Born at Jackson, Tennessee, in 1926, Elwyn P. “Rip” Rowan was a football star at Central High School in Memphis during the early 1940s. He earned his nickname as a long yardage running back who could rip through the line. The 1942 Central High annual reported that Rowan had a forty-one and a seventy-yard touchdown run against Messick High School. Recruited by LSU, Rowan spent only a year there before being offered an appointment at the U.S. Military Academy. At West Point, he was chosen the most valuable player on the 1947 Army team. The highlight of Rowan’s college football career came in the fall of 1948 when he ran a kickoff ninety-seven yards for a TD to beat Navy. After serving eight years as a second lieutenant, Captain Rowan was discharged in 1957 and returned to Memphis, where he worked as color commentator for Rebel football games on the Ole Miss Radio Network. Professionally, Rowan worked his way to being president of the John G. Everett Company. Active in community affairs, he served ten years as director and member of the Liberty Bowl team selection committee and was one of the founders of the Memphis Touchdown Club. A year before he died in 1985, “Rip” Rowan was honored by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame when he was presented the Distinguished American Award, a fitting tribute to a respected member of the Tennessee football community.
