Position | Cornerback / Kick returner |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Born: | Logansport, Indiana, U.S. | December 13, 1955
Died: | May 21, 2023 Winamac, Indiana, U.S. | (aged 67)
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
Weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
Career history | |
College | Franklin (1974–1977) |
High school | Winamac Community (IN) |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
College Football Hall of Fame (2000) |
Bradley Neal Crawford (December 13, 1955 – May 21, 2023) was an American gridiron football player and dentist.
Crawford attended high school in Winamac, Indiana, where be competed in football, baseball, and track and field, [1] graduating in 1974. [2] He initially planned to attend Purdue University and study biochemistry. [3] His older brother, Keven, encourage him to attend Franklin College in Indiana, which offered the younger Crawford a track scholarship. [1]
Crawford then played college football for the Franklin Grizzlies for the 1974 through 1977 seasons. [2] A defensive back, he set single-season and career interception records—9 and 25, respectively—for Franklin; these records still stood as of 2013. [2] He was recognized three times as a All-American defensive back within National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II schools, [3] becoming the first football player at Franklin to earn first-team honors, achieved during his sophomore season. [1] [4] During his junior season, he had four interceptions in a game against Saint Joseph's College of Indiana. [5] Also a return specialist, he averaged 20.3 yards per return for his college career and had a 97-yard kickoff return during his senior season. [3]
Crawford also competed in track and field for Franklin, as a sprinter and in the long jump. [2] At the time he graduated from Franklin, he held the school's record in the long jump at 22 feet 10+3⁄4 inches (6.979 m). [3]
After graduating from Franklin in 1978, Crawford earned a medical degree from the Indiana University School of Dentistry in 1982. [2] He then worked as a dentist in Winamac. [2]
Crawford was inducted to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1986, [6] Franklin College's athletic hall of fame in 1989, [7] and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. [8] [9] In 2013, USA Football News initiated the Brad Crawford Defensive Back of the Year Award, awarded annually to a player in the NAIA or NCAA outside of Division I FBS. [10]
Crawford died in May 2023 at the age of 67. [6] [11]