After leaving Oregon State University, Paul Lowe played for the San Francisco 49ers during the 1959 pre-season. However, Lowe was unable to make the team and was released before the regular season began. He returned to Los Angeles, California and took a job in the mailroom for the Carte Blanche Credit Card Corporation, owned by the Hilton family.
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. The Chargers General Manager, Frank Leahy, asked Lowe to come out to the Chargers training camp on the basis of his talents at Oregon State a few years back. Lowe joined the Chargers as a free agent. He returned his first touch of the football in the AFL for a 105-yard touchdown in the Chargers' first-ever exhibition game and led the team in rushing with 855 yards on 136 carries (6.3 yard average) and also had 23 receptions for 377 yards. In 1961, with the team now based in San Diego, Lowe had the Chargers' longest run from scrimmage with an 87-yard run, a record that still stands today.
Lowe became a three-time all-American Football League selection. Lowe set a pro football record with six games in which he gained 100 or more yards on 14 or fewer carries. He has the AFL's all-time highest rushing average, at 4.89 yd/carry, and his career rushing total of 4,995 yards is second best all-time in the AFL. He is also one of only twenty players who were in the AFL for its entire ten-year existence. Lowe’s best season came in 1965 when he rushed for 1,121 yards (14-game schedule) and was named the UPI and Sporting News American Football League MVP.
Presented here is the painting Paul Lowe received as his award for winning the AFL MVP in 1965. Paul received this painting and a convertible Plymouth for winning the AFL MVP, but the underfunded AFL required that he return the “loaned” Plymouth after about a year. The painting is quite large measuring 28" X 33". Interestingly it was painted by a then young freelance artist named Chuck Ren. Ren later became a rather famous artist, known for his Indian western paintings, some of his which have sold in excess of $20,000. The masterfully executed painting is signed by Ren and framed to an overall size of 28” by 33”. Includes a letter of provenance from Paul Lowe.