Kevin Craft (born October 15, 1985) is a former

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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and Head Coach for the IBM Big Blue in the Japanese X-League. 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 ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Early life

Craft attended Valley Center High School in

Valley Center, California Valley Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 10,087 at the 2020 census, up from 9,277 at the 2010 census. History In the late 1860s, the area now known as Valley Center was ...

and was an excellent student and a letterman in football, basketball, and track. In football, he was a three-year letterman and earned All-California Interscholatic Federation honors. Kevin Craft graduated from Valley Center High School in 2004.

College career

SDSU

Craft originally attended

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

, where his father, former SDSU Aztecs quarterback Tom Craft, was

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. Arriving in 2005, Craft

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

ed his first year; his father was fired at the end of the season and replaced by

Chuck Long Charles Franklin Long Jr. (born February 18, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL). He played as a quarter ...

. Craft remained and, as a redshirt freshman, appeared in nine games and started five as the Aztecs went on to a 3–9 record in 2006; he had a 109.8 passer rating. In his first career start at San Diego State, Kevin Craft completed 20 of 32 passes for 216 yards against BYU.

Mt. SAC

Craft transferred from SDSU after the season and played football at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in

Walnut, California Walnut is a city in the eastern part of Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 28,430. The greater Walnut Valley is located between the steep San Jose Hills to the nort ...

during the 2007 season; again for his father Tom, who became the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

at Mt. SAC.

UCLA

Craft transferred to UCLA in time for the 2008 spring practices. He soon found himself in as the starting

for the UCLA Bruins Football team after the two veteran starters, Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan, both fell to extended injuries. In the Bruins opener for the 2008 season, Craft led the Bruins to a 27–24 victory against 18th ranked

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

in overtime. After throwing 4 interceptions in the first half he came back to complete 18 of 25 passes for 193 yards and 1 touchdown in the second half. The Bruins finished the season with a record of 4–8 (3–6 Pac-10) and failed to participate in a post-season bowl game. He competed with

Kevin Prince Kevin Christopher Prince (born November 28, 1989) is a former American football quarterback. He played at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California. He played college football at UCLA. Prince was selected by head coach Rick Neuh ...

and freshman

Richard Brehaut Richard Daniel Brehaut (; born June 10, 1991) is a former college football quarterback. He played college football at UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, Calif ...

for the quarterback position in 2009. In the 2009 Washington game at the Rose Bowl, Craft came in after

went out to guide the Bruins to a one-point victory, 24–23, and an end to the team's five straight Pac-10 conference losses. He had 10 of 14 completions for 159 yards with an interception.

Professional career

Cougars de Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône

France 2010-2011

In 2010, Kevin signed with the Cougars de Saint-Ouen l'Aumône, France. The Cougars play in the highest level of competition in France Ligue Élite de Football Américain and in the EFAF Cup. Every team in the French national championship is eligible to sign two American players. Kevin decided to choose this challenge over his coaching job in order to try to help the Cougars to reach the national title. Craft chose the Cougars despite a late offer from the CFL

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

. During the 2010 season, Kevin completed 216 of 398 passes for 2,851 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He rushed for 245 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. The Cougars reached the playoff in both seasons without reaching the championship game.

IBM Big Blue

In 2012, Kevin played for IBM Big Blue in Japanese X-league. He was an all league selection and a rookie of the year for the central division. Craft passed for 199 yards in a May 31, 2014 game.

Statistics

Regular season

Post season

Personal

Craft majored in sociology and participated in the 2009 UCLA commencement ceremony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craft, Kevin American football quarterbacks American expatriate players of American football 1985 births Living people American expatriate sportspeople in Japan Mt. SAC Mounties football players UCLA Bruins football players San Diego State Aztecs football players Players of American football from Escondido, California Basketball players from San Diego County, California People from Valley Center, California American expatriate sportspeople in France X-League (Japan) players