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Appreciation for Bennie Owen's influence on Oklahoma football history has slowly faded as time has gone by.

Owen was not only OU's first great football coach, but also its first athletic director and the man that is responsible for Memorial Stadium being built.

Perhaps you've seen this picture of Owen, missing his right arm, which was lost in a hunting accident on October 16, 1907. Owen was returning from a hunt and in a buggy with the bird dogs. As they hit a bump, one of the dogs began to fall and Owen reached out to catch it.



While reaching for the dog, his gun discharged and Owen was struck from point blank range in his right arm/armpit.

Owen's friend John Barbour tied a tourniquet around his arm and raced back to Norman. The pair went down the alley behind Main Street to avoid causing a scene.

Barbour took Owen to a doctor's office, but there was a small problem. It was the first day of quail season, and the doctor was also out quail hunting. According to Owen's wife, Bennie then walked another block to a different doctor, who did his best to stop the bleeding.

The second doctor was named Dr. Charles Bobo, who had an office above Mayfield's General Store on Main Street. The first word out of Norman was that Owen's state was dire. The loss of blood (especially in 1907) made it very possible that Owen wouldn't survive.



The local Norman newspapers gave three doctors the credit for dressing Owen's wound and saving his life, even if they couldn't save his arm. Those doctors were Dr. Bobo (pictured below), Dr. Robert Lowther and a third doctor that we'll just refer to as Dr. Roy.



Dr. Roy (pictured below) was only 30 years old, but a brilliant young man. In 1898, Dr. Roy was one of the first two Bachelor of Arts graduates in OU history. He went to Illinois, graduated from medical school in 1903, and got married to Eunice, herself also a doctor



Drs. Roy and Eunice moved back to Norman and opened up their own medical practice above Winan's General Store. Roy was also the county coroner and was chosen by OU president David Ross Boyd to lead the OU medical department in 1904.

Dr. Roy went on to have a long medical career, moving to Nebraska and then California to continue his career, but in October 1907, he was instrumental in saving Bennie Owen's life.

Where this story gets really interesting is when you find out the full identity of Dr. Roy.

Because Dr. Roy's full name was Roy Philson Stoops.

Pictured below later in life.



After a little research, I found the 5-times great grandfather of Roy P. Stoops. His name was Christopher Stope and he immigrated from England to the colony of Virginia in 1635.

Christopher Stope is also the 9-times great grandfather of the Stoops brothers...

It's impossible to know what would've happened to OU football if Owen hadn't survived that day, but he did, and one of the doctors responsible for his survival happened to be the sixth cousin, four times removed of the winningest football coach in the school's storied history.



Dr. Roy Lowther, Dr. Charles Bobo and Dr. Roy Stoops are all buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Norman.

The stadium that Bennie built is still there and the field still bears his name.

As it should...

History kicks arse.