Eddie Crowder
Crowder as coach of the Colorado Buffaloes
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|
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
August 26, 1931 Arkansas City, Kansas |
| Died | September 9, 2008 (aged 77) Lafayette, Colorado |
| Playing career | |
| 1950–1952 | Oklahoma |
| 1953 | Edmonton Eskimos |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1955 | Army (offensive backs) |
| 1956–1962 | Oklahoma (offensive backs) |
| 1963–1973 | Colorado |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1965–1984 | Colorado |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 67–49–2 |
| Bowls | 3–2 |
Eddie Crowder (August 26, 1931 – September 9, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He was an All-American quarterback (QB) and safety at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in the early 1950s and a successful head coach and athletic director (AD) at the University of Colorado (CU) in the 1960s and 1970s.
He is quoted as saying "Life is boring for someone trying to achieve greatness."
Crowder was raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma and played quarterback at Muskogee Central High School, and won the state championship in 1948. He was a member of Oklahoma's first National Football Championship team in 1950, and led Oklahoma to two Big Seven titles as quarterback in 1951 and 1952 and was selected all-conference the same years. Oklahoma was 26–4–1 during the three years Crowder was there. He was 61 for 110 (.555) (might be 60 for 109 (.550)) with 11 touchdowns for 1189 (might be 1179) yards passing. He was drafted ninth in the second round (22nd overall) by the New York Giants in 1953, 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 team for 1953. His jersey number was 16 and was listed at 6'0" and 170 lbs.
Although selected in the second round of the 1953 NFL draft by the New York Giants, Crowder went to Canada 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 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. "Easy Ed" was one of many Oklahoma grads to play for the Eskimos in the 1950s.
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