 Crow atKyle Field in 2012 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 44 | |||||||||||||||
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| Positions | Halfback,tight end | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1935-07-08)July 8, 1935 Marion, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | June 17, 2015(2015-06-17) (aged 79) Bryan, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Springhill (Springhill, Louisiana) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Texas A&M (1955–1957) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1958: 1st round,2nd overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||
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Operations | |||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||
| Career | 20–34–1 (.373) | ||||||||||||||
| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||||||||
John David Crow Sr. (July 8, 1935 – June 17, 2015) was an American professionalfootball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He won theHeisman Trophy in 1957 as ahalfback playing for theTexas A&M Aggies. After college, he played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theChicago /St. Louis Cardinals and theSan Francisco 49ers from 1958 to 1968.
After his playing career, Crow became an assistant football coach for theAlabama Crimson Tide football team of theUniversity of Alabama, serving under coachBear Bryant from 1969 to 1971 He moved to the NFL as an assistant with theCleveland Browns in 1972, and then theSan Diego Chargers in 1974. In December 1975, Crow was hired as head football coach andathletic director at Northeast Louisiana University—now theUniversity of Louisiana at Monroe. He coached the football team for five seasons, from 1976 to 1980, compiling a record of 20–34–1. He remained as athletic director until 1981. Crow returned to his alma mater, Texas A&M, in 1983 as an assistant athletic director. He was promoted to athletic director in 1988 and served in that capacity until 1993.
Crow was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1976. A street on the campus ofTexas A&M University adjacent toKyle Field is named after him.
In 2009 Erle and Alice Nye commissioned a twice life size bronze statue of Crow, and donated the $250,000 monument to Texas A&M University, sculpted bySteven Whyte.
A native ofMarion inUnion Parish inNorth Louisiana, Crow was raised to the west inSpringhill in northernWebster Parish near theArkansas state line. He graduated in 1954 fromSpringhill High School.
Under coachBear Bryant at Texas A&M, Crow was not one of the "Junction Boys," since he was a freshman in1954, Bryant's first season, and was thus ineligible to play on the varsity under NCAA rules at the time. In 1956, Crow was part of thefirst Aggie football team to beat theUniversity of Texas atDarrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.[1]
In Crow's senior season in1957, the Aggies opened with eight wins and were ranked first in theAP poll.[2] The Aggies lost their last three games after uncertainty over whether head coachBear Bryant would be leaving.[3] Although injured early in the season, Crow was able to play in seven games in his senior season. He rushed for 562 yards on 129 carries, with six touchdowns. Crow also caught two passes and passed for five touchdowns. While playing on defense, he intercepted the ball five times.[4] During the 1957 season, Bryant famously quipped, "If John David Crow doesn't win the Heisman Trophy, they ought to stop giving it."[5]
Crow was named amAll-American,[4] and won theHeisman Trophy on December 3 over runner-upIowa tackleAlex Karras, followed byMichigan State halfbackWalt Kowalczyk.[3][6][7] Crow claims not to have understood the importance of the award until sponsors flew his family and him toNew York City for the presentation.[8] He was the first Aggie to win the Heisman, and he was the only one of Bryant's players to win.[3][9] Bryant then left forAlabama shortly after Crow received the Heisman.[10]
In the1958 NFL draft, Crow was the second overall pick, selected by theChicago Cardinals. He played eleven seasons in the NFL and appeared in fourPro Bowls.[8][10]
In his first season, he played in seven games and rushed 52 times for 221 yards while catching twenty passes for 362 yards; he scored five total touchdowns. He also returned six kicks for 145 yards. Crow's first touchdown occurred in his first game on September 28 when he recovered a fumble in the end zone.[11] The following year, he would improve by playing in twelve games while recording a total of 994 scrimmage yards (666 rushing, 328 receiving) with seven total touchdowns and a Pro Bowl selection.
