Brandon Crawford Could Become The Oldest Player Ever Drafted By The NFL

After about the first 50 or so picks in the NFL Draft, the news-coverage teams typically run out of soft-focus stories and turn their attention to what individual teams need. There’s a little patter about the scouting profile of a particular selection and maybe a discussion of how much of a “project” he is and how much “upside” he has. Nevertheless, the drama is pretty much over.↵↵Except every year, there’s one or two compelling stories about later round picks that don’t really get any notice until that player is either getting selected or the draft is about to end with them not getting taken. Two years ago, it was safety Caleb Campbell, who was selected by the Detroit Lions, only to be told he could not play in the NFL because of a requirement from the Department of Defense that said no attendee could play a professional sport for two years following their graduation. Being that it’s been two years, the Lions have made a ↵formal contract offer to Campbell.↵

↵↵This year, another potential late round pick is worth noting, but not because of institutional baggage. Defensive end Brandon Crawford spent four years in the Marine Corps before enrolling at Ball State in 2006. This was after 10 years of not playing football. He made the most of the opportunity.↵

↵↵⇥Ball State defensive end Brandon Crawford received All-Mid-American Conference honors, started 39 consecutive games, had 16 career sacks and was a two-year team captain.↵↵↵The problem being, of course, that’s now 33 years old, meaning his window of playing in the NFL is minuscule right out of the gate. While it’s possible a team could see him as a positive influence on the locker room, that’s hardly reason enough to use a pick on him, especially when in all likelihood he’s be available as an undrafted free agent who could be brought in for training camp. ↵

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