Professional football player. He was a tackle on Tennessee teams that played in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl and was captain of the 1947 team. He was a standout athlete at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, graduating in 1941. As a sophomore, he was on the Vols' 9-1-1 team that defeated Tulsa in the Sugar Bowl. While serving in the military in World War II, he played service football for the Maxwell Field Marauders in 1944 and the AAFTC Skymasters in 1945. He returned to Tennessee to play on a 9-2 team that lost to Rice in the Orange Bowl after the 1946 season. He was a guard and tackle on the New York Yankees pro football team in the All American Football Conference in 1948. After that stint, he spent most of his career coaching football — at Washington and Lee, Maryland, Mississippi State, Minnesota and finally at Sullivan Central, in his home county. "Denver devised the Maryland defense that beat us in the 1952 Sugar Bowl," said Pat Shires, who was a junior tailback at UT that season. "But then he joined Murray Warmath's staff at Mississippi State the next year." Crawford was most remembered for his block that cleared the way for a long punt return against Vanderbilt — one that took out three Commodores. "I remember it well," said Hal Littleford, a tailback and punt returner. "I was right behind him."
Professional football player. He was a tackle on Tennessee teams that played in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl and was captain of the 1947 team. He was a standout athlete at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, graduating in 1941. As a sophomore, he was on the Vols' 9-1-1 team that defeated Tulsa in the Sugar Bowl. While serving in the military in World War II, he played service football for the Maxwell Field Marauders in 1944 and the AAFTC Skymasters in 1945. He returned to Tennessee to play on a 9-2 team that lost to Rice in the Orange Bowl after the 1946 season. He was a guard and tackle on the New York Yankees pro football team in the All American Football Conference in 1948. After that stint, he spent most of his career coaching football — at Washington and Lee, Maryland, Mississippi State, Minnesota and finally at Sullivan Central, in his home county. "Denver devised the Maryland defense that beat us in the 1952 Sugar Bowl," said Pat Shires, who was a junior tailback at UT that season. "But then he joined Murray Warmath's staff at Mississippi State the next year." Crawford was most remembered for his block that cleared the way for a long punt return against Vanderbilt — one that took out three Commodores. "I remember it well," said Hal Littleford, a tailback and punt returner. "I was right behind him."
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