[3] Crawford played at tackle and end for Wallace Wade's Duke Blue Devils, selected All-Southern in 1932[4] and a consensus All-American in 1933.

[5] Crawford was the first football player to gain first-team All-America honors from the state of North Carolina.

[6] It caused Tennessee coach Bob Neyland to remark: "He gave the finest exhibition of tackle play I have ever seen.

[9] One description of Crawford's play said he was "a hell-for-leather, hard-hitting, hard-charging, fast-running juggernaut" who "covered punts like a run-away express'" and "charged through the line like a lion going in for the kill.

"[11] After a brief motion picture career,[12] including an appearance in 1934's Bright Eyes starring Shirley Temple,[13] Crawford played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears.