OU quarterback legend dies

[Jay C. Upchurch]

Eddie Crowder, who played at OU from 1950-52, died today in Boulder, Colo., after a lengthy illness.

Crowder, an All-America selection as a senior, led the Sooners to back-to-back Big Seven titles in 1951 and '52, when he won the starting QB job after backing up Claude Arnold on OU's 1950 national championship squad.

Crowder often said his proudest moment as a Sooner came at the end of Oklahoma’s 49-20 win over Texas in 1952. He executed a perfect Bud Wilkinson game plan against the Longhorns as the Sooners rolled over their rivals.

Crowder fired four touchdowns in the first half of a lop-sided 55-14 win over Colorado during the 1951 season, showing off his versatility as a quarterback.

All-American center Tom Catlin once noted that Crowder’s ability to run the offense was often overshadowed by the great running backs he played with.

“(Eddie) was an excellent athlete with a great head on his shoulders. He could evaluate any situation and make adjustments when they were needed," said Catlin. "He wasn’t the fastest guy in the world, but he knew where to go when he had the ball. It was pretty easy blocking for him.”

After his playing career, Crowder enjoyed a successful run as head coach at Colorado, where he produced a 67-49-2 record.

Eddie Crowder was 77. He had battled Hodgkin's lymphoma over the last few years.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Am I correct he was in on the group that led to the hire of Stoops?

All the books I read said great things about him

[SbOrOiNaEnR]

I loved that shot on one of the 2007 intro videos of him and Claude Arnold...I think it was the "welcome to the house that Bud built" line.

Also, great video of the two of them reflecting on their playing days. (http://www.cstv.com/allaccess/player/07-oas-mediaplayer-okla.html?content=mms://a1981.v8108e.c8108.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1981/8108/v0001/cstvcbs.download.akamai.com/8108/open/okla/07-08/video/m-footbl/07jul/20070716_arnold_and_crowder.wmv&school=okla&)

[r5TPsooner]

RIP Mr. Crowder.

[Jay C. Upchurch]

here is one of those 2007 into clips with Eddie...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K46JBaxLE6Y

[stoopified]

The Sooner All-Heaven team adds another playmaker.

[Jay C. Upchurch]

Here is the other 2007 intro with Eddie saying....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32_ZaNwFQW4&feature=related

[Jay C. Upchurch]

follow-up story

BOULDER — Eddie Crowder, long-time University of Colorado football coach and athletic director, passed away shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday evening (Sept. 9) from complications of leukemia. He was 77.

Crowder passed peacefully with his family by his side at Exempla Health Center in nearby Lafayette after checking into the hospital Monday with respiratory problems. Earlier this decade, he had beaten non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma into remission.

“What a blessing he was to all of us,” said Kate, his wife of nearly 20 years. “The pain of my loss is overcome with the joy of having had 20 fabulous years with a man who adored me and whom I adored even more.”

Crowder was hired on Jan. 3, 1963 as the Colorado’s 17th head football coach, signing a four-year contract at $15,000 per year at the time. On July 1, 1965, he also assumed the duties of athletic director, succeeding the retiring Harry Carlson.

CU was 67-49-2 in his 11 seasons as coach, 63-33-2 not including his first two seasons when he was rebuilding the program, with a 13-21 record against ranked teams and 3-2 mark in bowl games. In addition to road wins at No. 9 LSU and No. 6 Ohio State in 1971, his CU teams also ended No. 4 Penn State’s 31-game unbeaten streak in 1970, decimated a No. 10 Air Force team 49-19 in 1970, and toppled No. 2 Oklahoma in 1972 among other great performances.

When he retired following the 1973 season, he exited as the second all-time winningest coach in CU history. Crowder also put together tremendous staffs, several coaches going on to become nationally respected and renowned head coaches themselves. These include Jim Mora, Don James, Jerry Claiborne, Kay Dalton, Rudy Feldman and Les Steckel.

In his 11-year coaching career, he defeated 10 peer coaches who went on to be elected to the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame, posting a 16-16 record in 32 games against college football’s greatest. In his coaching days, Colorado had nine All-Americans, 33 All-Big Eight Conference performers, five Academic All-Americans and 37 National Football League draft choices, with five of his last seven teams earning bowl trips, two more than the school had in its history prior to his taking over as coach. Two of his players went on to be elected to the NFF College Football Hall of Fame, brothers Dick and Bobby Anderson, as they were inducted in 1993 and 2006, respectively.

