Ex-Columbus high school star gets into Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame
A former high school football star from Columbus is among the 33 members of the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame class of 2025.
Isaiah Crowell, who was a standout running back at Carver High School, the University of Georgia and Alabama State University before playing in the NFL, will be inducted along with this year’s class during the Oct. 25 ceremony at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Crowell was the consensus No. 1 high school running back among the college prospect rankings as a senior at Carver in 2010, when he rushed for 1,721 yards and 18 touchdowns on 147 carries.
He rushed for 1,915 yards and 25 touchdowns on 185 carries as a junior. In his career at Carver, he rushed for 4,872 yards.
His high school accolades include Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2010 All-Classifications Player of the Year, first-team all-state in 2009 and 2010, Georgia Athletic Coaches Association 2010 North Georgia Player of the Year and AJC Super 11 in 2010.
Crowell rushed for 856 yards and five touchdowns on 185 carries during his lone season at Georgia in 2011, when he was named Associated Press SEC Freshman of the Year.
After being dismissed from UGA in June 2012 following his arrest on weapon charges, Crowell transferred to Alabama State, where he rushed for 843 yards and 15 touchdowns on 159 carries in 2012 then 1,121 yards and 15 touchdowns on 170 carries in 2013.
In five NFL seasons (Cleveland Browns 2014-17 and New York Jets 2018), Crowell ran for 3,803 yards and 27 touchdowns on 880 carries.
Arrest on weapon charges
In June 2012, Crowell was driving his mother’s Mercury Grand Marquis when Athens-Clarke County police stopped him at a checkpoint and arrested him on weapon charges after finding a 9 mm Luger handgun under the driver’s seat. The following year, the district attorney dropped the charges, determining the state couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Crowell possessed the weapon with an altered identification number.
The Ledger-Enquirer didn’t reach Crowell to comment for this story before publication, but in a 2021 interview with the L-E, he said, “I’ve been through things in my past and certain things I might not be proud of. I wouldn’t take it back because it made me who I am.”
After then-UGA coach Mark Richt dismissed him from the team, Crowell said he is grateful then-Alabama State coach Reggie Barlow allowed him to revive his career.
“I was given a second chance by a lot of people,” he said, “and I took advantage of it.”
Crowell also figures he might have received divine intervention: His arrest came the same year his son was born, and a nephew and a friend died.
“It was like God came to me and was like, ‘What do you really want?’ When my son was born, I was like, ‘I want to be successful.’ It was like a turning point,” he said. “… I thought about more than my myself.”
Crowell played well enough at Alabama State to be projected as high as the fourth round in the NFL draft. But he wasn’t selected at all.
“I cried and everything,” he said.
Cleveland Browns
Crowell took advantage of another chance after the Cleveland Browns signed him as a free agent. He received a three-year, $1.54 million contract and a $10,000 signing bonus. By the time he played in his first game, it didn’t matter how he reached the NFL. He was there.
“Everything I prayed for came true,” he said. “… That’s crazy. I couldn’t believe it.”
And he played like he belonged. Among 2014 NFL rookies, he ranked second in rushing touchdowns (eight) and fifth in rushing yards (607).
When friends on opposing teams told him that his name was on their scouting report as a key player they had to focus on, Crowell’s confidence grew even more.
“It was reassurance,” he said.
Crowell was a consistently productive and reliable running back for the Browns. In 2015, he ranked third in rushing yards (706) among second-year NFL running backs and had a career-high 952 rushing yards in 2016.
But during the summer of 2016, Crowell made headlines off the field for another controversy.
Controversial social media post
In July 2016, after police in Louisiana and Minnesota killed Black men on successive days, Crowell posted on Instagram an image of a faceless person dressed in black and cutting the throat of a police officer. He deleted the image and apologized for it, but he senses some NFL team leaders continued to hold it against him.
“Certain people, most definitely,” he said.
Asked what message he was trying to communicate with that post, Crowell said, “When we start fighting back, then stuff will change. It’s not going to change by just talking about it or having a rally.”
But after learning why the post was offensive, Crowell said in a written statement back then, “My values and beliefs do no match that image.”
After his rookie contract expired, the Browns and Crowell didn’t agree on a long-term contract. He played the 2017 season with a one-year, $2.8 million tender. His rushing yardage total dropped to 853, and the Browns let him leave as a free agent.
New York Jets
Crowell signed a three-year, $12 million contract with the New York Jets and received a $3 million signing bonus in 2018.
Their third game of the season was a national Thursday night telecast featuring Crowell’s return to Cleveland as a Jet. He marked the occasion with a graphic touchdown celebration — wiping his butt with the football.
