Arnold Horween
A Harvard man who captained his team to a Rose Bowl victory and later became one of the NFL's earliest head coaches.
1898–1985 (age 87)·American football player and coach·Birthday: July 7·The Lost Generation
Biography
Arnold Horween's life in football is a bridge between the sport's collegiate gentleman era and its professional dawn. At Harvard in the early 1920s, he wasn't just a player; he was the captain and star of the 1920 team that famously won the Rose Bowl, a victory that cemented the Crimson's national prestige. With his brother Ralph, he then took his talents to the nascent NFL, playing for the Chicago Cardinals. His transition from the field to the sideline was seamless, making history when he and his brother were appointed co-head coaches of the Cardinals in 1925—a rare sibling act leading a professional team. Horween later returned to Harvard as a coach, blending his professional savvy with Ivy League tradition and leaving a unique mark on both strands of American football history.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Arnold was born in 1898, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Arnold Was Born
The biggest hits of 1898
Arnold's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1898Born
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1903Started school
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Became a teenager
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1914Could drive
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1916Could vote
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1919Turned 21
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1928Turned 30
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1938Turned 40
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1948Turned 50
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1958Turned 60
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1968Turned 70
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1978Turned 80
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1985Died at 87
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
Key Achievements
- Captained the Harvard Crimson football team to a victory in the 1920 Rose Bowl.
- Served as a player for the Chicago Cardinals in the early National Football League.
- Became co-head coach of the NFL's Chicago Cardinals alongside his brother Ralph in 1925.
- Returned to Harvard University as a backfield coach, influencing the program for many years.
Did You Know?
He and his brother Ralph were the first siblings to serve as co-head coaches in NFL history.
The Horween family owned and operated the Horween Leather Company, a famous tannery in Chicago.
He played football at Harvard while also earning a law degree.
After his football career, he practiced law in Chicago for decades.
“Football is not a game of systems; it's a game of men and spirit.”
