Being selected in the NFL Draft is a dream for most college football players. It certainly is for 2019 Georgia Bulldog Starting linebacker Tae Crowder. I had the chance to talk to Tae about his career in Athens and his preparation for the upcoming draft.
In these days of high profile recruits committing to the Dawgs, Crowder “stands out” as an under the radar player. While he may have been overlooked initially, Tae Crowder’s senior year at Harris County High School could not be ignored after he rushed for 1,665 yards and 27 touchdowns. His standout season helped Harris County Tigers to a 9-4 record, and they advanced to the second round of the 5A state playoffs. While Tae Crowder dreams of the NFL these days, in high school, he dreamed of playing between the Hedges. He was first a commitment to Georgia Southern until his stellar play as a senior earned him an offer from Georgia. Recruiting “was a fun process. I always knew where I wanted to go. I knew I always wanted to play for Georgia, but, at the time, I didn’t have that offer. It was kind of frustrating, but it was fun. It’s something you definitely want to go through if you’re an athlete. When I got that late offer from Georgia, it was a blessing.” “Strong, Willing, and Competitive.” These are the three words Crowder described himself by. Tae did a great job with his word choices because they really sum up his career in Athens as a player who excelled on the field in whatever role he was asked to play. Tae Crowder would redshirt his first year, and it was a learning experience for him. “It was frustrating. But going through things like that would never be easy. I had to fight a little bit of adversity, but it helped me in the long run.” After his redshirt year practicing at running back, Coach Smart approached him with an opportunity to change positions. “I just had a conversation with Coach Kirby Smart. I was on the scout team having fun with it, competing and just doing a good job of giving good looks. I guess he saw that and gave me an opportunity to play in the field. He saw me best at linebacker.” Tae willingly moved to middle linebacker, a position of need for Georgia. And he did what Crowder does best, compete. After putting a lot of hard work in as a scout team linebacker his redshirt freshman year, Crowder started to flash his ability on game day as a sophomore. He had this to say about the first tackle of his college career against Tennessee that season, “It was really weird. At the moment, I was like I just made a tackle, I can get used to this. But I just kept going with it and keep getting better and better each week as I can.” That 2017 season was a big one obviously for the entire Georgia team but also personally for Crowder. “It was a learning experience, it was a great year for us as a team. It was when it all started to kind of get better for me. I made a big play that year and started playing more and doing things that I never thought I would do.” During his career, Crowder learned leadership from some all-time Georgia greats like Nick Chubb and Sony Michel at running back and 2017 Butkus Award Roquan Smith at linebacker. “They did a great job of leading the team and leading the younger players. Just being around them and growing to see what they do and see how they do certain things, as a younger guy, you can learn from that. They did a great job of showing the ropes.” Crowder recorded his first five starts at linebacker in 2018 and set himself up to star at middle linebacker as a senior this past season. Tae Crowder's last game as a Bulldog was significant to him. Seeking to prevent another Sugar Bowl let down, Coach Smart pointed out that with a win against Baylor, Crowder’s senior class would tie the school record for most wins by a senior class (44). “Coach Smart kind of told us he wanted us to finish it outright. He wanted us actually to want to play them, and actually want to win. He did a lot of different things that week to get us motivated, but that was one thing that he showed the team.” Looking back on his time at Athens, Crowder believes his biggest accomplishment would be “I would say graduate, but I got two more classes, that will definitely be one of the biggest. But finishing a blessed career, I would say. That is something I would say is my biggest accomplishment.” We talked about the lessons Crowder will take with him after graduation. “Off the field is making sure you go to class, take school seriously because it will definitely help you. It is one of the best universities, so why not go ahead and get your degree. And on the field when you fight adversity, don’t look as if I'm just going to give up, keep going and work as hard as you can, and see how it works out.” Things definitely worked out for Crowder at Georgia and now he is putting his strength, willingness and competitive nature to use preparing for the draft. “It’s been a little hard to find somewhere to workout. You have to keep going, do what you can do, and control what you control.” Crowder’s senior class will go down as the class that helped put Georgia back on the National Championship contention map for years to come. “I just look at all of that type of stuff as a blessing, going to Georgia to win championships. That’s some things we could say we did, and it is a blessing to be a part of that.” Tae Crowder is the type of player that every program needs. One that is willing to work hard, do what is best for the team and never give up. Those are all qualities that Georgia fans will remember him for and that will serve him well after graduation, both in the NFL and in life. You can keep up to date with all things Georgia Football by subscribing to the Top Dawg Notification Forum, where notifications of a post are sent directly to your email. Also, make sure to follow @TopDawg_Blogs on Twitter.
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Harrison Reno
Is the founder and author of Top Dawg Blogging. Harrison has been blogging for the past 4 years Archives
April 2020
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