Carl Lee Crennel (September 14, 1948 – August 19, 2023) 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 ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

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) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He played one season with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in the NFL, and for several different teams in the CFL, most notably the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

from 1972 to 1979; he won two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

championships with the Alouettes, and one with the Edmonton Eskimos. He was selected in the

1970 NFL draft The 1970 NFL draft was the 35th National Football League draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, 1970, at the Belmont ...

out of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, where he captained the Mountaineers to a 10–1 record in 1969 and a victory in the Peach Bowl; he was named MVP in the game. In 1998 Crennel was made a member of the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame. Crennel was the younger brother of Romeo Crennel, the former head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, and the interim head coach of the Houston Texans during the final 12 games of the 2020 season. Carl Crennel died on August 19, 2023, at the age of 74.

References

1948 births 2023 deaths American football linebackers Edmonton Elks players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Montreal Alouettes players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Lynchburg, Virginia Players of Canadian football from Virginia Saskatchewan Roughriders players West Virginia Mountaineers football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen {{linebacker-1940s-stub