Old quarterbacks never say die. They just pass on.
This morning — with a full head of hair and a full head of steam, with a mind full of knowledge and a heart full of kindness — Eddie Crowder, a young man again, is fading back on a 100-yard field of green and throwing a 50-yard spiral into a sky of blue. The passer is saying to the wide receiver: “Good catch, kid.” Angels applaud.
In December of 1969, in Memphis, Tenn., Crowder agreed to meet with the 23-year-old nervous, hopeless sportswriter, who blurted: “Uh, coach, what can you tell me about Colorado football?”
“Everything,” Crowder calmly replied.
In June of 1974, in Denver, just after the sportswriter moved to Colorado and had made no friends, but scores of enemies, he received a telephone call from Crowder.
“What would you like to know about Colorado football now?” Crowder said.
In December of 2007, the elderly, hopeless sportswriter called Crowder to ask him about the bowl matches of ’69 and ’07 between Colorado and Alabama.
“You still trying to learn about Colorado football?” Crowder said. “I thought I taught you everything.”
Eddie Crowder did.
As Colorado coach, he taught brothers Bobby and Dick Anderson, who became outstanding pro football players. He taught John Stearns, who became a major-league baseball player. He taught Hale Irwin, who became one of the best professional golfers. He taught 300 players who became businessmen and good men.
He taught a thing or two to Alabama’s Bear Bryant, Nebraska’s Bob Devaney, Ohio State’s Woody Hayes, Penn State’s Joe Paterno, Oklahoma’s Chuck Fairbanks, LSU’s Charlie McClendon, Missouri’s Dan Devine, Iowa State’s Johnny Majors. He beat them all.
As CU athletic director, Crowder taught Bill McCartney, a young Michigan assistant he named Colorado head coach. McCartney guided the Buffs to a co-national championship in 1990.
And, finally, he taught Dan Hawkins, a coach he helped to select in 2006. On the day he passed on, the ill Crowder clasped the hands of the visiting Hawkins and said: “You’re the man, Dan. You’re the man.” He was leaving the solid future of the CU football program in Hawkins’ hands.
The Buffs are 2-0. In 1971, Crowder’s Buffs were undefeated through five games — after upset nonconference victories in Baton Rouge and Columbus against top 10-ranked LSU and Ohio State. CU lost to Oklahoma and Nebraska, but finished the season 10-2. And for the only time in NCAA history before or since, three schools from the same conference ended up in the national polls No. 1 (Nebraska), No. 2 (Oklahoma) and No. 3 (Colorado).
Eddie would beat Oklahoma and Nebraska in his coaching career, which began in 1963 when he was only 31 and wound up in 1973, when, as athletic director, he decided, for the Buffs’ betterment, to replace himself with a new coach.
As Colorado’s coach and athletic director over a 21-year period, he taught the Buffaloes how to win big in football.
But, first, he was a pupil — as the quarterback on the state championship team in Oklahoma, then as a member of the University of Oklahoma’s first national championship team and as an All-America quarterback with a Heisman Trophy-winning running back.
Just like Don Haskins, the famed UTEP basketball coach who died Sunday, Crowder gave scholarships, and significant roles on his team, to African-Americans when it wasn’t so popular. The Buffs beat all-white Alabama in the Liberty Bowl in 1969. Crowder’s last recruited quarterback was an African-American.
With difficult economic times in the NCAA — and at CU, which was in deep financial straits — in 1980, and after his disastrous hiring of Fairbanks as the Buffs’ coach, Crowder was under severe pressure to resign as AD. He vowed not to depart until he turned around the program. By 1984, he had hired McCartney and made the Colorado athletic program solvent again. Crowder gracefully retired, but not really.
He continued to teach people. Crowder became one of the most successful international marketers for Amway and had hundreds of distributors, interestingly, in Mexico. He appeared anywhere he was needed, and his strength carried him through his health problems.
Eddie was a great quarterback, a great coach, a great athletic director and a great friend. All of us will miss his bald head and his broad smile and his Buffalo spirit.
Ralphie began his charge onto the field ahead of the players and Crowder in 1967.
What Crowder said to the sportswriter in 1969 was: “We have a special academic university in the most spectacular spot in the country, and we have a good football team. That’s everything you need to know.”
Eddie Crowder, the old quarterback, has passed on . . . passed on so much to so many as a teacher of everything Colorado football.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