Five of Crowder’s last seven teams earned bowl trips with two appearances each in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl (1967 and 1971) and the Liberty Bowl (1969 and 1970), as well as a berth in the Gator Bowl (1972).

Crowder served as athletic director at Colorado for 20 years (1965-84), where he directed three major expansions to Folsom Field, improvements to Balch Fieldhouse, the home of the basketball Buffs since 1936 before he coordinated all aspects of development of CU’s Events/Conference Center (opened in1 979), and the integration of women’s athletics into the men’s department in 1978. He hired top people, including legendary CU coaches Bill McCartney (football), Ceal Barry (women’s basketball) and Mark Simpson (golf), along with national respected administrators like Jon Burianek (ticket/business manager) and David Plati (sports information), the latter both “home grown” along with Simpson as all three started as student workers in the athletic department.

Crowder directed three major expansions of Folsom Field to give Colorado one of the most attractive and comfortable football stadiums in the country. His efforts in the area of basketball included the “sprucing up” of Balch Fieldhouse twice, as well as the building of CU’s Coors Events/Conference Center. He also took fundraising to a never before seen level at the university, and when campus often needed dollars for projects, they turned to Crowder for help.

After the department hit hard financial times in 1980, forcing the elimination of seven sports, what Crowder himself termed the toughest time of his career as athletic director, he vowed to stay on the job until the department was financially sound again. That turnaround from a $1 million debt took only three years to complete, and he announced his retirement in the spring of 1984.

He was inducted into the State of Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, the State of Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame.

Born August 26, 1931 in Arkansas City, Kan., Crowder was raised in Muskogee, Okla., where he graduated from Central High School in 1949, where he quarterbacked the school to the state championship his senior year. He enrolled at the University of Oklahoma that fall and was a reserve quarterback on the Sooners’ first national championship team in 1950.

Crowder started for OU the next two seasons as he guided the Sooners to an 8-2-0 mark in 1951 and 8-1-1 in 1952. In his senior year he was named to the All-America and All-Big Seven Conference teams. Often called the “master of deception," he was drafted by the New York Giants in 1953, but declined due to a nerve problem in his throwing arm.

Ironically, one of Crowder’s greatest games came against CU as a junior when he bombed the Buff defense for four touchdown passes, three of them in the first quarter. It was Colorado’s only conference loss that season (1951) as Crowder had scoring strikes of 27,67,38 and 22 yards—completing six of seven passes for 185 yards and adding 54 more rushing yards on six option keepers.

Edwin B. Crowder received his bachelor’s degree in Geology from Oklahoma in 1955 after a two-year interruption following his playing days during which he served in the U.S. Army engineers. He played quarterback on the Fort Hood (Texas) team in 1953 and served as the backfield coach there in 1954.

As an assistant college coach, Crowder served his apprenticeship under two of the game’s masters—one season (1955) at Army under Red Blaik and seven seasons (1956-62) at Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson, his college coach. Colorado looked at him following Dal Ward’s dismissal in 1958, but didn’t pull the trigger on the then 26-year old. Five years later, he was the sole target of then-athletic director Harry Carlson.

He owned Eddie’s Mexican Café in the 1980s, a popular restaurant in Boulder. After leaving CU, he served for a time as the sales and marketing director for The International, Colorado’s first regular stop on the PGA Tour. He then ventured into international marketing with QuixStar/Amway. He also enjoyed traveling with family and did occasional motivational speaking.

He is survived by his wife, the former Kate Alexander, whom he married on Oct. 4, 1989, two children, son Mike and daughter Carol Jean, two stepchildren, David Roman and Rebecca Roman, and three grandchildren, Stephanie D’Angelo, Julia D’Angelo and Trevor James. His parents, two brothers and another son, Robert, preceded him in death.

A memorial service is being planned on the CU campus this weekend, with details pending.

In lieu of flowers, the family has established an Eddie Crowder Football Scholarship Fund. Anyone interested in contributing memorial gifts can make checks payable to the CU Foundation (put Crowder Football Scholarship in the memo field) and mail to The Buff Club, 369 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0369.

Eddie is the seventh CU icon the school has lost this decade. Buffaloes preceding him in death since 2000 include SID/associate AD Fred “The Count” Casotti (Oct. 11, 2001), three-sport legend and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron “Whizzer” White (April 15, 2002), basketball coach Russell “Sox” Walseth (Jan. 28, 2004), track legend Gil Cruter (July 25, 2005), golf coach Mark Simpson (Dec. 5, 2005) and long-time athletic trainer Jack Rockwell (Oct. 22, 2007).

