Tiny Croft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Woodruff, Wisconsin, U.S.
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| No. 75 | |||||||||
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| Position | Tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | November 7, 1920 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | January 22, 1977 (aged 56) Woodruff, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 287 lb (130 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Steinmetz (Chicago) | ||||||||
| College | |||||||||
| NFL draft | 1942: 20th round, 186th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Milburn Russell "Tiny" Croft (November 7, 1920 – January 22, 1977) was an American professional football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers from 1942 to 1947. He played college football at Ripon College and the University of Alabama. Croft was selected by the Washington Redskins in the 20th round of the 1942 NFL draft. He won the 1944 NFL Championship with the Packers.
Croft was born on November 7, 1920 in Chicago, Illinois,[1] and graduated from Steinmetz High School.[2] While there, he was selected to an all-star team of high school players from Chicago to travel to Arizona for a game against an all-star team of Phoenix area players.[3] Croft then began attending Ripon College. Despite his size, Croft was known to be gentle on the football field. Trying to stop this, the Ripon coaches set up a boxing match with a semi-professional boxer who punched Croft in the nose, angering him. This experience was seen as a turning point in his athletic career as he became more aggressive.[4] Croft went on to become a three-year starter as a lineman for the Ripon Red Hawks, earning first-team All-Midwest Conference in three consecutive years.[5] He played placekicker for the team.[6] He also played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide.[2]