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“Mr. Versatility” the youngest

player in NFL history.

When most people think about two sport athletes Deion Saunders and Bo Jackson come to mind. When most people think about professional football players who boxed Mark Gastineau and Ed “Too Tall” Jones jump out. However Ring magazine, the authority in the boxing world declared him the best boxer to ever come out of another sport. His name was Charlie Powell and they called him “Mr. Versatility.”  He is the youngest player to play and start in the NFL at 19 years of age.

 It wasn’t until I interviewed Charlie the second or third time that he really opened my eyes to the realities of America during the forties, fifties and sixties. He talked about how people of color were forced to be self-contained. He talked to me about Billy Holiday, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Louis Armstrong, Bill Russell and the other black stars of the time. During that era the black elite would all stay at the few black hotels in town and the friendships that grew out of that interaction. When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball America was experiencing a new kind of growing pain. The intense racial pressure and segregation created an environment where a new breed of socially responsible African-American emerged. They led by example and risked their own lives to change the face of America.

Charlie Powell was one of those unsung heroes who helped to knock down the barriers of racism. He just did what he did and he did it with dignity and class, at the very highest level. His is the story of a black man who maximized every opening and then created his own opportunities. The oldest boy in a family of nine, six brothers and three sisters he led by example. Charlie and his brother Art Powell are the only brothers inducted in San Diego’s’ Breitbart Hall of Fame. Charlie didn’t break down barriers; he knocked them down with his determination, persistency, and the pure desire to succeed.

 Charlie redefined high school athletics in America; he was recruited by the Harlem Globetrotters for his basketball skills, hit homeruns that made Hall of Famer Ted Williams jealous and was scouted by the NFL during high school. Charlie accomplished all of this was during the era that saw Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in professional baseball. He was a change agent in a time of blatant racism that touched every aspect of American life. Although, Charlie talks 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 were a state powerhouse, in all sports. But, racism raised its ugly head and segregation seeped into the equation. He also vividly describes how a truck pulled up to his neighbors house Bobby Yamata and the Japanese family just disappeared. (They were taken to a Japanese interment camp for the duration of World War II.)

 Charlie grew up in the Logan Heights area of San Diego and was a four sport star. In 1950 Charlie became the only San Diego football player ever selected as the California Large-School Player of the Year, that was for the entire state. That’s before the CIF was formed in 1960. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Frankie Albert told Coach Lawrence “Buck” Shaw that he thought Charlie was ready to play in the NFL, boy was he right.

  In basketball Charlie was a second-team all-league center. 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 practically begged his parents to let him leave there with them. He was a world class athlete long before players were fairly compensated for their skills. Charlie was 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, strong and fast.

 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.”

 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 in the morning 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. They would take him to the officer’s quarters and he would load up on steaks and other things to take home. Food and gas were rationed so he really made a difference in his family’s life.

 As far as baseball goes 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 and Babe Ruth 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 was too boring and they wouldn’t pitch to him, so he went home.

 Because of the segregation Charlie was able to meet, befriend and socialize with the elite of black society. They all stayed at the same black hotels, boarding houses and private homes. All of the blacks in society, athletes, entertainers and business people understood the importance of everything they did. It was as if the entire race was being lifted on their shoulders.  His success as a professional athlete opened many other doors and allowed him to see the world and meet people from all walks of life.

 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 credited his success as a football player and boxer to his superior conditioning. As a nineteen year old, that first year, right out of high school he tore up the league. His chance to play came during training camp when the starter was injured. 

 In his first game as a professional football player he played in Detroit against the then world champion Lions. It was a team loaded with several all-pros and future Hall of Famer players. Quarterback Bobby Layne was sacked ten times for sixty-seven yards in losses by a rookie defensive end, 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 also played in the AFL for the New York Jets. Charlie played seven full seasons in the NFL with the 49ers and the Raiders. He could of played much longer but he alternated his football career with boxing taking a year off here and there.

He played a total of five seasons for the 49ers (1952-53 and 1955-57) and two for the Oakland Raiders (1960-61). In between those years he boxed and boxed well.

 Charlie never fought an amateur fight but fought 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 happens in boxing his managers and promoters got greedy. They moved him up in the ranks too fast and he suffered. His fights included the likes of the then young Cassus Clay before he was Muhammad Ali, and Floyd Patterson. Charlie was young and the sleazy elements were all around him.

 The highlight of his boxing career happened when he knocked out the number 2 ranked boxer in the world Nino Valds of Cuba. The fight was nationally-televised and Charlie vaulted to a top 4 world ranking. There was truly a unified world champion in every weight class. A rematch was scheduled in Valdes home of Cuba, to be promoted by movie star George Raff and Heavy Weigh Champion Joe Lewis. The fight never came to fruition because Castro led the Cuban revolution and Americans were no longer allowed to move freely between the two countries.

 If you are ever in San Diego take a stroll into the San Diego Breitbart Hall of Champions in Balboa Park, south of the zoo. Look for the Powell brothers, Art and Charlie. They are the only inductees who are brothers. Art was a four-time AFL All-Star for the New York Jets. Charlie Powell was a true gladiator who helped pave the way for blacks and other people of color in the world of sports. San Diego has produced some world class athlete’s 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. As former world renowned sports writer Jack Murphy stated Charlie Powell was “Mr. Versatility” and  one of the best athletes he had the pleasure to watch. Charlie and his wife Irma reside in the Pasadena suburb of Altadena, California.

 By Reggie Grant , Author, Teacher, and Sports Consultant

He played briefly in the NFL for the Jets.

He can be reached at www.rgrant.com.

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