Stephen Joseph Owen was born on April 21, 1898, on the family homestead near Cleo Springs, Oklahoma, the son of James Rufus Owen and Isabella Doak. His father had claimed the quarter section of rolling land when the Cherokee Strip of Indian Territory first opened to settlers; his mother had been the area's first schoolteacher, holding class in a tent.
Owen did not play organized football at grammar school or at the Aline, Oklahoma, High School, from which he graduated in 1916. America's entry into World War I led him to enroll in the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) at Phillips University in nearby Enid, Oklahoma, where he began his career in football. With a major in education and physical education, Owen graduated in 1924.
Already six feet tall and weighing 220 pounds, Owen was discovered in the fall of 1918 by coach Johnny Maulbetsch, a recent All-American at Michigan. Maulbetsch coached Owen in the tackle position, at which he started that season. After the war the SATC quickly disbanded, and Owen enrolled as a regular student at Phillips. In this way he managed to play five seasons of college football, not an uncommon occurrence in those days. He had acquired a football philosophy from Maulbetsch, who had stressed the fundamentals of blocking and tackling and the primacy of sound defense. Using this simple approach, Maulbetsch had guided Phillips to an undefeated season in 1919, including a 10-0 victory over Texas. Owen later molded his own teams along the same lines; they were noted more for preventing than for scoring points.
During the 1924 and 1925 seasons Owen was a tackle for the Kansas City Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL). After the 1925 season he sought to supplement his meager salary by playing exhibition games. One such series brought him to West Palm Beach, Florida. , where he impressed Dr. Harry A. March, a member of the New York Giants organization. March soon convinced Giants owner Tim Mara to purchase Owen's contract for $500. Thus, the 1926 season marked the beginning of Owen's long career with New York. Owen captained the 1927 Giants team, which won the NFL championship through stingy defense, allowing only twenty points in twelve games. His own superlative play at tackle placed him on unofficial "all-league" teams for 1926 and 1927.
The pivotal year in Owen's career proved to be 1930. Late in the season head coach Leroy Andrews departed, and the Giants appointed quarterback Benny Friedman and tackle Steve Owen as player-coaches for the concluding games. Owen remained the Giants' coach for twenty-three years. In 1931 Owen became permanent head coach, but continued to play through the 1933 season. His relationship with the Giants and the Mara family was personal, a rarity in the uncertain occupation of coaching. Each year his employment was extended by a handshake rather than a written contract. Owen's record justified his long tenure as coach.
In 1933 he led his team into the first "world championship" of the newly divided NFL. The Giants lost to the Chicago Bears 23-21, but revenge came the following year in the legendary "sneakers game, " December 9, 1934. The Giants and the Bears, again division champions, met on a frozen Polo Grounds. Concerned about his players' footing, Owen hurriedly procured basketball shoes at Manhattan College. Losing 10-3 at halftime, nine Giants traded cleats for sneakers, and the superior traction enabled them to dominate the second half and win handily, 30-13. Giants teams captured additional Eastern Division championships in 1935, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1944, and 1946. His 1938 squad went on to defeat Green Bay for his second NFL championship.
Extremely popular with his fellow coaches and with reporters (who affectionately referred to him as "Stout Steve"), Owen pioneered a number of influential coaching strategies. His A formation, a single wing with backfield and unbalanced line strengths set at opposite sides of the center, carried the team to success in 1938 and 1939. His 1949 experiment in platooning ushered in the era of the "one-way" performer. The "umbrella" defense, designed in 1950 to stop the passing attack of Otto Graham and the Cleveland Browns, presaged the 4-3-3 defensive alignment that prevailed in professional football for the next quarter-century.
But Owen's emphasis on defense, a simple offense, and field goals set him distinctly apart from the desires of Giants fans in the early 1950's. A 3-9 season in 1953 led to his resignation as head coach. He left with a lifetime NFL record of 151-100-17. After briefly holding a front-office position with the Giants, he became an assistant coach at Baylor University. Owen returned to the NFL in 1956-1957 as line coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. In 1958 he joined the staff of the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League and late in the next season was appointed head coach. During the 1960 season Owen moved to Calgary, again as head coach. He completed his time in Canada by leading the Saskatchewan team during the 1961 and 1962 seasons. The following year Owen guided the Syracuse Stormers of the United Football League. Late in 1963 the Giants rehired him as a scout. He died in Oneida, New York.
Stephen Owen was one of the most successful coaches in National Football League history. During 23 years as New York Giants coach, his teams played to a 153-108-17 record, winning two NFL championships and eight divisional titles. Among his original ideas were the A-formation offense, the umbrella defense, and the two-platoon system. Stephen Owen was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
Stephen Owen was married to Miriam Virginia Sweeny, sister of the Giants' team physician, on November 25, 1935, they had no children.
