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Which brings us the man to whom the
title of this article is
dedicated..... Charlie Powell. Also
know as“ Mr. Versatility,” he was
6'3'' and 230 pounds of ripped
muscled and speed. He was also the
youngest player in the history of
the National Football League. He was
just 19 years old and fresh out of
San Diego High School when he became
a starting defensive end with the
San Francisco 49ers in 1952.
Actually, he had signed up with the
St. Louis Browns Pro baseball team
as a power-hitting right fielder and
spent the summer after H.S
graduation playing Class B ball
before forsaking baseball for pro
football.
Powell redefined high school
athletics in America; he was
recruited by the Harlem
Globetrotters for his basketball
skills, hit home runs that
reportedly made Hall of Famer Ted
Williams envious and was scouted by
the NFL during high school. What's
more remarkable, he accomplished
this during a time that saw Jackie
Robinson breaking the color barrier
in professional baseball. He too was
a change agent in a time of open
racism. During an interview, Charlie
talked about the time during World
War II and while he was in high
school how pockets of integration
formed and thrived. At San Diego
high school whites, blacks, Asians
and Hispanics were all thrown
together and they became a state
powerhouse in all sports. But racism
and segregation always seeped into
the equation. He vividly describes
how a truck pulled up to his
neighbors house ad just like that,
Bobby Yamata and his Japanese family
disappeared....as they were taken to
a Japanese interment camp for the
duration of World War II.
As for baseball, Charlie was the
only player folks can remember
consistently hitting balls out of
Balboa Stadium. He once hit a home
run out of San Diego’s Balboa
stadium so far that the pros said
that it was longer that any home run
ever hit out of that park. This was
the same baseball stadium that the
likes of Hall of Famers Ted Williams
often played in. He was drafted by
the then St. Louis Browns and the
summer after high school played for
its minor league team in Modesto,
California. But, baseball proved too
boring so he went home.
In basketball Charlie was a
second-team all-league center in
high school. He played forward and
center and was so athletic that he
could dominate at both ends of the
floor. The Harlem Globetrotters came
to town and all but begged his
parents to let them take him with
them.
Charlie recalls. “But baseball and
track were during the same season,
so I'd go to the track meet, maybe
put the shot a couple of times, and
then change in the car and go to
play baseball He high jumped 6 feet
and put the shot 57 feet 9 -1/4
inches. (That San Diego High School
record still stands over fifty years
later)..... And every now then and
“I'd fill-in and run the relays.”
His professional football career
began in 1952 when San Francisco
49er Coach Buck Shaw showed up at
his home in San Diego, contract in
hand. His parents had to sign the
contract and he made a whopping $
10,000.00 that first year. He was a
world class athlete long before
players were fairly compensated for
their skills. He credited his
success as a football player and
boxer to his superior conditioning.
Indeed. As a nineteen year old, his
chance to play came during training
camp when the starter was injured
and he made the most of it. In his
first game, he played against the
then world champion Detroit Lions.
It was a team loaded with several
all-pros and future Hall of Famer
players. Quarterback Bobby Layne was
sacked an astounding ten times for
sixty-seven yards in losses by a
rookie defensive end named Charlie
Powell. All this before the NFL kept
official stats on things like sacks.
Charlie quickly became a star in the
NFL and his younger brother Art
eventually would play in the AFL for
the New York Jets. Charlie played
seven full seasons in the NFL with
the 49ers and the Raiders.... five
seasons for the 49ers (1952-53 and
1955-57) and two for the Oakland
Raiders (1960-61). In between, he
boxed.
He learned to box from some of the
best in the world at that time. He
actually started boxing at the age
of eleven or twelve. As a youngster
he would get up early before school
and jog down to World Champion
Archie Moore’s home. He would then
run and train with the champ, go
back home, shower, eat a bite and go
to school. He earned extra food for
his family during WW II by boxing at
the San Diego Marine Corp and Naval
bases. Food and gas were rationed so
he made a difference in his family’s
life.
Charlie had 56 professional fights.
He started off his boxing career
with a draw in his first fight. In
his next fight he hit his opponent
so hard that he sent him over the
ropes, but Charlie broke his right
hand. He then reeled off 10 straight
knock-outs. But, as often the case
in boxing, his managers and
promoters got greedy. They moved him
up too fast and he suffered. Charlie
was young and naive to the all-too
familiar sleazy elements surrounding
him.
The highlight of his boxing career
occurred when he knocked out the
number 2 ranked boxer in the world
6'4'' Nino Valdes of Cuba. The fight
was nationally-televised and Powell
moved number 4 ranking in the world.
In those days, there really was only
one unified world champion in every
weight class. A rematch was
scheduled in Valdes' home country of
Cuba amidst the noir-like
involvement of movie star and
wannabe gangster Geroge Raft as the
promoter, but it never came off due
to the Castro-led revolution.
Eventually, he would finish with a
record of 25-11-3 with 19 ko's.
Among his opponents were rugged
Charlie Norkus, Harold Carter, Al
Winn, Hans Friedrich, the
aforementioned Nino Valdes, ex-Cham
Floyd Patterson, Roger Rischer,
hard-nosed Mike DeJohn, Howard King,
the experienced Johnny Summerlin,
Roy "Cut and Shoot" Harris and, of
course, Muhammad Ali, an imposing
list to say the least. Powell was
one of those exciting types like Bob
Satterfield. If he didn't t get you,
you would get him.
As an interesting sidebar, during
the lead-up to the Ali bout in
Pittsburgh in 1963 before 17,000
fans, Charlie was one of the few to
prevail over the flamboyant champ
(who was Cassius Clay back then) in
the pre-fight banter that was his
trademark. Clay rolled into
Pittsburgh with his usual swagger,
but things did not go his way. He
arrived at the weigh-in for bout
with Charlie to find himself facing
a man bigger and more heavily
muscled than he was. Powell was not
intimidated in the slightest.
Charlie had also brought along his
brother Art, who was more than
willing to trade words with Clay.
Cassius was visibly rattled. He put
on his vest the wrong way and when
Powell pointed this out, Clay
stomped to the exit only to find the
door of the Janitor's closet. It was
a rare defeat outside of the ropes,
but any thoughts that such silliness
might undermine his performance in
the ring were soon dismissed when
Clay ko'd Charlie in round three
exactly as he had predicted.
If you are ever in San Diego, visit
the Breitbart Hall of Champions and
look for the Powell brothers, Art
and Charlie. Art was a four-time
All-Star for the New York Jets in
the AFL. Charlie was one of the new
breed of socially active and
responsible African American
athlete, like Bill Russell and
Jackie Robinson, who helped pave the
way for people of color in the world
of sports. San Diego has produced
great world class athlete’s like
Hall of Fame running back Marcus
Allen, Super Bowl MVP Terrell Davis,
Heisman winners Ricky Williams,
Rashaan Salaam and others but
Charlie Powell is the best prep
athlete to ever come out of San
Diego, and one of the most
respected, period.
Charles, "Charlie" Powell was all
man.
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