Guest Boo_Bradley Report post Posted July 23, 2003 Crouch leaves Packers, says he's done with football July 22, 2003 SportsLine.com wire reports GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Eric Crouch has quit the NFL for the second time in 11 months. Advertisement The 2001 Heisman Trophy winner from Nebraska left the Green Bay Packers on the eve of full-squad workouts, which began Tuesday. He had hoped to win a job as one of Brett Favre's backups, but coach Mike Sherman said he had little chance at beating out the three QBs ahead of him in that race. Crouch sat out last season after the St. Louis Rams drafted him in the third round and tried to convert him into a wide receiver. He was set to play quarterback in the Canadian Football League, which he thought could be a springboard to a career as an NFL quarterback, when the Packers claimed him off waivers this spring. He left camp Monday night after speaking with Sherman and the Packers placed him on the reserve/retired list, retaining his rights. "We really didn't get into detail. He just said for personal reasons he didn't want to continue. I said OK and we'll leave it at that," Sherman said. "It's disappointing that it didn't work out for us and for him. But we didn't have a whole lot invested in him. He's a good kid, we wish him well." The Packers had hoped Crouch be a return specialist this year and learn the West Coast offense by next season as a quarterback. But after claiming him on April 23, the Packers signed Akili Smith, who will vie for the backup quarterback job with incumbent Doug Pederson and second-year pro Craig Nall. Crouch, who last worked as a quarterback in the option offense with the Cornhuskers, didn't make much of an impression as a kick returner, either. Crouch told Omaha television station KPTM Tuesday night that he's probably through playing football. "Yeah, I think so," Crouch said. "I'm ready to move on. I've been a football player for a long time. I've loved it. It's been a lot of fun." Crouch, who got married in May and has a daughter, said he sensed that he would be required to play in NFL's developmental league in Europe next year. "Do I want to accept a practice-player job and go to Europe the following year, which means being away from the family?" Crouch said. "I wasn't ready to make that sacrifice, being away from the family that long. It didn't feel right." Only the third Division I player to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards, Crouch had mixed results at the team's minicamp last month when precise, hard-thrown balls down the seam were negated by interceptions over the middle and passes batted down at the line. Sherman said Crouch simply wasn't going to win a quarterback job in Green Bay this season. "He's so far behind. When he came in here, it was pretty much going to be relegated to cleaning up a little bit and maybe some practice squad snaps and working into next season in the offseason," Sherman said. "That was really what we were shooting for because he hadn't been a quarterback in the National Football League in this type of offense. The reality of it was he had quite a few steps to take before that would even happen." Sherman suggested Crouch didn't have much of a chance as a kick returner, either. "We put him back there a couple times and he wasn't natural, put it that way," Sherman said. "I don't think our fans would have been jumping up and down to see him drop a couple of them in practice." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted July 23, 2003 Well...Couch made himself useful. He has That comeback story written already for him in 13 years... He comes in for a struggling franchise and revives them and takes them to the SB with the storyline "NO ONE WANTED HIM" and he went and became a Teacher (random job) but his love for the game never ended...and it led him back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest razazteca Report post Posted July 23, 2003 Never ever draft a Heisman Trophy winning QB and/or from Nebraska. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Spaceman Spiff Report post Posted July 23, 2003 The Pack didn't draft him. I think the Jets drafted him in a late round, w/ the intention of converting him to a WR or DB. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gert T 0 Report post Posted July 23, 2003 Rams drafted Crouch, Jets did draft a Nebraska QB and turned him into a safety I think he played for the Browns last year, but hell if I remember the name. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Human Fly Report post Posted July 23, 2003 Is Crouch done with football now, or is he going to play with the CFL? I'm sure he could catch on in some league somewhere. He'll get another shot somewhere, just like Ron Powlus. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted July 23, 2003 Why would he go to CFL? He was adamant about going to Europe so Canadian can't be in his plans either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Human Fly Report post Posted July 23, 2003 Why not? There's a big difference between Europe and the CFL. All that's left if he turns that down is the Arena (or A2). