Burgess Owens

Owens was born in Columbus, Ohio, where his Texas-born father had come to do graduate studies he could not complete in Texas due to Jim Crow laws.[3] The family later moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where Owens' father taught as a college professor. Owens was raised in a Baptist home.[3]

Owens graduated from Rickards High School in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1969.[4] He was one of four African-American players who were integrated onto a football team at a historically white high school.[5] Owens was the third of four black athletes recruited to play at the University of Miami and the third black student to earn a scholarship.[5][3] 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. He was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall Of Fame in 1980, and its Orange Bowl "Ring of Honor" in 1999.

Owens earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry from the University of Miami.[6]

The New York Jets selected Owens with the 13th pick in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft. During his rookie season, he returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos on October 28. This was the Jets' only touchdown scored on a kickoff return during the 1970s. He was a regular starter for the Jets for most of the 1970s, and was a part of the Raiders' 1980 Super Bowl XV championship team.

In 1983, Owens moved to New York City. Shortly after leaving professional football, Owens and his brother ran a business that sold electronics to other businesses to track business expenses. The venture failed and Owens eventually declared bankruptcy.[3]

Owens later relocated to a small apartment in Brooklyn, where he worked as a chimney sweep and security guard. He later moved to Philadelphia, where he took a sales job with WordPerfect.[3] In later years he was an account executive with both Sprint and Motorola, and from 2009 to 2013, he owned a business called Pure and Simple Solutions.[7]

He is a founder, board member, and CEO of Second Chance 4 Youth, founded in 2019, a non-profit dedicated to helping troubled and incarcerated youth.[8][9]

Owens has been a frequent guest contributor at Fox News.[10]

Owens says he left the NFL "a cocky liberal" but went on to become "a very humbled and appreciative conservative".[3] He has also described his current views as "very conservative".[23] In June 2019, Owens, who is black, provided testimony to a United States House Committee on the Judiciary subcommittee opposing a bill that advocated reparations for slavery.[24] Owens has also criticized U.S. national anthem protests and Colin Kaepernick.[25] In November 2019, Owens called Donald Trump "an advocate for black Americans".[26] On January 6, 2021, Owens joined fellow Utah Congressman Chris Stewart and voted to reject Pennsylvania's electoral votes for President-elect Biden.[27]

At a June 1, 2020, Republican primary debate, Owens said Democrats in Washington are held in thrall by Marxists and socialists. Owens stated: "The days of Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill are over. We're dealing with people who hate our country". He also said the Affordable Care Act should be repealed and that he supported President Donald Trump.[28] Later on in the campaign, Owens changed his stance, stating that coverage for pre-existing conditions should be protected, and that he did not support the repeal of Obamacare.[29][30][31]

In a candidate forum in October 2020, Owens stated that the country's top economic need is to reduce business regulations and make tax cuts. He also stated his opposition to a minimum wage increase.[32] When asked about the need for bipartisanship, he responded, "The first thing we have to do is make sure that the Republican Party gets control again... We're at a point now we just cannot afford to go off the cliff and allow a socialist to actually take the lead now... We have to be honest about this. There are truly people who don't love our culture and do anything to destroy it and transform us into something else."

In January 2021, speaking before a group of Democrats in the Utah Legislature, Owens stated he now realizes the difference between liberals, Marxists and socialists, and apologized to liberals for past remarks. Owens stated at the time: "What I didn’t realize and now I am realizing is that the ideology that we’re all fighting against is something we all need to know is out there. There are literally people who do not love our country the way we do. And when I say that, my apologies go to liberals, because I didn’t quite see the difference in liberalism and Marxism and socialism. There’s a difference. ... We believe in God. We believe in capitalism. We believe in the family unit. Conservatives and liberals believe that. ... There’s an ideology, if we don’t recognize it, if we say it doesn’t exist, it’s to our detriment.”[33]

According to his website, Owens was married for 34 years and had six children before he and his wife divorced. He is a prostate cancer survivor.[34]

Owens is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has spoken publicly about his faith.[4][35] He joined the Church during his final season playing with the Oakland Raiders.[5] Crediting the influence of teammate Todd Christensen, Owens (raised Baptist), and his wife Josie (raised Catholic), were baptized around 10 p.m. on 31 December 1982.[5] In 1988, he spoke at a meeting sponsored by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies held on the 10th anniversary of the 1978 Revelation on Priesthood in the LDS Church.[36]

• It's All About Team: Exposing the Black Talented Tenth, Paperless Publishing LLC, 2012.
• Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps, Post Hill Press, 2016.
• Why I Stand: From Freedom to the Killing Fields of Socialism, Post Hill Press, 2018.

• Black conservatism in the United States
• List of African-American United States Representatives
• List of American sportsperson-politicians

• Representative Burgess Owens, official U.S. House website
• Campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN