SWC75
Bored Historian
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PAUL LOWE (born September 27, 1936) 6-0 205 halfback
Probably the biggest difference between the AFL and the NFL was in the lines: the new league did a pretty good job of acquiring “skill positon” talent, especially at halfback. The NFL had Lenny Moore, Hugh McElhenny, Tim Brown and Bobby Mitchell but the AFL had Billy Cannon, Abner Haynes, Clem Daniels and Paul Lowe. Lowe, in the first exhibition game of the Los Angeles Chargers, (who became the San Diego Chargers and are now back in L.A.), returned the opening kick-off 105 yards for a touchdown. Lowe was the star running back for the Chargers for much of their AFL history before joining the Kansas City Chiefs and getting a Super Bowl ring. But his great years were with the Chargers, for whom he twice ran for 1,000 yards in a pass-crazy league, leading the league in rushing with 1,121 yards in 1965, the year he was league MVP.
As with most of these players, the NFL had had a chance at his services. He was briefly a San Francisco 49ers in 1959 but got cut. He came home to L.A. and got a job in the mailroom of a credit card company owned by the Hilton family. Barron Hilton founded the Chargers and found his halfback in the mailroom.
Paul’s big run is at 1:25.
Probably the biggest difference between the AFL and the NFL was in the lines: the new league did a pretty good job of acquiring “skill positon” talent, especially at halfback. The NFL had Lenny Moore, Hugh McElhenny, Tim Brown and Bobby Mitchell but the AFL had Billy Cannon, Abner Haynes, Clem Daniels and Paul Lowe. Lowe, in the first exhibition game of the Los Angeles Chargers, (who became the San Diego Chargers and are now back in L.A.), returned the opening kick-off 105 yards for a touchdown. Lowe was the star running back for the Chargers for much of their AFL history before joining the Kansas City Chiefs and getting a Super Bowl ring. But his great years were with the Chargers, for whom he twice ran for 1,000 yards in a pass-crazy league, leading the league in rushing with 1,121 yards in 1965, the year he was league MVP.
As with most of these players, the NFL had had a chance at his services. He was briefly a San Francisco 49ers in 1959 but got cut. He came home to L.A. and got a job in the mailroom of a credit card company owned by the Hilton family. Barron Hilton founded the Chargers and found his halfback in the mailroom.
Paul’s big run is at 1:25.
