Kevin Craft (born October 15, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and Head Coach for the IBM Big Blue in the Japanese X-League. He 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 ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

High school years

Craft attended

Valley Center High School Valley Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern San Diego County, California. The population was 9,277 at the 2010 census. History Valley Center was the site of the capture of the largest California Grizzly Bear in history. In 1866, ...

Valley Center, California Valley Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern San Diego County, California. The population was 9,277 at the 2010 census. History Valley Center was the site of the capture of the largest California Grizzly Bear in history. In 1866, ...

and was an excellent student and a letterman in football, basketball, and track. In football, he was a three-year letterman and earned All-California Interscholatic Federation honors. Kevin Craft graduated from Valley Center High School in 2004.

College career

SDSU

Craft originally attended

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, where his father, former

SDSU Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...

quarterback

Tom Craft Thomas Jay Craft (born November 12, 1953) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Riverside Community College in Riverside, California. Craft served as the head football coach at San Diego State University from 2002 to 2 ...

, was

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

. Arriving in 2005, Craft

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

ed his first year; his father was fired at the end of the season and replaced by

Chuck Long Charles Franklin Long Jr. (born February 18, 1963) is a former American football player and coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL. He played quarterback in college at Iowa for Hayden Fry ...

. Craft remained and, as a redshirt freshman, appeared in nine games and started five as the Aztecs went on to a 3–9 record in 2006; he had a 109.8 passer rating. In his first career start at San Diego State, Kevin Craft completed 20 of 32 passes for 216 yards against BYU.

Mt. SAC

Craft transferred from SDSU after the season and played football at

Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is a public community college in southern California, located in Walnut in eastern Los Angeles County. It offers more than 260 degree and certificate programs, 25 support programs, and more than 50 studen ...

(Mt. SAC) in

Walnut, California Walnut is a city in the eastern part of Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 29,172, and in 2019 the population was estimated at 29,685. The greater Walnut Valley is located betw ...

during the 2007 season; again for his father Tom, who became the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

at Mt. SAC.

UCLA

Craft transferred to UCLA in time for the 2008 spring practices. He soon found himself in as the starting

for the

UCLA Bruins Football team The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in college football as members of the Pac-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Bruins play their home games at the ...

after the two veteran starters,

Ben Olson Benjamin James Olson (born February 28, 1983) is a former American football college quarterback. He played four injury-plagued seasons of college football at UCLA, starting 10 games (and appearing in four others) with the club. High school car ...

and Patrick Cowan, both fell to extended injuries. In the Bruins opener for the 2008 season, Craft led the Bruins to a 27–24 victory against 18th ranked

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in overtime. After throwing 4 interceptions in the first half he came back to complete 18 of 25 passes for 193 yards and 1 touchdown in the second half. The Bruins finished the season with a record of 4–8 (3–6 Pac-10) and failed to participate in a post-season bowl game. He competed with

Kevin Prince Kevin Christopher Prince (born November 28, 1989) is a former American football quarterback. He played at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California. He played college football at UCLA. Prince was selected by head coach Rick Neuheise ...

and freshman

Richard Brehaut Richard Daniel Brehaut (; born June 10, 1991) is a former college football quarterback. He played college football at UCLA. Brehaut played high school football and baseball at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California, where he was a ...

for the quarterback position in 2009. In the 2009 Washington game at the Rose Bowl, Craft came in after

went out to guide the Bruins to a one-point victory, 24–23, and an end to the team's five straight Pac-10 conference losses. He had 10 of 14 completions for 159 yards with an interception.

Professional career

Cougars de Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône

France 2010-2011

In 2010, Kevin signed with the Cougars de Saint-Ouen l'Aumône, France. The Cougars play in the highest level of competition in France

Ligue Élite de Football Américain The Championnat Élite Division 1 () is the top-level American football league of France. The league was founded in 1982. History American football was introduced to France in the early 20th century, but for decades it remained an infrequent ac ...

and in the

EFAF Cup The EFAF Cup was an international competition for European American Football clubs. It was the second highest level of club competition in the European Federation of American Football (EFAF), behind the European Football League (EFL),. EFAF Cup ...

. Every team in the French national championship is eligible to sign two American players. Kevin decided to choose this challenge over his coaching job in order to try to help the Cougars to reach the national title. Craft chose the Cougars despite a late offer from the CFL

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

. During the 2010 season, Kevin completed 216 of 398 passes for 2,851 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He rushed for 245 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. The Cougars reached the playoff in both seasons without reaching the championship game.

IBM Big Blue

2012

In 2012, Kevin played for IBM Big Blue in Japanese X-league. He was an all league selection and a rookie of the year for the central division.

2013

2014

Craft passed for 199 yards in a May 31, 2014 game.

2015

Statistics

Regular season

Post season

Personal

Craft majored in sociology and participated in the 2009 UCLA commencement ceremony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craft, Kevin American football quarterbacks American expatriate players of American football Players of American football from California 1985 births Living people American expatriate sportspeople in Japan Mt. SAC Mounties football players UCLA Bruins football players San Diego State Aztecs football players Sportspeople from Escondido, California People from Valley Center, California American expatriate sportspeople in France