Kevin Craft (born October 15, 1985) is a former American football quarterback and Head Coach for the IBM Big Blue in the Japanese X-League. He played college football at UCLA.
 Craft (#3) passes during an October 2008 game against the California Golden Bears | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | October 15, 1985 Escondido, California, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Valley Center (Valley Center, California) |
| College: |
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| Undrafted: | 2010 |
| Career history | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Early life
editCraft attended Valley Center High School in Valley Center, California and was an excellent student and a letterman in football, basketball, and track. In football, he was a three-year letterman and earned All-California Interscholatic Federation honors. Kevin Craft graduated from Valley Center High School in 2004.
College career
editSDSU
editCraft originally attended San Diego State University, where his father, former SDSU Aztecs quarterback Tom Craft, was head coach. Arriving in 2005, Craft redshirted his first year; his father was fired at the end of the season and replaced by Chuck Long. Craft remained and, as a redshirt freshman, appeared in nine games and started five as the Aztecs went on to a 3–9 record in 2006; he had a 109.8 passer rating. In his first career start at San Diego State, Kevin Craft completed 20 of 32 passes for 216 yards against BYU.
Mt. SAC
editCraft transferred from SDSU after the season and played football at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in Walnut, California during the 2007 season; again for his father Tom, who became the offensive coordinator at Mt. SAC.[1]
UCLA
editCraft transferred to UCLA in time for the 2008 spring practices. He soon found himself in as the starting quarterback for the UCLA Bruins Football team after the two veteran starters, Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan, both fell to extended injuries. In the Bruins opener for the 2008 season, Craft led the Bruins to a 27–24 victory against 18th ranked Tennessee in overtime. After throwing 4 interceptions in the first half he came back to complete 18 of 25 passes for 193 yards and 1 touchdown in the second half.[2]
The Bruins finished the season with a record of 4–8 (3–6 Pac-10) and failed to participate in a post-season bowl game. He competed with Kevin Prince and freshman Richard Brehaut for the quarterback position in 2009.
In the 2009 Washington game at the Rose Bowl, Craft came in after Kevin Prince went out to guide the Bruins to a one-point victory, 24–23, and an end to the team's five straight Pac-10 conference losses. He had 10 of 14 completions for 159 yards with an interception.[3]
Professional career
editCougars de Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône
editFrance 2010-2011
editIn 2010, Kevin signed with the Cougars de Saint-Ouen l'Aumône, France. The Cougars play in the highest level of competition in France Ligue Élite de Football Américain and in the EFAF Cup. Every team in the French national championship is eligible to sign two American players. Kevin decided to choose this challenge over his coaching job in order to try to help the Cougars to reach the national title. Craft chose the Cougars despite a late offer from the CFL Calgary Stampeders.
During the 2010 season, Kevin completed 216 of 398 passes for 2,851 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He rushed for 245 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. The Cougars reached the playoff in both seasons without reaching the championship game.[4]
IBM Big Blue
editIn 2012, Kevin played for IBM Big Blue in Japanese X-league. He was an all league selection and a rookie of the year for the central division.
Craft passed for 199 yards in a May 31, 2014 game.[5]
Statistics
editRegular season
edit| Year | Team | G | GS | W - L | Passing | Rushing | Sacked | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Sack | Yds | Fum | Lost | |||||
| 2012 | IBM | 5 | 5 | 3–2 | 130 | 176 | 73.9 | 1,628 | 9.3 | 20 | 3 | 31 | 105 | 3.4 | 1 | 5 | 37 | 4 | 4 | |
| 2013 | IBM | 7 | 7 | 5-2 | 117 | 176 | 66.5 | 1,735 | 9.9 | 23 | 4 | 23 | 161 | 7.0 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 5 | 5 | |
| 2014 | IBM | 8 | 8 | 6-2 | 149 | 231 | 64.5 | 1,969 | 8.5 | 23 | 9 | 27 | 140 | 5.2 | 0 | 6 | 41 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2015 | IBM | 6 | 6 | 4-2 | 60 | 95 | 63.2 | 823 | 8.7 | 8 | 3 | 22 | -55 | -2.5 | 0 | 6 | 55 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 26 | 26 | 18–8 | 456 | 678 | 67.3 | 6,155 | 9.1 | 74 | 19 | 103 | 351 | 3.4 | 2 | 19 | 146 | 13 | 12 | ||
Post season
edit| Year | Team | G | GS | W - L | Passing | Rushing | Sacked | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Sack | Yds | Fum | Lost | |||||
| 2012 | IBM | 2 | 2 | 1–1 | 31 | 48 | 64.6 | 327 | 6.8 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 87 | 5.8 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2013 | IBM | 2 | 2 | 1–1 | 57 | 79 | 72.2 | 709 | 9.0 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 110 | 5.5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2014 | IBM | 4 | 4 | 3–1 | 102 | 159 | 64.2 | 1,456 | 9.2 | 17 | 8 | 31 | 123 | 4.0 | 2 | 4 | 29 | 5 | 4 | |
| 2015 | IBM | 2 | 2 | 1–1 | 57 | 85 | 67.1 | 641 | 7.5 | 6 | 3 | 12 | -19 | -1.6 | 0 | 5 | 37 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 10 | 6–4 | 247 | 371 | 66.6 | 3,133 | 8.4 | 35 | 12 | 78 | 301 | 3.9 | 4 | 11 | 79 | 10 | 7 | ||
Personal
editCraft majored in sociology and participated in the 2009 UCLA commencement ceremony.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "UCLA player's profile". Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
- ^ Foster, Chris - UCLA 27, NO. 18 TENNESSEE 24 (OT) Kevin Craft rallies UCLA past Tennessee. Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2008.
- ^ Chris Foster, Craft comes through for Bruins, Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2009
- ^ Signature of QB 2011, lescougars July 2010
- ^ "Kinoshita makes three TD grabs in Seagulls' rout over BigBlue". May 31, 2014.