Paul Edward Lowe (born September 27, 1936) is an American former professional football player who was a halfback in the American Football League (AFL), primarily with the Los Angeles / San Diego Chargers. A four-time All-AFL selection and two-time AFL All-Star, he was named to the AFL All-Time Team.
Lowe played college football for the Oregon State Beavers. He won an AFL championship with the Chargers in 1963. He led the league in rushing yards in 1965, when he was named the AFL Player of the Year. Lowe finished his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, receiving a championship ring after they won Super Bowl IV. He was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame and named to their 40th and 50th anniversary teams.
Early life
Lowe was born in Homer, Louisiana, and grew up in the Los Angeles area. He attended Centennial High School, where he was a standout in football, track, and basketball. In his sophomore year in 1956, he played as the No. 2 tailback behind starter Joe Francis in the Beavers' single-wing offense. Lowe rushed 113 times for 407 yards and six touchdowns, and completed 13 of 26 passes for 293 yards. He received honorable mention for the All-America team from the United Press, who also named him to the second team of the All-Coast team. Oregon State won the Pacific Coast Conference and was ranked 10th nationally. They played in the 1957 Rose Bowl, losing to No. 3 Iowa for the second time in the season.
Shortly after the Rose Bowl, Oregon State suspended Lowe due to low grades. After raising his grades in junior college, he returned to Oregon State the following year in 1958.
In 1960, Barron Hilton, son of famed hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, was the original owner of the Los Angeles Chargers, a start-up team in the newly formed American Football League. Chargers general manager Frank Leahy asked Lowe to come out to training camp based on his performance at Oregon State a few years back. He returned his first touch of the football in the AFL for a 105-yard touchdown in the Chargers' first-ever exhibition game. That season, he led the team to a 10–4 record and a Western Division championship. Lowe finished No. 2 in the league in rushing, 20 yards behind Abner Haynes of the Dallas Texans, and earned first-team All-AFL honors as a halfback. He played nearly the entire season injured, as he suffered a hairline fracture in his left leg in the season opener. With only head coach Sid Gillman knowing about it, Lowe wrapped a hockey guard around his leg and did not tell the press until the end of the regular season. In the AFL championship game, Lowe rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries, including a 58-yard touchdown, in a 51–10 win over Boston. He became the first AFL player to rush for 1,000 yards twice after gaining 99 yards in a 37–26 win over the Houston Oilers, clinching the Chargers' fifth Western Division title in six years. In the regular season finale against the Oakland Raiders, he broke Clem Daniels' AFL single-season record of 1,099 rushing yards, set by the Raider in 1963. Again named the AFL's comeback player of the year,
Lowe rushed for 643 yards the following season in 1966, and his output fell to 71 yards on 2.5 yards per carry in 1967. After running for nine yards on his only carry in the 1968 season-opener win over Cincinnati, he was waived by San Diego. He was 28 yards shy of the 5,000-yard career milestone. Lowe joined the Kansas City Chiefs as a free agent after all six of their running backs were injured. On his first running play with the Chiefs, he separated his shoulder, and missed the rest of the season. In his final season in 1969, he passed 5,000 yards against Boston on September 21 after rushing eight times for 40 yards, surpassing the mark on the final play after a sweep for eight yards. He joined Daniels as the only AFL players to reach the milestone. However, Lowe fell below the mark after losing yards against the Chargers on the final carry of his career. Shortly after, he was hospitalized to treat a bleeding ulcer. Lowe retired and left the team with one game remaining in the regular season. Kansas City defeated Minnesota 23–7 in Super Bowl IV that season, and he received a Super Bowl ring. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry during his career, which is the highest in Chargers franchise history and tops in the AFL. He set a pro football record with six games gaining 100+ yards on 14 carries or less. Lowe's career rushing total of 4,995 yards are the second-most in AFL history. Lowe was the AFL leader or runner-up in rushing touchdowns four times.