Crow followed the team toSt. Louis in1960. That year, he had his first and only 1,000 yard rushing season with 1,071 yards on 183 carries; he led the league in yards per carry (5.9), yards from scrimmage (1,533), and fumbles (eleven). On December 18, 1960, he rushed for his only 200-yard game when he ran for 203 yards on 24 carries in a 38–7 victory over Pittsburgh. He was named to the Pro Bowl again while also receiving votes for MVP within UPI. However, he could not maintain his highs in1961. He played in eight games and rushed for just 192 yards with 306 receiving yards that year.
The next year, Crow saw action in 14 games and rushed for 751 yards on 192 carries while catching 23 passes for 246 yards; he scored a career high seventeen touchdowns while dubiously leading the league in fumbles (fourteen). Crow's best game came on December 12, 1962, when he recorded 21 carries for 95 yards with three touchdowns before adding another on his lone reception from sixteen yards out as the Cardinals won 45–35 over thePhiladelphia Eagles. It was the only time he had four touchdowns in a game and the only time he rushed for three touchdowns.[12] Crow would be hindered by injuries in 1963, playing just three games (week 5–7), although he did record one touchdown on a ten-yard pass that helped in a 24–23 victory over Pittsburgh.[13]
He played in thirteen games the following year, rushing for 554 yards on 163 carries while catching 23 passes for 257 yards. It would be his final season with the Cardinals.
Crow was traded to theSan Francisco 49ers ahead of the1965 season for veteran defensive backAbe Woodson,[14] he played fourteen games and rushed for 514 yards with 132 carries while catching 28 passes for 493 yards; he made his fourth and final Pro Bowl while receiving votes for Comeback Player of the Year. He rushed for over 475 yards with receiving yards of over 300 in each of the next two seasons while playing in all fourteen games. Crow finished his career with theSan Francisco 49ers.[8][15] Crow received the annual Len Eshmont Award twice, in1966 and1967, voted by the players and given to the 49er who best exemplifies the "inspirational and courageous play" ofLen Eshmont. In his final season in1968, he primarily playedtight end, and he caught 31 passes for 531 yards with five touchdowns.[16]
In total, Crow scored 74 touchdowns over his career (38 rushing, 35 receiving, one fumble recovery) while also throwing five touchdown passes. His 74 touchdowns were 13th best all-time in football history upon his retirement.[17] In 125 games, he rushed for 4,963 yards on 1,157 carries while catching 258 passes for 3,699 yards.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1958 | CRD | 7 | 6 | 52 | 221 | 4.3 | 83 | 2 | 20 | 362 | 18.1 | 91 | 3 |
| 1959 | CRD | 12 | 11 | 140 | 666 | 4.8 | 73 | 3 | 27 | 328 | 12.1 | 36 | 4 |
| 1960 | STL | 12 | 12 | 183 | 1,071 | 5.9 | 57 | 6 | 25 | 462 | 18.5 | 52 | 3 |
| 1961 | STL | 8 | 7 | 48 | 192 | 4.0 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 306 | 15.3 | 35 | 3 |
| 1962 | STL | 14 | 14 | 192 | 751 | 3.9 | 35 | 14 | 23 | 246 | 10.7 | 53 | 3 |
| 1963 | STL | 3 | 0 | 9 | 34 | 3.8 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1964 | STL | 13 | 11 | 163 | 554 | 3.4 | 57 | 7 | 23 | 257 | 11.2 | 22 | 1 |
| 1965 | SF | 14 | 13 | 132 | 514 | 3.9 | 30 | 2 | 28 | 493 | 17.6 | 54 | 7 |
| 1966 | SF | 14 | 14 | 121 | 477 | 3.9 | 31 | 1 | 30 | 341 | 11.4 | 54 | 3 |
| 1967 | SF | 14 | 14 | 113 | 479 | 4.2 | 39 | 2 | 31 | 373 | 12.0 | 59 | 3 |
| 1968 | SF | 14 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 531 | 17.1 | 54 | 5 |
| Career | 125 | 116 | 1,157 | 4,963 | 4.3 | 83 | 38 | 258 | 3,699 | 14.3 | 91 | 35 | |
When his playing career ended, Crow became a coach. In1969, he was named the offensive backfield coach under Bryant at Alabama, a position he retained until1971.[4] He was personally close to Bryant, under whom Crow's son, John David "Johnny" Crow Jr., played at Alabama.[18]
He later worked as an assistant coach with theCleveland Browns and theSan Diego Chargers.[15]
Crow was the sixth head football coach forNortheast Louisiana University—now theUniversity of Louisiana at Monroe—and he held that position for five seasons, from 1976 until 1980, with a record of 20–34–1 (.373).[19]
