Age: 23
1st
season in pro football
College: Memphis
State
Height: 5’10” Weight: 185
Prelude:
Crawford
caught 63 passes for 1117 yards (17.7 avg.) and five touchdowns and averaged
21.3 yards on 45 kickoff returns in college. The Showboats took him in the 1984
USFL territorial draft and he proved to be productive as both the team’s top
pass receiver as well as a kick returner.
1984 Season Summary
Appeared in all
18 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Pass
Receiving
Receptions – 61
[13]
Most
receptions, game – 6 (for 21 yds.) at Los Angeles 4/14, (for 86 yds.) at Tampa
Bay 6/9, (for 52 yds.) vs. Birmingham 6/16
Yards – 703
Most yards,
game – 86 (on 6 catches) at Tampa Bay 6/9
Average gain
– 11.5
TDs – 12 [4]
Rushing
Attempts – 13
Yards – 27
Average gain
– 2.1
TDs – 0
Kickoff
Returns
Returns – 47
[1]
Yards – 1237
[1]
Most yards,
game – 152 (on 4 ret.) at Oakland 5/19
Average per
return – 26.3 [1]
TDs – 1 [1,
tied with Clarence Verdin & Greg Taylor]
Longest
return – 97 yards
Punt Returns
Returns – 3
Yards – -1
Average per
return – -0.3
TDs – 0
Longest
return – 1 yard
Scoring
TDs – 13 [9,
tied with four others]
Points – 78
Awards &
Honors:
1st
team All-USFL: League, Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly, College & Pro
Football Newsweekly
Showboats
went 7-11 to finish fourth in the USFL Southern Division.
Aftermath:
Crawford
followed up in 1985 with 70 catches for 1057 yards (15.1 avg.) and 9 touchdowns.
He was used less for returning kickoffs, averaging 23.9 yards on 11 returns,
but had a touchdown among his eight punt returns. With the demise of the USFL, Crawford
signed with the 49ers, who had selected him in the 1984 NFL supplemental draft,
for 1986. He caught just five passes as a backup wide receiver and averaged 18.7
yards on 15 kickoff returns in his one year in San Francisco. Crawford later moved
on to the CFL where he spent four seasons with the Calgary Stampeders, catching
174 passes for 3026 yards and 27 TDs. His best seasons came in 1990, when he
gained 1096 yards on 57 pass receptions that included 11 touchdowns and he
received All-Western Division recognition and 1993, when he again caught 57
passes for 1007 yards and 10 TDs. Crawford’s career ended with a three-game
stint with Birmingham in ’95. Overall in the USFL, Crawford had 131 catches for
1760 yards and 21 touchdowns and averaged 25.9 yards on 58 kickoff returns.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
