Owens, Burgess, 1951-

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Clarence Burgess Owens (born August 2, 1951) is an American politician, non-profit executive, and former professional football player serving as the U.S. Representative for Utah's 4th congressional district since 2021. Owens is a member of the Republican Party.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Owens' family later moved to Tallahassee, Florida where he graduated from Rickards High School. 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. 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. After earning his Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry, Owens spent ten years in the National Football League with the New York Jets and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He was a part of the Raiders' 1980 Super Bowl XV championship team.

After his football career ended, Owens moved to New York City where he worked as a businessman selling electronics. Later, Owens moved to Philadelphia, working in sales. In later years he was an account executive with both Sprint and Motorola; from 2009 to 2013, he owned a business called Pure and Simple Solutions. He would also start Second Chance 4 Youth, a non-profit dedicated to helping troubled and incarcerated youth.

In November 2019, Owens announced that he would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Utah's 4th congressional district. Winning the four-way primary in June, Owens faced Democratic incumbent Ben McAdams in the November general election, eking out a narrow victory in the swing district.

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creatorOf Owens, Burgess. Oral history, 1986-1987. Harold B. Lee Library
Role Title Holding Repository
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associatedWith Charles Redd Center for Western Studies. LDS Afro-American Oral History Project. corporateBody
associatedWith Cherry, Alan. person
memberOf Los Angeles Raiders. corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Miami, University of (Coral Gables, FL) corporateBody
employeeOf Motorola, Inc. corporateBody
memberOf New York Jets (Football team) corporateBody
memberOf Oakland Raiders (Football team) corporateBody
employeeOf SPRINT corporateBody
memberOf United States. Congress. House person
employeeOf WordPerfect Corporation corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Philadelphia PA US
Coral Gables FL US
New York City NY US
Los Angeles CA US
Herriman UT US
Columbus OH US
Oakland CA US
Tallahassee FL US
Subject
African American athletes
African Americans
Mormons
Occupation
Authors
Business Executive
Businessmen
Chief executive officers
Football players
Representatives, U.S. Congress
Salesmen
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Person

Birth 1951-08-02

Male

Americans

English

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