Biography

Crawford attended high school in

Winamac, Indiana Winamac is a town in Monroe Township, Pulaski County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,490 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Pulaski County. History The town's name came from the Potawatomi word for "catfish." It ...

, where be competed in football, baseball, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, graduating in 1974. He initially planned to attend

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

and study

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

. His older brother, Keven, encourage him to attend Franklin College in Indiana, which offered the younger Crawford a track scholarship. Crawford then played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Franklin Grizzlies Franklin College is a private liberal arts college in Franklin, Indiana. It was founded in 1834 and has a wooded campus spanning 207 acres including athletic fields and a 31-acre biology woodland. The college offers its approximately 1,000 stu ...

for the 1974 through 1977 seasons. A

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, he set single-season and career interception records—9 and 25, respectively—for Franklin; these records still stood as of 2013. He was recognized three times as a

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n defensive back within

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) Division II schools, becoming the first football player at Franklin to earn first-team honors, achieved during his sophomore season. During his junior season, he had four interceptions in a game against Saint Joseph's College of Indiana. Also a

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

, he averaged 20.3 yards per return for his college career and had a 97-yard

kickoff return A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to ''return ...

during his senior season. Crawford also competed in track and field for Franklin, as a sprinter and in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. At the time he graduated from Franklin, he held the school's record in the long jump at . After graduating from Franklin in 1978, Crawford earned a

medical degree A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...

from the

Indiana University School of Dentistry The Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) is the dental school of Indiana University. It is located on the Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis campus in downtown Indianapolis. It is the only dental school in Indiana. ...

in 1982. He then worked as a dentist in Winamac. Crawford was inducted to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1986, Franklin College's athletic hall of fame in 1989, and the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 2000. 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 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

outside of

Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

. Crawford died in May 2023 at the age of 67.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Brad 1955 births 2023 deaths Players of American football from Indiana People from Pulaski County, Indiana American football cornerbacks American football return specialists Franklin Grizzlies football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis alumni American male long jumpers American dentists American male sprinters