Crowell attended George Washington Carver High School in Columbus, Georgia, where he played football and ran track.

[8] Starting running back Washaun Ealey's transferring to Jacksonville State in the spring led to a vacancy at that position for the 2011 season at the University of Georgia.

[12][13] However, it was his fine performance against South Carolina on September 10 that created Crowell's chance to take over the starting role as tailback as the 6–0, 215-pound true freshman scored two touchdowns while rushing 16 times for 118 yards and catching two passes for 40 yards against the Gamecocks in a 45–42 heartbreaking loss to Coach Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks.

[14][15] Against Coastal Carolina, Crowell had 16 rushes for 86 yards and highlighted his performance with a 27-yard touchdown run to open the game as Georgia went on to defeat the Chanticleers 59–0.

[16] During the season, Crowell had some breakout performances, such as his 30 carries, 147 yard-outing against Ole Miss on September 24 in Oxford, Mississippi, as Georgia won 27–13.

[17][18] Crowell followed up the Ole Miss performance with 104 yards rushing against Mississippi State on October 1 as Georgia defeated the MSU Bulldogs, 24–10.

[19][20] He apparently had scored on a 49-yard touchdown run in the contest, but that play was cut short to only 14 yards after the line judge had determined that Crowell's shoe had just touched the sideline — it appeared to be very close according to video replay.

[22][23] Later in the season on October 29, Crowell helped Georgia win a narrow victory against SEC East rival Florida 24–20 as the true freshman ran with the football 18 times for 81 yards.

[24] Crowell had another breakout performance – this one against Auburn as he rushed 24 times for 132 yards and a touchdown on November 12 as Georgia won convincingly by a score of 45–7.

[25] An injury slowed Crowell down near the end of the regular season as he suffered a high ankle sprain on November 19 against Kentucky as the running back finished with two rushes for 11 yards.

Georgia played nationally ranked #1 LSU (12–0) in the SEC Championship Game on December 3 as Crowell and the Bulldogs would go on to take a lead and go into the locker room at halftime up 10–7.

LSU, led by defensive back-punt returner Tyrann Mathieu, exploded in the second half as the Tigers won the contest, 42–10.

[30][31][32] The Georgia Bulldogs were invited to play #12 Michigan State (10–3) in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida, on January 2.

[34][35] Crowell was dismissed from the University of Georgia football team due to his arrest and his constant disciplinary problems—including failing a drug test.

[38][39] In the 2013 season, Crowell helped lead Alabama State to an 8–4 record, good for third place in the SWAC East Division.

[48] In Week 1, Crowell made his NFL debut, running for 32 yards on five carries and two touchdowns in a 30–27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[52] Crowell was ranked second in rushing touchdowns among rookies, just behind Cincinnati Bengals' running back Jeremy Hill.

[80] After running for one of his touchdowns, he used the football to simulate cleaning himself after defecation, then threw the ball into the stands, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

[81] During Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Crowell finished with 219 rushing yards, including a 77-yard touchdown run as the Jets won 34–16.

[90] In July 2016, following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Crowell posted on his Instagram a controversial violent image of a faceless person dressed in black who was slitting the throat of a captive law enforcement officer with a knife; he later had the photo deleted and apologized for his actions.