When he busts in the NFL, he'll probably backup this guy DOC!! :twisted: :twisted: :wink: :shock: 8) :lol: :!: :?: :x Crouch will likely play QB in CFL BY RICH KAIPUST WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Eric Crouch may have finally found what he's been looking for since leaving the Nebraska football program. At 27 years old, Eric Crouch said his age shouldn't be a problem in his latest attempt at playing pro football. "Roger Staubach was 27 when he came back from the military and he's a Hall-of-Fame quarterback," Crouch said. No change of position. Just a change of venue. Crouch believes his future is in the Canadian Football League after working out Wednesday for the Toronto Argonauts. Barring the unforeseen, Crouch likely will sign with the Argos in the next few days. "He's got, I think, all the necessary ingredients," Toronto General Manager Adam Rita said. "If he wants to play quarterback, then this is the right league for him because of what we do." Rita called Crouch a cross between CFL Hall-of-Famer Matt Dunigan and veteran Argos quarterback Damon Allen after watching a 45-minute throwing session at Rogers Centre. Because Allen is 42 and heading into his 22nd CFL season, the Argos are looking for his successor. Crouch, 27, said he feels strongly that he can be - and wants to be - that player. "I've always felt deep down inside that this is my position," Crouch said. "I've been told by NFL teams I was going to get the opportunity to play quarterback, and next thing you know I'm back at home sitting on the couch. "But I really feel like these guys are being honest with me, and I get a really good vibe with them." After his Heisman Trophy-winning season at Nebraska in 2001, Crouch tried receiver, safety and kick returner in attempts to stick with three National Football League teams. The Millard North graduate played for Hamburg in NFL Europe a year ago before being released by the Kansas City Chiefs last summer. But Crouch said the game hardly has passed him by. "Roger Staubach was 27 when he came back from the military and he's a Hall-of-Fame quarterback," Crouch said of the former Navy and Dallas Cowboys star. "Twenty-seven doesn't bother me." In fact, Rita said he was impressed with how Crouch looked. Particularly, he said, Crouch's arm strength appeared better than ever, something the Argos were evaluating sharply because of the size of a CFL field. Crouch spent the past few months going back and forth from Omaha and California to work with a quarterbacks coach. "I just wanted to show them my arm was strong enough to compete in this league," Crouch said. "I think the stigma is that if you don't have a strong arm, you come to Canada. But it's just the opposite, because up here the field's wider and longer and the ball's going to be in the air longer." Toronto long has considered Crouch a good fit for the CFL because of the open field and his running ability. The Argos have held his negotiating rights since he was at NU. Allen's backup last season was former Kansas State quarterback Michael Bishop, who is playing in the Arena League and not a sure bet to return when CFL camps open in May. With 69,342 career passing yards, Allen needs 1,212 to pass Warren Moon as the all-time leader in all of professional football. Allen watched Crouch's workout Wednesday and talked with him afterwards. "Damon thought he would like working with him," Rita said, "and that's a big thing because he can learn a lot from that guy."
Well good luck to him, I hope he finally makes it. I loved the guy as a college football player, he was as exciting to watch in that old Neb offense as VY was in the Read Option Texas runs nowdays. That old Neb offense ,IMHO, is still more fun to watch than all the various versions of the "Spread" or "West Coast" offenses. But fact is that kids don't want to play that for the most part and high schools are more and more going to the Spread as well. Last years Texas State 5A champs ran the spread, and have for a while. As far as VY and the NFL. Everybody is still saying that he's a once in a lifetime type player at QB, the type that changes the game. Time will tell on that, he certainly proved last year that he can beat you with his arm and that he is a big game player (Ohio State and USC as exhibits 1 and 2). The question is not his arm strength, but wheter or not he can adapt to playing mostly from under center as opposed to the shotgun. Of course the question all hotshot college QB's have to answer, can he read NFL defenses. Terry