Arnold Horween

Arnold Horween (originally Arnold Horwitz; also known as A. McMahon; July 7, 1898 – August 5, 1985) was an American football player and coach. He played and coached both collegiately for Harvard University and professionally in the National Football League (NFL).

Horween played left halfback, right halfback, fullback, and center for the unbeaten Harvard Crimson football teams of 1919, which won the 1920 Rose Bowl, and 1920. He was voted an All-American.

Horween also played four seasons in the NFL, as a fullback, halfback, and blocking back (quarterback) for the Racine Cardinals and the Chicago Cardinals. He was a player-coach for the Cardinals. Later, he was Harvard's head football coach, from 1925 to 1930.

His brother Ralph Horween was also an All-American football player for Harvard, and also played and coached in the NFL for the Cardinals. They were the last Jewish brothers to play in the NFL until Geoff Schwartz and Mitchell Schwartz, in the 2000s. After retiring from football, Horween and his brother inherited and ran the family leather tannery business, Horween Leather Company.

Early and personal life

Horween's parents, Isidore and Rose (Rabinoff), immigrated to Chicago from Ukraine in the Russian Empire in 1892. During his youth the family changed its name to Horween from its original name, which was either Horwitz or Horowitz.

Horween was Jewish, and was born in Chicago, Illinois. They were the last Jewish brothers to play in the NFL until offensive tackles Geoff Schwartz and Mitchell Schwartz in the 2000s.

He played high school football at center and fullback for four years at Francis W. Parker School. He was captain of the football team in his senior year.

Horween was , and weighed . In 1928, he married Marion Eisendrath, daughter of leather tycoon William Eisendrath.

College and Navy career Horween followed his older brother to Harvard University, where they played together on the Harvard Crimson football team, in 1916. He was promoted to ensign in October 1917, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant. He served on a destroyer in the Atlantic and was discharged in 1919, when he returned to Harvard. In both 1919 and 1920 Harvard was undefeated (9–0–1 and 8–0–1, respectively). In 1919, Donald Grant Herring ranked him the Second-team fullback on the Princeton-Yale-Harvard composite team.

Horween was unanimously elected the Harvard Crimson's first Jewish captain in 1920. It remains the only bowl game appearance in Harvard history.

The New York Times wrote: "The way he smashed through the line was considerable... there were even some protests that this dark-haired, sturdily built Crimson fullback was a little too rough."

NFL career Horween played fullback, tailback, and blocking back (quarterback) in the National Football League for four years, in 32 games, for the Racine Cardinals (in the American Professional Football Association, the predecessor to the NFL) in 1921 and the Chicago Cardinals (as the Cardinals changed their name) from 1922 to 1924. He was a player–coach for the Cardinals from 1923 to 1924. On November 12, 1922, he made a long pass to Paddy Driscoll for the game's only touchdown, in a 7–0 victory over the Akron Pros. On December 2, 1923, he kicked a field goal and his brother ran for a touchdown as the Cardinals beat the Oorang Indians, 22–19.

Horween married Marion Eisendrath in November 1928. The couple had a long engagement, as they had agreed to postpone the wedding until the Harvard football team defeated Yale. The requisite victory took place on Saturday, November 24, and the wedding on the following Thursday. He resigned following the 1930 season. He operated the business, a successful company that supplied (and still supplies) the leather for Wilson's NFL official football, from 1949 to 1984.

In 1945, he coached the football team of his former high school, Francis Parker.

In 1952, he was vice president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He also served as a trustee of the Chicago Symphony, and on the Harvard University board of overseers.

Head coaching record

College