Isaiah Crowell

Isaiah Hassan Crowell (/kroʊˈwɛl/ kroh-WEL; born January 8, 1993) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama State Hornets. Crowell was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2014.

Crowell attended George Washington Carver High School in Columbus, Georgia, where he played football and ran track. During his high school career, he rushed for 4,872 yards with 61 touchdowns on 429 carries for the Tigers football team. He was considered the best running back recruit by Scout.com and the fourth-best by Rivals.com.

In addition to football, Crowell was a standout track & field athlete. He lettered all four years competing as a sprinter and long-distance runner. He won the 100-meter dash event at the 2009 MCSD Meet, recording a career-best time of 10.91 seconds. He posted career-bests of 22.38 in the 200m, 52.53 in the 400m, and 12:36.84 in the 3200m.

Starting running back Washaun Ealey's transferring to Jacksonville State in the spring led to a vacancy at that position for the 2011 season at the University of Georgia. Second string running back Caleb King was next in line to take over as the team's starting running back, but the senior was declared academically ineligible on July 8. The position was wide open during football practices in August and leading up to Georgia's opening game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta against Boise State on September 3. He earned the starting running back job for the Bulldogs as a freshman for their September 17 game against Coastal Carolina. However, it was his fine performance against South Carolina on September 10 that created Crowell's chance to take over the starting role as tailback as the 6–0, 215-pound true freshman scored two touchdowns while rushing 16 times for 118 yards and catching two passes for 40 yards against the Gamecocks in a 45–42 heartbreaking loss to Coach Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks. Against Coastal Carolina, Crowell had 16 rushes for 86 yards and highlighted his performance with a 27-yard touchdown run to open the game as Georgia went on to defeat the Chanticleers 59–0. In addition, he had a 12-yard reception in the contest.

During the season, Crowell had some breakout performances, such as his 30 carries, 147 yard-outing against Ole Miss on September 24 in Oxford, Mississippi, as Georgia won 27–13. Crowell followed up the Ole Miss performance with 104 yards rushing against Mississippi State on October 1 as Georgia defeated the MSU Bulldogs, 24–10. He apparently had scored on a 49-yard touchdown run in the contest, but that play was cut short to only 14 yards after the line judge had determined that Crowell's shoe had just touched the sideline — it appeared to be very close according to video replay. On October 8 at Knoxville, Tennessee, Crowell ran into a stout Tennessee defense as he scored two touchdowns but was contained to 19 rushes for 58 yards and two receptions for five yards. Georgia defeated Tennessee 20–12.

Later in the season on October 29, Crowell helped Georgia win a narrow victory against SEC East rival Florida 24–20 as the true freshman ran with the football 18 times for 81 yards. Crowell had another breakout performance – this one against Auburn as he rushed 24 times for 132 yards and a touchdown on November 12 as Georgia won convincingly by a score of 45–7. He also caught a pass for one yard against the Tigers.

An injury slowed Crowell down near the end of the regular season as he suffered a high ankle sprain on November 19 against Kentucky as the running back finished with two rushes for 11 yards. Georgia defeated the Wildcats 19–10. The injury caused Crowell to miss the regular-season finale against in-state rival Georgia Tech on November 26.

Georgia played nationally ranked #1 LSU (12–0) in the SEC Championship Game on December 3 as Crowell and the Bulldogs would go on to take a lead and go into the locker room at halftime up 10–7. He struggled to get on track against the tough Tiger defense as Crowell finished with 10 rushes for 15 yards and a catch for negative three yards. LSU, led by defensive back-punt returner Tyrann Mathieu, exploded in the second half as the Tigers won the contest, 42–10.