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Phr33k Report post Posted July 23, 2003 If he'd rather spend time with the family and be a father instead of playing football, more power to him. I think it's something to be admired, considering he did win the Heisman, and I think he could've caught on somewhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Just Looking Report post Posted July 23, 2003 The Jets had Scott Frost. Don't know if he's still there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Agent_Bond34 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2003 The Jets had Scott Frost. Don't know if he's still there. He isn't with the Jets anymore, he was released and then signed by the 49ers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Redhawk Report post Posted July 25, 2003 Scott Frost ended up playing free safety, didn't he? It seems to me that Eric Crouch has a "case of the limber-tail" (says Jim Ross). First he quit in St. Louis because they wouldn't let him be a QB. Then as soon as the Packers signed another QB, which meant Crouch might have gotten cut if he stayed through camp, he quits again. Somehow I'm not buying the whole Family Guy thing, considering he left the family one year after playing the Family Guy card to try and play football again. To me it seems like he's content with being the family guy so long as no one wants to hand him an NFL QB job. I bet if some team asked him to come in and promised him a No. 1 or 2 QB job, he'd leave his family again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest undisputedjericho Report post Posted July 25, 2003 He's such a little bitch. There's no other way to put it. "Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhh, I wanna be a quarterback, waaaaaahhhhhh" When they want Akili Smith over you, it's time to end it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Agent_Bond34 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2003 Scott Frost ended up playing free safety, didn't he? Yeah, I believe he did. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted July 25, 2003 He's such a little bitch. There's no other way to put it. "Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhh, I wanna be a quarterback, waaaaaahhhhhh" When they want Akili Smith over you, it's time to end it. hey! Smith was all right before LeBeau bastardized him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Spaceman Spiff Report post Posted July 29, 2003 I bet if some team asked him to come in and promised him a No. 1 or 2 QB job, he'd leave his family again. If some team did that, it'd be grounds to "contract" said team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest JustinCredible2k Report post Posted July 29, 2003 Crouch is too good not to be on any team. Whether it be the CFL, NFL, or the NFL Europe. I dont think he is going to to retire this early. He is too talented. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smark-Raving Mad Report post Posted July 29, 2003 Yeah, not that I'm a big Nebraska fan or anything, but he was a fun guy to watch. I hope he gives it another shot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Boo_Bradley Report post Posted July 29, 2003 The Pack didn't draft him. I think the Jets drafted him in a late round, w/ the intention of converting him to a WR or DB. The Jets drafted Brooks Bollinger this year, another undersized running QB, is there plans to convert him? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Boo_Bradley Report post Posted July 29, 2003 The Jets had Scott Frost. Don't know if he's still there. He isn't with the Jets anymore, he was released and then signed by the 49ers. Ironically Frost played for the Packers last year Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Agent_Bond34 0 Report post Posted July 29, 2003 Ironically Frost played for the Packers last year I must have missed something then. I had never known, that he had played for Green Bay. And why was Frost converted to defense, anyway? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Spaceman Spiff Report post Posted July 29, 2003 And why was Frost converted to defense, anyway? Because he's not good enough to be an NFL QB, to slow and/or not have the hands to be a WR, and wouldn't quite fit as a RB. Crouch is too good not to be on any team. Whether it be the CFL, NFL, or the NFL Europe. I dont think he is going to to retire this early. He is too talented. Well, he'll never make it in the NFL as a QB, unless he's content w/ being the 3rd string QB (which he's proven he wouldn't be). Unless he's willing to convert to another position, he's done in the NFL. Quitting on 2 teams won't help him either. As for the CFL, I don't know. Are option QB's successful there? Because that's basically all Crouch can do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Boo_Bradley Report post Posted July 30, 2003 Scott Frost was listed as a 65 out of 100 rating on Madden 2003 as a FS for the Packers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
