Denver Junior Crawford (June 16, 1921 – August 14, 2005) was a professional

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

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 ...

. He played at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

including the 1943

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

. He lettered at Tennessee in 1942, 1946 and 1947 where he was elected team captain as a senior. In the 1947 Vanderbilt game Denny flattened three Vanderbilt Commodores with a devastating block, springing Hal Littleford for a 65-yard punt return touchdown. While serving in the military in World War II, he played service football for the 1944 Maxwell Field Marauders and the 1945 AAFTC Skymasters. He played in the 1944, 1945 and 1947 Blue-Gray Game and was a member of the 1948 College All-Stars. Originally a tackle drafted out of Tennessee by the Green Bay Packers he chose to play in the rival AAFC when they offered to double his contract salary. He was a member of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

. After his playing career, Denny spent 13 years coaching college football at Washington and Lee,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. After moving back to his hometown he spent several years as a coach at

Sullivan Central High School Sullivan Central High School was a public high school (grades 9–12) located in Blountville, Tennessee under the authority of Sullivan County Schools. It served students from Blountville Middle School and Holston Middle School until it was incorp ...

, Blountville, TN.

References

1921 births 2005 deaths Sportspeople from Kingsport, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee American football offensive guards Tennessee Volunteers football players New York Yankees (AAFC) players 20th-century American sportsmen {{offensive-lineman-1920s-stub