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Big 12 Football: 50 best players of all-time

By Randy Gurzi

COLUMBIA, MO - OCTOBER 1: Vince Young #10 of the Texas Longhorns in action against the Missouri Tigers at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field on October 1, 2005 in Columbia, Missouri. Texas defeated Missouri 51-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MO - OCTOBER 1: Vince Young #10 of the Texas Longhorns in action against the Missouri Tigers at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field on October 1, 2005 in Columbia, Missouri. Texas defeated Missouri 51-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Eric Crouch, Nebraska football
Eric Crouch #7 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers (photo by Brian Bahr /Allsport) /

QB. Cornhuskers . Eric Crouch. 18. player. 810.

Big 12 Football best players of all-time: 18. Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska football

Eric Crouch joined the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1997 but an ankle injury caused him to miss the season where they were co-National Champions. He then spent 1998 as a rotational quarterback throwing 101 passes while running the ball 96 times for 459 yards and five touchdowns.

His dual-threat ability made Crouch stand out as he had 3,434 yards and 59 touchdowns on the ground including a 1,115 yard and 18 touchdown season in 2001. That same year, he threw for 1,510 yards which was a personal-best but he had more interceptions (10) than touchdowns.
Crouch ended up winning the Heisman in 2001, which happened to be a very close race. He beat out two other quarterbacks as Rex Grossman from Florida and Ken Dorsey out of Miami were also in the mix and had fantastic seasons of their own.

His Heisman win capped off an incredible career that was full of many other honors including the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award in 2001, the Davey O’Brien Award that same season, and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in both 1999 and 2001.

Crouch was then drafted in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He was hurt by the fact that he was just 6-foot tall and was a better runner than a passer. In the end, he never caught on in the NFL. He did have a stint in the CFL and NFL Europe and continued to play through 2007 before making one last attempt with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League in 2011.

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