It was his way of telling the Browns management what he thought about their contract dispute with him.
“I felt disrespected about the whole situation,” he said. “… That wasn’t to the fans. That was to upstairs.”
Despite the NFL fining him $13,369 for unsportsmanlike conduct, Crowell said he didn’t suffer further ramifications from it.
“That really didn’t hurt my career,” he said. “… No regret about it.”
In fact, he landed an endorsement deal with Dude Wipes, a toilet-paper substitute for men.
Two weeks later, his 219 yards against the Denver Broncos not only set the franchise’s single-game rushing record; it also was the most yards per carry (14.33) in NFL history by a player with at least 15 carries.
“Not shocked because I know how good I am,” he said. “I got records in high school, got records in college, so it’s just football. But it is a blessing, and it does feel good, like I left a mark.”
A torn toe ligament prematurely ended his season in December 2018. Then the Jets released Crowell in March after their signing of free agent Le’Veon Bell.
Oakland Raiders
Later that month, Crowell signed with the Oakland Raiders for a one-year contract worth as much as $2.5 million. But a month later, he tore his right Achilles tendon during a workout, was sidelined for the 2019 season, and his earnings were reduced to $1 million.
No NFL team has signed him again. Crowell, however, insisted in that 2021 interview he is at peace with his career.
“I know I really accomplished my dream, and I really stood out,” he said. “The hard work paid off.”
Crowell noted he has much to be thankful for: family giving him joy, businesses and charity work keeping him productive, and enough money to not worry about finances after proving himself in the pros.
“I’m blessed for that,” he said. “… There’s no reason to be bitter. … I’m not sitting by the phone waiting on the NFL.”
Then he quoted some advice he heard the previous day: “Stop valuing the stuff that you don’t have more than the stuff that you do have.”
Crowell has given back to the Columbus community in various ways, such as his annual pre-Thanksgiving celebration through his Feed the Crow Foundation, serving hundreds of meals for homeless people at SafeHouse Ministries, and providing 100 Turkeys to South Columbus United Methodist Church. He also has hosted a free youth football camp in Columbus.
Committee’s assessment
The 46 GHSFHOF committee members weighed the relative merits of Crowell’s football success, his off-field incidents and his community contributions, chairman Rusty Mansell told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email.
“I don’t think any of that was ever brought up in a way that we felt like he would not be eligible because of a background check,” said Mansell, owner and publisher of DawgsHQ and a recruiting analyst for 247Sports. “… I know a lot about his background. I covered him in high school, and I felt very confident that Isaiah was certainly worthy of this achievement.”
The Browns flew Mansell to Cleveland to learn more about Crowell’s background before signing him. Mansell recalled that meeting with general manager Ray Farmer.
“I told him if he drafted Isaiah or if he had an opportunity to get him on his team, I felt confident he would never have an issue with him, and they did not,” Mansell said. “In fact, after the success of Isaiah and me convincing them to bring him onto their team, they brought me back up to Cleveland the next year to discuss many players from the state of Georgia.”
Based on his 17 years analyzing high school football, Mansell described Crowell as “one of the most electric running backs that I’ve ever covered in the state of Georgia.”
Daryll “DJ” Jones, the former Carver star who played defensive back at UGA and for the Green Bay Packers (1984-85) and the Denver Broncos (1987) in the NFL, also is a GHSFHOF committee member. He told the Ledger-Enquirer that Crowell’s election is a “credit to his perseverance as a player and as a human being. I mean, he’s been through a lot, and he overcame to do what he did in college and to make it to the professional ranks and establish himself. I think it’s incredible. It’s outstanding.”
Jones noted Crowell’s community contributions helped the committee’s assessment of him rise above the off-field incidents.
“We all know as voting members of the board that there’s certain characteristics that you want to be considered when you think about a Hall of Famer,” Jones said. “… Everybody realizes that we were young at one point in time, and we’ve done some stupid things that we aren’t proud of. But, when you consider what he has done, the strides he’s made since that time, … that made an impact.”
Jones, who played against All-Pro running backs such as Eric Dickerson and Marcus Allen, said Crowell’s skill set compared favorably to them.
“He was just explosive,” Jones said. “He was electric. He was powerful. He had a great head for the game. He just had that vision.”
Previous inductees from Columbus
This is the fourth year the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame has selected an induction class. Here are the three players from Columbus who have been included in previous classes, and their senior year.
Ernie Green of Spencer (1957)
Jarvis Jones of Carver (2008)
Otis Sistrunk of Spencer (1964).