Crow became theathletic director and head football coach at Northeast Louisiana University in 1975.[4] He remained there until 1981, when he left to pursue private business opportunities.[20]
In 1983, he became assistant athletic director at Texas A&M underJackie Sherrill, who served as both athletic director and head coach of the football team. Crow handled most duties for all sports except football, which Sherrill oversaw.[20] He was promoted toathletic director at the end of the 1988 football season when Sherrill resigned in the midst of a scandal. Texas A&M President William Mobley hiredR. C. Slocum, Sherrill'sdefensive coordinator, as the new head football coach.[21] In a press conference the day after his appointment, Crow announced, "I want to reaffirm my commitment to full compliance with the NCAA, Southwest Conference, and Texas A&M University regulations in our athletic department."[22]
After a public row in January 1990, Crow fired long-timeAggies basketball coachShelby Metcalf, who had coached at Texas A&M for 32 years, with fiveSouthwest Conference championships. The relationship between the men had often been described as bitter, and Crow cited "uncalled-for criticism" in his firing of Metcalf, who was not given the opportunity to say goodbye to his players. When asked by the media what happened between the two, Metcalf remarked, "I made a comment that I didn't think John David was all that bright. And I thought I was being generous." Crow appointedKermit Davis to replace Metcalf.[23]
Later that year, afterArkansas left the Southwest Conference, Crow andDeLoss Dodds, the athletic director at the University of Texas, met with officials from thePac-10 Conference about aligning with that conference. The two later cancelled a similar meeting with officials from theSoutheastern Conference.[24]
Crow resigned from his position as athletic director in April 1993 to invest as a limited partner in a greyhound racetrack. At the time of his resignation, the Texas A&M football program was embroiled in a scandal over students accepting money from boosters for jobs they had not performed. He was succeeded as athletic director by Wally Groff. As a result of the scandal, the Texas A&M football program was placed on five years probation and was banned from television or postseason appearances for one year.[25]He then took a job as the fundraiser for the university until 2001, when he retired.[3]
Crow was elected to theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1976.[4] In 2004, Crow was awarded the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award, presented annually by the SMU Athletic Forum. The award is given to former college football running backs who had excellent college careers and later became leaders in their community.[15] In 1976, he was inducted into theLouisiana Sports Hall of Fame inNatchitoches.
Crow retired inCollege Station, Texas.[3] In an interview with theBryan-College Station Eagle, Crow said, "I tell everybody that A&M is my true love and that I want us to win everything that we do, but Alabama is a close second because of the ties I had with Coach Bryant, and with my son playing over there.[18]
He died at ahospice inBryan, Texas, on June 17, 2015; he was 79 years old, three weeks shy of his 80th birthday.[26] In addition to their son, Crow and his high school sweetheart and wife of more than 60 years, the former Carolyn Gilliam, have two surviving daughters, Annalisa Stenklyft and husband, Jay, and Jeannie Pietrowiak and husband, Ken; daughter-in-law, Janice Crow, and seven grandchildren.[27] He wascremated. A public reception was held in his memory on June 23 atReed Arena in College Station.[28]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast Louisiana Indians(Division I / I-A independent)(1976–1980) | |||||||||
| 1976 | Northeast Louisiana | 2–9 | |||||||
| 1977 | Northeast Louisiana | 2–9 | |||||||
| 1978 | Northeast Louisiana | 6–4–1 | |||||||
| 1979 | Northeast Louisiana | 3–8 | |||||||
| 1980 | Northeast Louisiana | 7–4 | |||||||
| Northeast Louisiana: | 20–34–1 | ||||||||
| Total: | 20–34–1 | ||||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |