{mosimage} Name: Jack Crawford
Position: Defensive End

Richland (NJ) St. Augustine Prep

Ht: 6-foot-6

Wt: 250 lbs

Forty: 4.55 secs
Class:2008

Best guess right now is that it is between Rutgers and Penn State. Other schools may creep in. He wants to decide early September.

08/27/07

It is being reported today that Jack Crawford issued his verbal committment to play for Penn State. Crawford is an intriguing recruit and it should be interesting to see his development at the next level.

Crawford finds football
By KEVIN MINNICK
Courier-Post Staff

A year ago, Jack Crawford was an international student at St. Augustine Prep who didn't know a whole lot about American football.

If you were playing Trivial Pursuit with a bunch of friends, he probably wouldn't be much help if an NFL question popped up.

But as the year progressed, so did Crawford's take on the game. He put on shoulder pads for the first time last fall and has made monumental strides in a very short period of time.

In fact, his ability to play the game has been so impressive that nearly two dozen Division I schools have already offered full scholarships to the London native.

"When I first saw him in the hallways, he looked like a man," coach Dennis Scuderi said of the 6-foot-6, 250-pound senior. "He said he never played football, so I asked him to give it a try.

"A lot of guys see him on film and can't believe it. He has tremendous upside. He's a monster."

Schools that have already made scholarship offers include Penn State, Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Temple, Akron, Boston College, Maryland, Arizona State and Purdue.

Crawford said he'd like to remain in the area or at least somewhere within a relatively short drive of his adopted home in South Jersey.

"I guess I just got lucky," said Crawford, who enrolled at St. Augustine beginning in his sophomore year and planned to concentrate on basketball. "I didn't know that I'd do so well and have an opportunity to play at a high level. I'll start to get more serious as time progresses.

"Since last season, I've picked up more and more. I've seen personal trainers, strength trainers. I'm working on technique and have definitely come a long way since when I first started playing."

Crawford has consistently run the 40-yard dash between 4.55 and 4.64 seconds.

According to rivals.com, Crawford is No. 28 nationally among strongside defensive ends and No. 17 among all players in New Jersey. He is No. 65 overall in the East region by Scout.com in its latest rankings.

Pretty good for someone who was recruited out of the school's hallways.

"We didn't give him a lot last year," Scuderi said. "We brought Jack along slowly. He's taken baby steps and needs a lot of coaching. But you could see at the end of last year that he was getting better and better. It's amazing."

The key to Crawford's success?

"I took to the game quickly and enjoyed it," said Crawford, who noted that he played soccer, rugby, cricket, boxing and basketball growing up in England.

"Going into the season, I only played half a month. I like the spirit, the intensity. It's a great sport, a lot of fun. There's a lot of hard hitting.

The aggression is something I like, and the intensity. It's a high-tempo game and I really like the whole atmosphere."

And what do family and friends back in London think of his success in American football?

"They think it's great," he said in his British accent. "They don't know much about it -- nobody does. Most of what they know is from movies.

"My mom is just overwhelmed and really doesn't understand that they won't have to pay for my college education. My dad said to go Ivy League. He's real strict, but he's starting to be more lenient and realizes that I have a shot to go big time."

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

snail said:

	this kid is a snail
	report abuse vote down vote up

June 02, 2008
Votes: +0

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment