About Inductee

Robert M. Robby Rowan was born into a famous sports family on Oct. 26, 1950. His father, Billy Joe Rowan, played for legendary coach Milton Frank at Huntsville High and went on to star in football at the University of Tennessee. Robby carved out his own niche, becoming one of the best all-around athletes ever to play for the Crimson Panthers. He played quarterback for Ben Berry at Huntsville Junior High in 1965 and also kicked all the field goals and extra points. At Huntsville High, he was the quarterback and three-year letterman for coach Tom Owen, who has called Rowan the best all-around athlete I ever coached. Ross Feltman, the HHS basketball coach at the time, also said the same thing. Says Owen: Robby could beat you in football, basketball and tennis. He could also beat you in billiards, ping-pong, swimming, diving or racket ball. Hes just one of the all-time great athletes to play in the city. Rowans admiration for Owen is just as strong. Apart from the model set by my father, he says, I have to say that Coach Owen had the greatest impact on me, both athletically and personally, during my high school years. He was a great coach who was driven to win, and so encouraging to his team that we felt we could beat anyone. He challenged me as a quarterback. But his patience and caring during my two injuries in 1967 and 1968 were instrumental as I look back at a coach who cared for you outside of competition. He has been a great inspiration to me and to many other and I must say all my coaches from B.J. Allison to Coach Ben Berry to Coach Bryant have been all a young man would ever dream of, but Coach Owens touch, words, encouragement and charisma have been the ingredients that have really made me more than I deserve. Rowan went on to play football for Paul Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama. Although Rowan was slowed by injuries in college, Sang Lyda, the Crimson Tide trainer at the time, called him one of the two or three best all-around athletes Ive ever seen. A 1973 graduate of Alabama, Rowan has been a State Farm insurance agent for the past 32 years. He and his wife, Leila Anne, have four children: Robert Jr., Eleanor Anne, Billy and Sarah.