Casotti and Walseth also passed at the age of 77; Cruter was 90, White 84, Rockwell 81 and Simpson 55.

OU SID Report

[CK Sooner]

RIP

[King Crimson]

http://www.denverpost.com/previous2/home/ci_10427154

here's a Denver Post article with some quotes from Switzer.

I used to see Eddie at the grocery store in Boulder....and introduced myself to him once (he knew my uncle) and was very friendly and we talked for 15-20 minutes.

[Lott's Bandana]

Always a class act and loved his Sooners.

"Sticky" is well-played,...thanks.

[soonerpike697]

Eddie Crowder, who played at OU from 1950-52, died today in Boulder, Colo., after a lengthy illness.

Crowder, an All-America selection as a senior, led the Sooners to back-to-back Big Seven titles in 1951 and '52, when he won the starting QB job after backing up Claude Arnold on OU's 1950 national championship squad.

Crowder often said his proudest moment as a Sooner came at the end of Oklahoma’s 49-20 win over Texas in 1952. He executed a perfect Bud Wilkinson game plan against the Longhorns as the Sooners rolled over their rivals.

Crowder fired four touchdowns in the first half of a lop-sided 55-14 win over Colorado during the 1951 season, showing off his versatility as a quarterback.

All-American center Tom Catlin once noted that Crowder’s ability to run the offense was often overshadowed by the great running backs he played with.

“(Eddie) was an excellent athlete with a great head on his shoulders. He could evaluate any situation and make adjustments when they were needed," said Catlin. "He wasn’t the fastest guy in the world, but he knew where to go when he had the ball. It was pretty easy blocking for him.”

After his playing career, Crowder enjoyed a successful run as head coach at Colorado, where he produced a 67-49-2 record.

Eddie Crowder was 77. He had battled Hodgkin's lymphoma over the last few years.

It's a dark day for Sooners everywhere...

[TMcGee86]

I loved that shot on one of the 2007 intro videos of him and Claude Arnold...I think it was the "welcome to the house that Bud built" line.

Also, great video of the two of them reflecting on their playing days. (http://www.cstv.com/allaccess/player/07-oas-mediaplayer-okla.html?content=mms://a1981.v8108e.c8108.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1981/8108/v0001/cstvcbs.download.akamai.com/8108/open/okla/07-08/video/m-footbl/07jul/20070716_arnold_and_crowder.wmv&school=okla&)

Great video. I seriously got chills when he spoke of how a day doesnt go by that he doesnt think about how great OU was and how they are a big family.

OUtstanding stuff. RIP sir.

[Dan Thompson]

He was the QB of the only game I have been able to attend.

[Piware]

Peace be unto you Eddie. As one of "Bud's Boys", you never lost your Oklahoma heart.

[Groundhog]

As a CU alum and lifelong member of Buff Nation, we will truly miss Coach Crowder and his contribution to the University and state - RIP Eddie

[OU-HSV]

RIP

[SwitzerIsMyKing]

I talked to Eddie just 2 weeks ago. I did not get the impression that we was this sick and he never let on that he was. Only talked about football and his love for OU. What a loss.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Goodbye Mr Crowder, you were an OU legend and a class coach at CU.

[Jdog]

http://www.denverpost.com/previous2/home/ci_10427154

here's a Denver Post article with some quotes from Switzer.

I used to see Eddie at the grocery store in Boulder....and introduced myself to him once (he knew my uncle) and was very friendly and we talked for 15-20 minutes.

My son was maybe 3, so it was 15 years ago that My wife, son and I passed by him as we were entering a small Mexican Restaurant in Boulder. I didn’t realize who he was – but he noticed the Sooner hat that I had on, and he asked if I was from Oklahoma. I told him that I was from a small town in Southeastern OK, but that I was sure that he had never heard of it. He said that he had family in SE OK and that there was even a small town “down there” that was named for one of his old relatives. I immediately realized who I was talking to - and we spent 20 minutes in the breeze way or of the restaurant talking about football and SE OK. Something that I’ll never forget.

[canes4ever]

:( He did us proud going north to Boulder, not like the other QB who went south.

As a youngster I remember Ed Crowder,he was a very good football player however I remember him most as a solid,stand-up guy.