Bob Cowan

Bob Cowan

Cowan during his Indiana University career
No. 17, 80
Position:	Halfback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1923-01-02)January 2, 1923
Place of birth:	Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date of death:	January 20, 2004(2004-01-20) (aged 81)
Place of death:	Fort Wayne, Indiana
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school:	Fort Wayne (IN) North Side
College:	Indiana
NFL Draft:	1945 / Round: 12 / Pick: 111
Career history
Cleveland Browns (1947–1948) Baltimore Colts (1949)
Career highlights and awards
2× AAFC champion (1947, 1948)
Career NFL statistics
Games: 33 Rushing yards: 280 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Robert George Cowan (January 2, 1923 – January 20, 2004) was an American football halfback who played three seasons in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) between 1947 and 1949. Cowan played for the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts.

Cowan was a standout track and football athlete at his Fort Wayne, Indiana high school. He attended Indiana University and starred as a halfback for two years, interrupted by service in the Army Air Force during World War II. Cowan joined the Browns in 1947, when the team won the AAFC championship. Cleveland won all of its games in 1948 and beat the Buffalo Bills in the championship game. Cowan was sent to the Colts for the 1949 season, but he was slowed by a knee injury and left the game a year later. He became a high school principal in Fort Wayne after his playing career.

Cowan grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and was a star athlete at the city's North Side High School. He failed to place first just once in the 220-yard dash during his high school track career. Cowan came in second in his only loss at a state track meet in his sophomore year. He had times of 9.9 seconds in the 100-yard dash, under 22 seconds in the 220 and 49 seconds in the 440. Cowan's football team lost only twice in four years at North Side. The team went unbeaten in his senior year, and Cowan broke a state high school scoring record with 155 points playing as a right halfback.

Cowan attended Indiana University starting in 1941. He became the football team's starting right halfback in the middle of the following year, his sophomore season. Cowan also played basketball at Indiana, and was spotted during a state tournament in 1941 by Blanton Collier, who went on to become an assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).