He played college football for the Boise State Broncos before being selected in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft by the Cowboys.

Crawford attended Catholic Central High School in Windsor, Ontario, where he was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and track and field).

He was voted first team all-conference (Windsor & Essex County Secondary School Athletic Association) during every one of his four prep seasons.

He practiced track and field as a freshman and sophomore, winning gold medals both years in the shot put and discus in his conference and at the OFSAA championships.

In basketball as a senior, he was named the MVP in his conference and received the Bill Rogin Award, for the best player in the Ontario secondary schools.

After concentrating on just playing football and the defensive end position, he appeared in 9 games and was named first-team All-conference as freshman in 2008, while collecting 38 tackles (13 for loss), 6 sacks, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery.

In his first season at Boise State University, as a junior in 2010, Crawford appeared in each of the Broncos 13 games as a back-up weak-side defensive end.

During the regular season Melton struggled as he recovered from offseason surgery and worked through a groin strain, so Crawford was forced to play defensive tackle in week 3 against the New Orleans Saints and would earn the starter job.

He was limited with a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder that required offseason surgery, suffered in the second game of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles.

His best game came in week 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles, registering 5 quarterback hurries, 1.5 sacks, 2 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

In 2018, Crawford was switched back to defensive tackle after Maliek Collins and David Irving both started the league season with injuries or suspensions.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy announced Crawford's intention to retire from professional football on March 25, 2021.