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 and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. He was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

(QB) and

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

(OU) in the early 1950s and a successful

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

(AD) at the

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

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

Early life

Born in

Arkansas City, Kansas Arkansas City () is a city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States, situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers in the southwestern part of the county. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,974. Pronunc ...

, Crowder was raised in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the 13th-largest city in Oklahoma and is the county seat of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of ...

. He played quarterback at Muskogee Central High School 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 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

, 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 Uni ...

and

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

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 Baltimore Colts, since the Dallas team had moved to Baltimore. ...

by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, but declined due to a nerve problem in his throwing arm and served in the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

as quarterback of the

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

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 Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1953 and played the first half of the season with the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

, alternating starts at quarterback with

Claude Arnold Claude C. Arnold (November 1, 1924 – December 23, 2016) was a Canadian football player who played for the Edmonton Eskimos. He won the Grey Cup with the Eskimos in 1954. He previously attended and played football at the University of Ok ...

. He was cut by head coach

Darrell Royal Darrell K Royal (July 6, 1924 – November 7, 2012) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi State University from 1954 to 1955, the University of Washington ...

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 and

Billy Vessels Billy Dale Vessels (March 22, 1931 – November 17, 2001) was an American football player at the halfback position. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, winning a national championship in 1950 and being awarded the Heisman Trop ...

. "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 at

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and for

Bud Wilkinson Charles Burnham "Bud" Wilkinson (April 23, 1916 – February 9, 1994) was an American football player, coach, broadcaster, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of ...

back at

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

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 Cove ...

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 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, CU was third in the nation at 10–2, behind only Big Eight rivals

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

(1) and

(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, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

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 college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 1969 to 1973, the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1974 t ...

(1974–1978), Chuck Fairbanks (1978–1981), and most importantly, Bill McCartney (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 William Charles Marolt (born September 1, 1943) is a retired United States Ski Team, American Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer, coach, and sports administrator. Originally from Aspen, Colorado, Marolt made the United States at the 1964 Winter Olym ...

Later years

With his wife Kate, Crowder continued to reside in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

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 Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL). He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through ...

and Colorado head coach

Dan Hawkins Dan, Danny or Daniel Hawkins may refer to: * Dan Hawkins (American football) (born 1960), American football coach and former player and sportscaster * Daniel Hawkins (politician) (born 1960), American politician in the Kansas House of Representat ...

. 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 lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

in 2003, and died of leukemia in 2008.

Head coaching record

Awards and honors

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

, 1952 * Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, 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 in the United States Edmonton Elks players Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football players Players of American football from Muskogee, Oklahoma Coaches of American football from Kansas