Just Instincts
11/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 1, 2004
By Carroll Fadal
For Justin Crooks, football is a game of instinct. Yes, he believes in film study, weight training and hard work on the practice field; but, to Baylor's senior linebacker, his incredible nose for the football comes from something more basic.
"I'm actually kind of small (6-0, 228) for my position, I've got pretty good speed and pretty good strength; but, I think I can get to the football better than a lot of other people, because, I have a good idea when the ball is snapped where it's going," Crooks said. "I know whether it's a run or a pass, which side they're running to; or, if it's going to be a deep pass or a short pass.
"That comes from experience; but, even when I first started playing football, I just had a knack for the football."
Statistics certainly bear this out. Through the Bears' first six games, the Round Rock McNeil graduate was Baylor's leading tackler with 51 total stops, including five for 23 yards in losses, four passes broken up, three quarterback hurries, a sack, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery that he returned nine yards for a touchdown versus North Texas.
Those impressive numbers come on the heels of a junior season that saw Crooks finish second on the team with 72 tackles, 9.5 of them for losses, in his first year starting full-time. Perhaps his most memorable stop came in BU's huge upset win over Colorado, when he and safety Maurice Lane smacked Buffalo tailback Brian Calhoun for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the Baylor one. At the time, the Bears clung to a tenuous, 35-30 lead.
"I think all the hours of film study, weight-lifting and running just complement the instinct," Crooks said. "Because, you've got to be able to do something once you get to the football. You've got to have some strength and power behind you to complete the play."
He's made enough plays to be considered a candidate for the Nagurski Award, given annually to the NCAA's top linebacker. And he's also made an impression on his coaches.
"The kid diagnoses the play extremely fast," said defensive coordinator Bill Bradley. "He's made a lot of plays for us this year. He gives you everything he's got, and he's one of those kinds of guys you can trust."
Crooks' teammates trusted him enough to elect him one of three captains, even though he's not the classic rah-rah kind of guy.
"It's pretty tough," Crooks said. "Sometimes you feel like you need to say some stuff more, and sometimes I don't feel like I'm doing the best job I can do. People tell me I'm doing a good job being a captain; but, I always feel like I should do more. I don't want to say too much to some of these guys; I try to say my piece when it's needed. I'm not really much of a big talker; but, when things go wrong, I try to say something."
"Justin is not a real vocal guy; but, he will talk enough to give you a little bit of vocal leadership," Bradley said. "He's a leader by example. He's impeccable when it comes to character and how hard he plays. Physically, he may not be the biggest, the strongest or the fastest; but, he plays to the maximum on every play."
This year, "every play" translates into a lot of on-the-field time. While Bradley and the rest of the defensive coaches substitute liberally in the front four and the secondary, Crooks rarely goes to the bench when the other team has the ball.
"I don't care if you've got a lot of talent or strength or whatever, experience overrides all of it," Crooks said. "The more you're out there, the more you get used to it, the more you can settle down a little bit. I play about 80 or 90 plays a game now, and I wouldn't have made it my freshman year. You're so wound up as a freshman; but, you mature, and it's so much easier now. I could barely go 40 plays when I was a freshman."
While he didn't get a lot of playing time as a freshman in 2001, Crooks led all his first-year mates with 53 total tackles, four of them for losses. His best game was at then-No. 2 Oklahoma, where he had 10 stops. He fared about the same as a sophomore, the last year of the Kevin Steele regime; but, really came into his own with head coach Guy Morriss and the new staff last season.
And even though he was named Area Player of the Year and second-team all-state as a high school senior, big-name football schools weren't exactly beating down his door during the recruiting season.
"I committed to Baylor probably in early August before my senior year in high school," Crooks said. "I had been talking to a bunch of schools; it seems like every day, you'd get a phone call from some coaches, just checking in to see how you're doing. I had some verbal offers from some schools; but, when I got my letter from Baylor, it was my first official offer. It was close to home - I can get in my truck right now and be home in an hour -and it's a good school with a Christian environment and in the Big 12 Conference. I had a couple of feelers from TCU and Arkansas; but, this is where I belong, and this is where God wanted me."
As he winds up his last year playing collegiately, Crooks looks to a future that might or might not include football.
"I realize I have only four or five games left in my career, if I don't go on," he said. "Football makes everything go by so fast in college. If I have a pretty good shot of going pro, I'm going to try it. But, if I don't have a good shot, you know, if people say, `Well, he doesn't have a chance,' it's not that big a deal for me to say, `Okay, "I'm just going to finish my school, and I'm going to get a job.' "
Regardless, he plans to graduate next December with a degree in finance and at some point go to work in the financial world. It's a good bet that the same instincts that serve him so well on the football field will be just as valuable in the business world.
