{{Short description|American football player (1912–1996)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox NFL biography | name = Elmer Ward | image = Elmer Ward (1937).jpg | caption = Ward, c. 1937 | number = | position = Center | birth_date = {{birth date|1912|10|13}} | birth_place = Willard, Utah, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1996|3|26|1912|10|13}} | death_place = Ogden, Utah, U.S. | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 2 | weight_lbs = 215 | high_school = Box Elder (Brigham City, Utah) | college = Utah State | undraftedyear = | pastteams = * Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|1935}}) | highlights = * NFL champion (1935) * First-team All-American (1934) | CollegeHOF = | pfr = WardEl20 }}
'''Elmer Henry "Bear" Ward''' (October 13, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was an American football player. Ward was born in Willard, Utah, and attended Box Elder High School in Brigham City, Utah. He then enrolled at Utah State Agricultural College where he played college football for the Utah State Aggies football team. He was selected by the Newspaper Enterprise Association as a first-team center on the 1934 College Football All-America Team. He also played professional football for the NFL champion Detroit Lions during the 1935 NFL season.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elmer Ward|publisher=Sports Reference LLC |work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|accessdate=January 16, 2015|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WardEl20.htm}}</ref> He was Utah State's first All-American athlete in any sport, and he was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hall of Fame Honorees|publisher=Utah Sports Hall of Fame|accessdate=January 16, 2015|url=http://www.utahsportshalloffame.org/honorees/hall-of-fame.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220012627/http://utahsportshalloffame.org/honorees/hall-of-fame.html|archive-date=February 20, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> He has also been inducted into the Utah State University Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news|title=Elmer H. "Bear" Ward|newspaper=Deseret News|date=March 27, 1996|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/479870/DEATH--ELMER-H-BEAR-WARD.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060037/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/479870/DEATH--ELMER-H-BEAR-WARD.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{1935 Detroit Lions}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Elmer}} Category:1912 births Category:1996 deaths Category:American football centers Category:Utah State Aggies football players Category:Detroit Lions players Category:Players of American football from Utah Category:People from Willard, Utah Category:Sportspeople from Box Elder County, Utah Category:20th-century American sportsmen