He played college football at Auburn University along with future NFL backs William Andrews and James Brooks.

In the spring of 1984, Cribbs left the Bills in a contract dispute and signed on as a member of the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL).

Cribbs was to serve as the president of Team Alabama of the AAFL, which suspended operations shortly before it was slated to play its first games.

Almost immediately, Cribbs was named commissioner of the United National Gridiron League, which likewise failed ever to play a game.

On September 7, 1980, Cribbs contributed 131 combined yards of offense as the Bills would snap a 20-game losing streak versus the Dolphins, winning in a 17–7 final.

This was placed in the contract in order to protect Buffalo in case there was no collective bargaining agreement and to prevent another NFL team from signing Cribbs in that event.

[4] Herschel Walker made the jump from college football to the USFL, becoming the league's highest paid player at $6 million over four years.

During this return stint in the NFL, Cribbs never came truly close to the level of consistency which had put him into three consecutive Pro Bowls early in the decade.