Crawford Francis Ker (born May 5, 1962) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. He played college football at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Early years

Ker was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, and was the only son of George and Anne Ker. His father George immigrated to the United States from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, and had previously served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

as a Buckingham Palace guard. When Ker was young, his family moved to Florida, and his father worked several jobs to support the family in

Dunedin, Florida Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and ...

; running a lawn service during the day and working at a convenience store at night. After school, and during weekends and summers, Ker followed his father's steps with his work ethic. In the mid-1970s, George managed the kitchen at a sports restaurant in Clearwater, Florida, where Ker worked as a

busboy In North America, a busser, more commonly known as a busboy or busgirl, is a person who works in the restaurant and catering industry clearing tables, taking dirty dishes to the dishwasher, setting tables, refilling and otherwise assisting t ...

while he was in high school. During school semester breaks and vacations, he also waited tables and cooked in the kitchen. Ker attended Dunedin High School in Dunedin. During his junior year in high school, he decided to become a professional football player. He had not played high school football before his junior year, but he started working out; after beginning high school at 145 pounds, he bulked up to 210. As a senior, he was named All-Conference and the Dunedin Falcons football team won a

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa– St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistic ...

championship, but no Division I football programs recruited him to play college football. He graduated in 1980, but he wanted to play at a big school to improve his chances of being drafted in the NFL, so he worked out during the first year after graduation, adding another fifty pounds to his six-foot, four-inch frame.

College career

On the advice of a friend, Ker called the football coach at Arizona Western College who invited him to

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

to the football team. As a sophomore, he was recognized as a junior college ("JUCO") All-American in 1982. The

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division ...

coaches were convinced of Ker's talent and offered him a football scholarship to attend the

for his last 2 years of eligibility in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

. Ker's nickname among his Gators teammates was "Big Daddy," and he could bench-press up to 515 pounds making him one of the strongest players in college football. He played two years for coach

Charley Pell Charles Byron Pell (February 17, 1941 – May 29, 2001) was an American college football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most notably remembere ...

and coach

Galen Hall Galen Samuel Hall (born August 14, 1940) is a retired American college and professional football coach and player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football. Hall was previously ...

's Florida Gators football teams. As a senior, he was a starter at

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, ...

on the Gator's 1984 squad that, at the time, was considered the finest Gators football team ever. The Gators' outstanding

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

was called "The Great Wall of Florida," and included Ker, Phil Bromley,

Lomas Brown Lomas Brown Jr. (born March 30, 1963) is an American former college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Brown played college f ...

, Billy Hinson and

Jeff Zimmerman Jeffrey Ross Zimmerman (born August 9, 1972) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball from 1999 to 2001 for the Texas Rangers. Baseball career Independent baseball Zimmerman played baseball in the ...

. Behind the blocking of Ker and his Great Wall teammates, the Gators' quarterback

Kerwin Bell Kerwin Douglas Bell (born June 15, 1965) is an American football coach and former player who has been the head coach of the Western Carolina Catamounts football team since 2021. Bell was born in the rural North Central Florida town of Live Oak ...

, fullback John L. Williams and halfback

Neal Anderson Charles Neal Anderson (born August 14, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Anderson played college football for ...

led the Gators to a 9–1–1 overall win–loss record and won their first

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) championship with a conference record of 5–0–1. He was recognized as a second-team All-SEC selection and an honorable mention All-American following the 1984 season.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Ker was selected by the

in the third round (76th overall) of the

1985 NFL Draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New York. The league also he ...

, as part of a change in the

philosophy, when the team started to value size and strength over speed and athletic ability. He also was selected by the

Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal o ...

in the

1985 USFL Territorial Draft The 1985 USFL Territorial Draft was the third Territorial Draft of the United States Football League (USFL). It took place on January 3, 1985, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York. Under the previous 2 territorial drafts, each team had 5 designat ...

. He was moved to

, but only played five games as a 23-year-old

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, after being placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a back injury on October 23. In , he was named the starter at

right guard Right Guard is an American brand of deodorant and shower gel that is manufactured and sold by Thriving Brands LLC. It is the second largest brand in the male deodorant category in the United States. Right Guard was introduced in 1960 by The Gi ...

after Kurt Petersen suffered a season ending left knee injury early in

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

. In , he was switched to

left guard In gridiron football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is a player who lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team on the line of scrimmage used primarily for blocking. Right ...

to replace

Nate Newton Nathaniel Newton (born December 20, 1961) is a former American football guard in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. He ...

, who was moved to

. Ker became the Cowboys' highest-paid offensive lineman, and started in eighty-six of the Cowboys' ninety-one regular season games from to .

Denver Broncos

On March 27, , he was signed in

plan B free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

. He was placed on the

during the pre-season and later started 10 games after being activated. He was waived on July 9, .

Detroit Lions

On August 20, , he signed with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

. He was released on August 27 and retired.

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). .

References

External links

Official website of Ker's WingHouse Bar & Grill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ker, Crawford 1962 births Living people American people of Scottish descent People from Dunedin, Florida Players of American football from Pinellas County, Florida American football offensive guards Dunedin High School alumni Arizona Western Matadors football players Florida Gators football players Dallas Cowboys players Denver Broncos players