Eddie Crowder (August 26, 1931 – September 9, 2008) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player and coach. He was an All-American

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

(QB) and safety at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

(OU) in the early 1950s and a successful

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

and athletic director (AD) at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

(CU) in the 1960s and 1970s. He is quoted as saying "Life is boring for someone trying to achieve greatness."

Early years

Born in Arkansas City, Kansas, Crowder was raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He played quarterback at

Muskogee Central High School Muskogee High School (MHS) is a three-year public high school in Muskogee, Oklahoma, U.S.. It is accredited by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association. Muskogee High School is part ...

and won the state championship in 1948.

Playing career

Crowder was a member of Oklahoma's first National Football Championship team in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

, and led Oklahoma to two Big Seven titles as quarterback in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

and was selected all-conference the same years. Oklahoma was during his three years as a player. He was 61 for 110 (.555) (might be 60 for 109 (.550)) with 11 touchdowns for 1189 (might be 1179) yards passing. He was selected in the second round (22nd overall) of the

1953 NFL Draft The 1953 National Football League Draft was held on January 22, 1953, at Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Selections made by the folded Dallas Texans were assigned to the new Baltimore Colts. This was the seventh year that the first o ...

by the New York Giants, but declined due to a nerve problem in his throwing arm and served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as quarterback of the

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarter ...

team for 1953. His jersey number was 16 and was listed at and . Although selected by the Giants, Crowder went to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1953 and played the first half of the season with the Edmonton Eskimos, alternating starts at quarterback with Claude Arnold. He was cut by head coach

Darrell Royal Darrell K Royal (July 6, 1924 – November 7, 2012) was an All-American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Mississippi State University (1954–1955), the University of Washington (1956), and the University of Texas (1957� ...

because of limitations on the number of American players that a team could carry past a certain date. Crowder led the Eskimos to victory in all four of his games, but Royal decided to stick with the veteran Arnold. In a game in Calgary on September 5, Crowder played the full game at quarterback without throwing a single pass; all the passes were thrown by halfbacks

Rollie Miles Rollie is a nickname, often for Roland or Rolland, and occasionally a given name which may refer to: Rolands * Rollie Boutin (born 1957), Canadian retired ice hockey goaltender * Rollie Cook (born 1952), Canadian politician * Rollie Dotsch (1933 ...

and Billy Vessels. "Easy Ed" was one of many Oklahoma grads to play for the Eskimos in the 1950s.

Coaching career

Crowder was an assistant coach under

Red Blaik Earl Henry "Red" Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1955 and for Bud Wilkinson back at Oklahoma for seven seasons In January

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

at age 31, he became the head coach of the Buffaloes; his initial contract was for five years at $15,000 per year. He restored the program's respectability and earned national respect while rebuilding the program. In Crowder's ninth season in 1971, CU was third in the nation at 10–2, behind only Big Eight rivals

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

(1) and Oklahoma (2). This was the first time that two teams from the same conference topped the final poll, and it remains as the only time that a conference had the top three. Crowder currently has the third best record as head coach at Colorado at . His teams went to five

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

s while he was head coach: the 1967 Bluebonnet (W), 1969 Liberty (W), 1970 Liberty (L), and 1971 Astro-Bluebonnet (W), 1972 Gator (L). He assumed the athletic director duties in 1965, retired from coaching in 1973, and hired his three replacements:

Bill Mallory William Guy Mallory (May 30, 1935 – May 25, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Miami University (1969–1973), the University of Colorado at Boulder (1974–1978), Northern Illinois Universi ...

(1974–1978),

Chuck Fairbanks Charles Leo Fairbanks (June 10, 1933 – April 2, 2013) was a football coach who was a head coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as the head coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1972 and at the Universi ...

(1978–1981), and most importantly,

Bill McCartney William Paul McCartney (born August 22, 1940) is a former American football player and coach and the founder of the Promise Keepers men's ministry. He was the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder for thirteen seasons (1982–1994), ...

(1982–1994), CU's all-time winningest coach at . With a final annual salary of $52,800, Crowder stepped down as athletic director in 1984, succeeded by Bill Marolt.

Later years

With his wife Kate, Crowder continued to reside in Boulder after his retirement from CU. He maintained ties to both Oklahoma and Colorado football programs, and assisted in the selections of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops and Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins. He was also a voter in the Harris College Football Poll. Crowder battled

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition w ...

in 2003, and died of leukemia in 2008.

Head coaching record

Awards and honors

* All-Conference ( Big Seven) 1951, 1952 * All-American, 1952 *

Colorado Sports Hall of Fame The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame (CSHoF) is a hall of fame and museum that honors — by public acknowledgment or commemoration — individuals who merit recognition and distinction for their exploits, accomplishments, and leadership in spo ...

, 1990 * Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, 2003 * University of Colorado athletic hall of fame, 2004 * FWAA Citation of Honor, 2007

References

External links

University of Colorado Athletics
– obituary * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowder, Eddie 1931 births 2008 deaths American football quarterbacks Army Black Knights football coaches Colorado Buffaloes athletic directors Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Deaths from leukemia Edmonton Elks players Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football players Sportspeople from Muskogee, Oklahoma Coaches of American football from Kansas