College football: Ranking the NFL careers of Heisman Trophy winners 1975-2005

Ranking NFL careers of Heisman winners: 27. Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska

Eric Crouch’s career in the NFL just seemed to explode in the worst-possible way basically the second it started. He’s probably the test case for Lamar Jackson to outright refuse to move positions when he came to the NFL. Crouch won multiple awards in college, and he left school with over a dozen Nebraska and NCAA records to his name. The dual threat was almost impossible to stop in college, and it directly led to wins for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Once he got to the NFL, teams weren’t willing to take a chance on a quarterback who’s main asset was speed when he wasn’t standing over 6’0 tall. Crouch was moved to wide receiver by the then-St. Louis Rams. To be fair, it would be incredibly difficult to go from the triple option to a traditional NFL offense, but Crouch seemed committed to trying. Unfortunately, Rams head coach Mike Martz wasn’t so keen on “trying it out”.

So, Crouch did the unthinkable. He quit. Well, technically he retired. He was 23 years old, he suffered a few offseason injuries, and he left the game of football that didn’t want him to play quarterback anymore. He apparently said he would play wide receiver in pre-draft meetings. The passion was never there for Crouch at that position, and he wasn’t willing to learn under Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. Crouch just wanted to play quarterback, and when his first offseason became a frustrating one, he walked away from the game entirely.

Crouch was finally able to play quarterback at a professional level. He signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 2006. He had a chance to fight for the starting job the next season, but injuries were his downfall. He has done analyst work, a little coaching, and he even owns a sales company in Nebraska, but he’ll always be considered the guy who could never make it work in the NFL without even trying.