RC Owens was a tremendous receiver for YA Tittle and the 49ers in the 1950’s.
It’s a shame that this isn’t RC Owens on the football card.
This is Don Owens, who was a 6’5”, 255-pound lineman who was drafted by Pittsburgh in 1957, stayed in camp just long enough for Topps to get a picture taken in uniform, then wound up with Washington, Philadelphia, and St. Louis over a seven-year career. He’s also very white.
RC Owens (whose name was Raleigh Climon, which is a great name for a British clothing designer but NOT for a football player, so I get the “RC” use but I digress) was a 6’3”, 197-pound receiver, who was African-American. But only their family members could tell them apart, from what Topps apparently thought.
RC possessed long arms and an incredible vertical leap which he first used to greatness as a University of Idaho basketball player, where his teammate and roommate was Elgin Baylor (there’s no record of Don ever playing basketball, much less rooming with Elgin). But his greatest accomplishment was the “Alley-Oop”, in which RC (not Don) would run towards the end zone and Tittle would lob a high pass that only RC (not Don) could reach.
However, Don (not RC) once scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery. So, he had that going for him, which was nice.
The phrase “alley oop” was taken from a French term for effort, allez, hop, which came into popularity as a term used by French acrobats and was adapted as a slang term for times of serious physical labor, especially lifting heavy objects. While the comic strip Alley Oop became popular in the 1950’s, it had nothing to do with the phrase or the play. What is amusing is that it is now considered a basketball term for a similar pass towards the basket.
Which still doesn’t explain RC/Don. But then again, for Green Bay fullback/legend Jim Taylor’s first two Topps cards they used the wrong photo, so Topps’ quality control was a bit suspect.
Luckily, both RC and Don would eventually have their own cards that had nothing to do with each other.
Check out this video of R.C. Owens and his pass catching skills!
