NFL star Crawford retires after 10-year career

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Kilburn-born NFL player Jack Crawford has announced his retirement after a 10-year career that saw him play for five different teams.

The six-foot-five, 33-year-old moved to the New Jersey as a teenager to pursue a basketball career but after being persuaded to play American football he won a scholarship to Penn State University and was picked by the LA Raiders in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL draft.


He became only the second British-born player to be selected in the draft after New York Giants took two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora in the second round in 2003.

Despite not winning a Super Bowl, Crawford is one of the most successful exports to the NFL in a career where the average span is just over three years.

In addition to the Raiders, Crawford also played for Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals

The defensive end made 93 appearances in the NFL with the highlight being his appearance at Wembley Stadium for the Cowboys in 2014 when he recorded a sack and a fumble against Jacksonville in front of his friends and family.

But after sitting out last season with the Cardinals due to injury, Crawford said he knew it was time to retire on his own terms.

“After 10 seasons in the NFL I know my time has come to step away from the game and close the chapter of my life in the League,” Crawford said in an Instagram post.

“At 16-years old I left my family and friends in the UK and moved to the US, I couldn’t have imagined the journey that lay ahead of me it feels like it flew by and I am grateful for every minute.

“It was important to me to retire on my own terms, to retire from the game before the game retires me.”