Crawford Ker

Crawford Francis Ker (born May 5, 1962) is a former American college and professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1980s and early 1990s. Ker played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos of the NFL. He is now the owner of a chain of restaurants and sports bars located throughout Florida.

Early life
Ker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was the only son of George and Anne Ker. His father George immigrated to the United States from Scotland, and had previously served in the British Army as a Buckingham Palace guard. When Ker was young, his family moved to Florida, and his father worked two or three jobs to pay for the family's ranch house in Dunedin, Florida, running a lawn service during the day and working at a 7-11 convenience store at night. After school, and during weekends and summers, Ker worked with his father, cutting grass. In the mid-1970s, George managed the kitchen at Capogna's Dugout, a sports restaurant in Clearwater, Florida, where Ker worked as a busboy while he was in high school. During school semester breaks and vacations, he also waited tables and cooked in the kitchen.

Ker attended Dunedin High School in Dunedin. During his junior year in high school, he decided to become a professional football player. He had not played high school football before his junior year, but he purchased a Kmart weight set and started working out; after beginning high school at 145 pounds, he bulked up to 210. According to Ker's mother, he didn't love football, but he was certain he could make the money he wanted as a player. Crawford stated, "I made myself into a football player." During his senior year, Ker played very well, the Dunedin Falcons football team won a Pinellas County championship, but no Division I football programs recruited him to play college football. Crawford graduated from Dunedin High School in 1980, but didn't want to attend a small college; he wanted to play at a big school to improve his chances of being drafted in the NFL. He worked and worked out during the first year after graduation, adding another fifty pounds to his six-foot, four-inch frame.

College career
On the advice of a friend, Ker called the football coach at Arizona Western College who invited him to Yuma, Arizona. His father purchased a one-way airline ticket to Arizona for Ker. Ker played at Arizona Western for in 1981 and 1982 and was recognized as a junior college ("JUCO") All-American.

After Ker's JUCO performance at Arizona Western, the Florida Gators football coaches were convinced of Ker's talent and offered him an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida for his junior and senior years in 1983 and 1984. Ker's nickname among his Gators teammates was "Big Daddy," and he could bench-press up to 515 pounds. He played two years for coach Charley Pell and coach Galen Hall's Florida Gators football teams, and, as a senior, he was on the Gator's 1984 squad that, at the time, was considered the finest Gators football team ever. The Gators' outstanding offensive line was called "The Great Wall of Florida," and included Ker, Phil Bromley, Lomas Brown, Billy Hinson and Jeff Zimmerman. Behind the blocking of Ker and his Great Wall teammates, the Gators' quarterback Kerwin Bell, fullback John L. Williams and halfback Neal Anderson led the Gators to a 9–1–1 overall win-loss record and won their first Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship with a conference record of 5–0–1. (The title was later vacated by the SEC university presidents because of NCAA rules violations committed by Charley Pell and the Gators coaching staff between 1979 and 1983, before Ker's arrival in Gainesville.) Ker was recognized as a second-team All-SEC selection and an honorable mention All-American following the 1984 season.

Professional career
The Dallas Cowboys drafted Ker in the third round (seventy-sixth pick overall) of the 1985 NFL Draft, and he played for the Cowboys from 1985 to 1990. Ker played five games for the Cowboys as a 23-year-old rookie in 1985, but quickly became the Cowboys' highest-paid offensive lineman, and started in eighty-six of the Cowboys' ninety-one regular season games from 1986 to 1990. After Cowboys coach Tom Landry retired, Ker left the Cowboys via free agency in 1991, and signed with the Denver Broncos. He was placed on the Injured reserve list during the 1991 pre-season and stayed in Denver just one year; he retired before the 1992 season began.

Life after football
Ker is the founder and chief executive officer of Ker's WingHouse Bar & Grill, a Florida-based chain of restaurants and sports bars. Crawford and his wife Melissa were married in 1998, and they live in Largo, Florida. The Kers have two daughters and a son.