After accepting the Heisman Memorial trophy Owens and his wife hitchhiked down to the
Texas-Arkansas game aboard Air Force 1 when President Nixon learned he was unable
to arrange travel from New York to Fort Smith, Arkansas via commercial airlines.
On board, Nixon admired Owens' Heisman Trophy as well as Owens' gold Heisman cuff
links. Owens held on to the trophy but generously offered Nixon the cuff links. "I'll only
take these," said Nixon, "if you're sure you'll have another pair."
Owens assured the President he could obtain another set, but shortly thereafter confided
to reporters that he wasn't too sure that was the case.
Word of this got back to Nixon, who then undid his own gold cufflinks and presented
them to Owens. They were no ordinary jewelry. Years before the birth of Pat Nixon, her
father had prospected for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Those cuff links were
made from that gold.http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Owens.htmlAlso there was another story on The Game of the Century at Yahoo Rivals.com a few days ago.
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1027971