Frank Crawford

Francis Bemis Crawford Jr. (March 12, 1870 – November 25, 1963) was an American college football player and coach, lawyer, and law professor.

Crawford attended Yale University and served as a lawyer in Nebraska and France following his retirement from football.

As a first-year law student, Crawford was both the unpaid coach and a substitute player for the 1891 Michigan Wolverines football team.

[9][10] Other sources indicate that Crawford and Mike Murphy were the joint head coaches of the 1891 Michigan football team.

[5] The Chicago Daily Tribune reported in November 1891 that the Michigan team was "coached systematically" by Murphy, Crawford, Horace Greely Prettyman and James Duffy.

"[16] In November 1892, Crawford served as "a paid coach-captain player" for the football team at Baker University at Baldwin, Kansas.

[19] In December 1892, the Leavenworth Times reported that Crawford had "succeeded in instilling sufficient foot ball lore into the western farmers to accomplish the defeat of the University of Kansas team by the Baker eleven last week.

After starting the 1893 season with a 2–2–1 record, Crawford's team defeated Iowa, 20–18, in a match played in near-blizzard conditions and considered the "first major victory" in Nebraska history.

Crawford reportedly also played right halfback and kicked the field goals for Nebraska during the 1893 Iowa game; he was identified in the record book as "Frank."

"[24] Crawford led the 1895 Longhorns to a perfect 5–0 record, as the team outscored its opponents by a combined 96–0 margin After a Thanksgiving Day victory over San Antonio by a score of 38–0, Crawford reportedly left for Mexico to watch bullfights and then returned to his home in Nebraska.

[6] Jefferis was a classmate and teammate with Crawford on the baseball and football teams at the University of Michigan and later served in the United States House of Representatives.

[30][31] Crawford later lived in Winchester, Massachusetts, and in the 1950s moved to Freeport, Maine to reside in the home of his cousin, Helen Randall.

Crawford as law professor at Creighton, 1909.