Cowboys UK Native: A 'Harry Potter'-Sized Celeb
By Mike Fisher | @fishsports
LONDON (105.3 THE FAN) -- It sounds like something an ugly American would say to defensive lineman Jack Crawford now that he's back home in his native Great Britain with the traveling Dallas Cowboys:
"So, did you grow up with Harry Potter?
Fact is, he did.
In my one-on-one visit with Crawford — a low-profile Cowboy in most circles, but a Romo/Dez/DeMarco-level celebrity for this week, anyway — he revealed that a grade-school classmate of his was the actor who would gain international fame playing Harry Potter in a series of blockbuster movies.
"I was actually in the same class as Daniel Radcliffe when I was a kid," Crawford tells me. "At the time I think he had only done one of the Harry Potter movies, but I hadn't watched it because I wasn't that into Harry Potter. He was just a normal kid. I didn't even realize it was him until later on."
Crawford was a "normal kid,'' too, until it became clear his combination of athleticism and size might allow him to stand out.
"I played a lot of other sports growing up in the UK," Crawford tells me. "I played soccer, rugby, I boxed a little bit. My main sport was basketball, which is what brought me to the states. I went to St. Augustine High School in New Jersey to play basketball and try to go play college ball. I ended up playing football my junior year in and didn't have offers for basketball but had a lot of offers for football."
Crawford, now 6-5 and 275, landed at Penn State, where he became a teammate of injured Cowboys standout Sean Lee. Lee is out for the season, but Crawford is healthy and working to make a greater contribution to the defense. … and would love to do so Sunday against the Jaguars at a Wembley Stadium full of his countrymen.
"I definitely took note of (the London) game when I saw the schedule," Crawford says "but I tried my best not to think about that too early.''
But now it's time.
"I'm all in, 100 percent,'' Crawford says. "I'm fully committed to the Dallas Cowboys and everything they're trying to do on defense. I'm really proud to be part of Cowboys Nation.''
And, for a couple more days, at least, to be a Daniel Radcliffe-type celebrity in his own nation.
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