Eddie Crowder
Eddie Crowder was born on August 26, 1931 and was raised in Muskogee, OK.
In his early years, Eddie Crowder played football for Muskogee Central High School. As the quarterback, he guided his team to an Oklahoma State Championship in 1948.
After graduating from Muskogee Central High School, Crowder decided to play for Bud Wilkinson at the University of Oklahoma.
While at Oklahoma, Eddie was a member of the football team that won the first National Championship for the Sooners in 1950.
Eddie did not start for the Oklahoma Sooners until the 1951 and 1952 seasons, where he guided the Sooners to two consecutive Big 7 titles. Eddie also won All-Big 7 honors both seasons.
His playing career at Oklahoma produced 1,179 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. He was a 55% passer, completing 60 of 109 passes.
In 1953, Crowder was the 22nd overall draft (No. 9 in the second round) pick for the New York Giants. However, he declined due to a nerve problem in his throwing arm. He instead served in the Army Corp of Engineers and played quarterback for the the Fort Hood team.
Later the in same year, Eddie Crowder went North to Canada to play for the Edmonton Eskimos, where he played as quarterback with fellow Sooner, Claude Arnold.
After starting four games for the Eskimos, Crowder was cut by Coach Darryl Royal because of limitations the Canadian Football League had on the number of Americans that a team could retain past a certain date in the season.
After 1953, Eddie Crowder decided to take up coaching. His first coaching job was as an assistant to Red Blaik at Army in 1955. He then coached under Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma from 1956 to 1962.
In 1963, his coaching career took him to the University of Colorado as the head coach of the Buffaloes.
While at Colorado, he rebuilt the Buffaloes into a respectable program that earn national respect as well.
In 1965, he assumed the Athletic Director position at Colorado, while continuing to coach. He retired from coaching in 1973 with a 67-49-2 record at Colorado. His coaching record stand currently as the third best in Colorado football history.
Eddie Crowder continued as the Athletic Director of Colorado until 1986. He was responsible for hiring Bill Mallory, Chuck Fairbanks, and Bill McCartney while serving as the AD of Colorado.
He also aided Oklahoma in landing current head coach Bob Stoops. As well as aiding Colorado to grab current coach Dan Hawkins from Boise State.
On Aug. 9, 2007, Eddie Crowder was presented with the 2007 Citation of Honor by the Football Writers Association of America. This award is presented to a coach every year for their long and honorable careers in intercollegiate athletics, specifically football.
On Sept. 9, 2008, Eddie Crowder succumbed to a long battle with leukemia at the age of 77 in Boulder, CO.