.jpg) Cribbs in 2011 | |||||||||
| No. 20, 28, 30 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Running back | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1958-01-05)January 5, 1958 (age 67) Sulligent, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Sulligent (AL) | ||||||||
| College: | Auburn | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1980: 2nd round, 29th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Joe Stanier Cribbs (born January 5, 1958) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back in theNational Football League (NFL) andUnited States Football League (USFL). He playedcollege football atAuburn University along with future NFL backsWilliam Andrews andJames Brooks. He began his professional career in 1980 with theBuffalo Bills.
After being drafted in the second round of the1980 NFL draft, Cribbs went on to start all 16 games of hisrookie year with Buffalo, finishing with 1185 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. His performance earned him consensusUPI AFC Rookie of the Year honors and a spot in thePro Bowl, the only rookie chosen as astarter that year. In five seasons with the team, split around a detour with the USFL, Cribbs had 13 100-yard games and ran for 1,000 yards in a season three times.
In the spring of 1984, Cribbs left the Bills in a contract dispute and signed on as a member of theBirmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). His nephew is former wide receiverJosh Cribbs.
Cribbs was to serve as the president ofTeam Alabama of theAAFL, which suspended operations shortly before it was slated to play its first games. Almost immediately, Cribbs was named commissioner of theUnited National Gridiron League, which likewise failed ever to play a game.[1]
Joe Cribbs played college football at Auburn. He played his first college football game in 1976, and when the season was over, he had 171 yards on 43 rushing attempts. He got more playing time in 1977, with 872 yards on 161 rushing attempts. He scored four touchdowns as a rusher. He also caught six passes for 51 yards.
1978 was the breakout year. Cribbs rushed for 1,205 yards in 253 attempts, scoring 16 touchdowns, and averaging well over hundred yards a game. He was a threat out of the backfield as well, catching right passes. He was also used on gadget plays as well. Cribbs passed the ball four times, completing three passes for 74 yards.
In 1979, Cribbs final season at Auburn, Cribbs had 200 rushing attempts for 1,120 yards, and scored 14 touchdowns rushing[2]
.jpg)
Cribbs was an immediate success playing for the NFL team which drafted him, theBuffalo Bills, and was named theAmerican Football ConferenceRookie of the Year for the1980 season and as a starter in the Pro Bowl. On September 7, 1980, Cribbs contributed 131 combined yards of offense as the Bills would snap a 20-game losing streak versus the Dolphins, winning in a 17–7 final.[3] He also played very well in each of the two subsequent seasons and was named to the Pro Bowl again following each. When the NFL played an abbreviated 9 game schedule due to thestrike-shortened season in 1982, Cribbs was only able to play in 7 games but nonetheless led the league with 90.4 rushing yards per game. Cribbs was not exactly happy in Buffalo, however, as he especially disliked playing in their infamous cold-weather home games. With one year left on his contract with the Bills, Cribbs signed a contract with the Birmingham Stallions of theUSFL. In the summer of 1983, Cribbs officially inked a contract with Birmingham worth $3.5 million.
However, the Bills challenged the contract, citing that they had first right of refusal. This clause had been in Cribbs' original contract with the Buffalo Bills. This was placed in the contract in order to protect Buffalo in case there was nocollective bargaining agreement and to prevent another NFL team from signing Cribbs in that event. However, obviously there was no mention of a prohibition of any team from the USFL signing Cribbs, as that league was yet to be formed when Cribbs signed his contract with the Bills.
The trial was held in Buffalo, and one of the people testifying for the Bills was head coach Kay Stephenson, who stated that Joe Cribbs was irreplaceable in the Bills lineup. Federal JudgeJohn T. Elfvin heard the case. While the trial was going on, Cribbs continued to work out with the Stallions. When the verdict came down, Judge Elfvin ruled in favor of Cribbs, allowing him to play for the Birmingham Stallions.[4]
Herschel Walker made the jump from college football to the USFL, becoming the league's highest paid player at $6 million over four years. This played a factor in Joe Cribbs walking out of his contract with theBirmingham Stallions. Cribbs had signed a deal in 1983 worth $2.6 million to play for Birmingham, and still five years left on the contract. At the time of his walkout, Cribbs was leading the USFL in rushing.[5]
Cribbs was a fairly major star with the Stallions; however, the USFL folded after its1985 season and Cribbs then returned to play in the NFL. Cribbs played for theSan Francisco 49ers in the1986 and1987 seasons. He then divided the1988 season between theIndianapolis Colts and theMiami Dolphins prior to his retirement. During this return stint in the NFL, Cribbs never came truly close to the level of consistency which had put him into three consecutive Pro Bowls early in the decade.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Y/G | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | FR | ||
| 1980 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 306 | 1,185 | 3.9 | 74.1 | 48 | 11 | 52 | 415 | 8.0 | 21 | 1 | 16 | 1 |
| 1981 | BUF | 15 | 15 | 257 | 1,097 | 4.3 | 73.1 | 35 | 3 | 40 | 603 | 15.1 | 65 | 7 | 12 | 1 |
| 1982 | BUF | 7 | 6 | 134 | 633 | 4.7 | 90.4 | 62 | 3 | 13 | 99 | 7.6 | 31 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| 1983 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 263 | 1,131 | 4.3 | 70.7 | 45 | 3 | 57 | 524 | 9.2 | 33 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| 1984 | BUF | Sat out due to contract dispute | ||||||||||||||
| 1985 | BUF | 10 | 5 | 122 | 399 | 3.3 | 39.9 | 16 | 1 | 18 | 142 | 7.9 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 1986 | SF | 14 | 10 | 152 | 590 | 3.9 | 42.1 | 19 | 5 | 35 | 346 | 9.9 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 1987 | SF | 11 | 3 | 70 | 300 | 4.3 | 27.3 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 70 | 7.8 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1988 | IND | 1 | 0 | Did not record any stats | ||||||||||||
| MIA | 12 | 0 | 5 | 21 | 4.2 | 1.8 | 11 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |
| Career | 102 | 71 | 1,309 | 5,356 | 4.1 | 52.5 | 62 | 27 | 224 | 2,199 | 9.8 | 65 | 15 | 51 | 7 | |