the disease get the best of his spirit.

“He never got sad or sorry, and didn’t suffer,” Gerrie Owens said. “He worked up until the last minute, and it’s a shame he’s gone because he would have loved this.”