Robert C. Crespino (January 11, 1938 – July 29, 2013) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. Born in

Duncan, Mississippi Duncan is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 276. History Duncan is named for an early "leading citizen." Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total a ...

, he played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

and was drafted by the Browns in the first round (tenth overall) of the

1961 NFL draft The 1961 NFL draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regular draft for the Dall ...

. Crespino was also selected in the sixth round of the

1961 AFL draft The 1961 American Football League draft, was held in 1960 because another league was in competition for the class of 1961 college stars, the American Football League draft for 1961 graduates. A six-round telephone draft was held on November 21 an ...

by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. He was the father of political historian,

Joseph Crespino Joseph Crespino (born January 10, 1972) is a political historian of the 20th-century United States, specializing in the history of the American South and of modern conservatism. He is the author of two books and an edited collection. Early lif ...

. Crespino died on July 29, 2013, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

following a long undisclosed illness.

References

1938 births 2013 deaths American football tight ends Cleveland Browns players New York Giants players Ole Miss Rebels football players Players of American football from Bolivar County, Mississippi {{tightend-1930s-stub