Arda Bowser

Arda "Ard" Crawford Bowser (January 9, 1899 – September 7, 1996) was a professional football player who spent two years of the National Football League with the Canton Bulldogs and the Cleveland Indians. Bowser won an NFL championship with the Bulldogs in 1922. In 1923, he played for the Indians. He was the first NFL player to use the kicking tee. Arda was considered the last surviving member of the 1922 Canton Bulldogs team, when he died in 1996.

Early life Arda Crawford Bowser was born on January 9, 1899, in Danville, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Rev. Addison Bartholomew Bowser (1858-1936) and Ella Zelima Stebbins (1869-1954).

College career After serving in the Navy during World War I, Bowser entered Bethany College, however he transferred to Bucknell University in 1920 where he also played college football. At Bucknell, he received All-East and All-American honors. He was captain of the 1921 Bucknell football team and is considered one of the great kickers in the school's history.

He received Honorable Mention on Walter Camp's All-American team. Ross Kauffman, a noted football authority, to call Bowser "the greatest line 'cracker' in the country." That same year, Bowser made Kauffman's All-Pennsylvania College team and Kauffman's All-Eastern team as first-team fullback. He also made first-team All-America on Frank G. Menke's team and the New York Telegram's team. Arda led all eastern colleges in scoring in 1920 with a 102 points, most of which came from 13 TD's he scored.

In 1921, Bowser was Bucknell's captain and again led the East in scoring with 112 points. He was named first-team All-America on Grantland Rice's All-American team. 1922 was the first year that the NFL required everyone to sign a contract, instead of an oral agreement sealed by a handshake. One of the clauses in that contract was that a player could play for only one team in the 'association' (league). That clause was aimed at eliminating team 'hopping'. However Bowser still played with other teams that year besides Canton. The key words in that clause were 'association team', and according to Bowser, he felt that teams not members of the NFL were exempt from this rule.

Oldest pro

As part of its 75th anniversary celebrations in 1994, the NFL honored Bowser, then 95, as the league's oldest living ex-NFL player. It was only later that NFL officials discovered that they had made a mistake – because Ralph Horween (then 99), who had played for the Chicago Cardinals in 1921–23 season, was still alive and living in Virginia. In 1973, he was inducted into the Ford City Hall of Fame in 1973. In 1973, he was inducted into the Armstrong County Sportsman's Hall of Fame.

Family Arda had five children: Marilyn B. Siff, Nevin G. Bowser, Robert S. Bowser, Ann Murphy and Thomas A. Bowser. His father was a Baptist minister. At the time of his death, a memorial service was held at the Montgomeryville Baptist Church in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, where Arda's father had been a pastor.