John David Crow John David Crow ( born July 8 , 1935 ) is a former American football player , coach , and college athletics administrator . He won the Heisman Trophy as a halfback at Texas A & M University in 1957 . He was not one of the " Junction Boys , " since he was a freshman in the 1954 season and thus ineligible to play under NCAA rules at the time , but played for Bear Bryant at Texas A & M and later played professional football for the Chicago / St . Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers between 1958 and 1968 . Crow received the annual " Len Eshmont Award " on two occasions , 1966 and 1967 . This award is voted by the players and given to the 49er who best exemplifies the " inspirational and courageous play " of Len Eshmont . A street on the campus of Texas A & M University adjacent to Kyle Field is named after him . Early life . A native of Marion in Union Parish in North Louisiana , Crow was reared to the west in Springhill in northern Webster Parish near the Arkansas state line . He graduated in 1954 from Springhill High School . College career . In 1956 , Crow was part of the first Aggie football team to beat the University of Texas at Darrell K . Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium . In the 1957 season , the Aggies won their first eight games and were ranked Number 1 in the AP Poll . The team lost their last three games after uncertainty over whether their coach , Bear Bryant , would be leaving the school . Although injured early in the season , Crow was able to play in 7 games in his senior season . He rushed for 562 yards on 129 carries , with 6 touchdowns . Crow also caught 2 passes and passed for 5 touchdowns . While playing on defense , he intercepted the ball 5 times . Bryant told the Heisman voters that they ought " ' to do away with the thing ' " if they didn ' t vote for Crow . Crow was named a scholastic All - American and won the Heisman on December 3 , 1957 , defeating Iowa tackle Alex Karras . Crow claims not to have understood the importance of the award until sponsors flew him and his family to New York for the presentation . He was the first Aggie to win the Heisman , and he was the only one of Bryant ' s players to win . Bryant said that had Crow not won the Heisman that year " then they ought to quit giving it . " Bryant then left for Alabama shortly after Crow received the Heisman . Pro career . In the 1958 NFL Draft , Crow was a first – round draft pick for the Chicago Cardinals . He played 11 seasons and appeared in 4 Pro Bowl s . He later played for the St . Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers . He completed more passes than any other non - quarterback in history with 33 completions , including five touchdowns . Coaching . When his playing career ended , Crow became a coach . In 1968 , he was named the offensive backfield coach under Bryant at Alabama , a position he retained until 1971 . He was personally close to Bryant , under whom Crow ' s late son , Johnny Crow , played at Alabama . He later worked as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego Chargers . Northeast Louisiana . Crow was the sixth head college football coach for Northeast Louisiana University ( now the University of Louisiana at Monroe ) , located in Monroe , Louisiana and he held that position for five seasons , from 1976 until 1980 . His coaching record at Northeast Louisiana was 20 wins , 34 losses , and 1 tie . As of the conclusion of the 2007 season , this ranks him fifth at University of Louisiana at Monroe in total wins and seventh at University of Louisiana at Monroe in winning percentage ( 0 . 373 ) . Athletic director . Crow became the athletic director and head football coach at Northeast Louisiana University ( now the University of Louisiana at Monroe ) in 1975 . He remained there until 1981 , when he left to pursue private business opportunities . In 1983 , he became assistant athletic director at Texas A & M under Jackie Sherrill , who served as both athletic director and head coach of the football team . Crow handled most duties for all sports except football , which Sherrill oversaw . He was promoted to athletic director at the end of the 1988 football season when Sherrill , resigned in the midst of a scandal . Texas A & M President William Mobley hired R . C . Slocum , Sherrill ' s defensive coordinator , as the new head football coach . In a press conference the day after his appointment , Crow announced that " ' I want to reaffirm my commitment to full compliance with the NCAA , Southwest Conference and Texas A & M University regulations in our athletic department . ' " After a public row in January 1990 , Crow fired long - time Aggies basketball coach Shelby Metcalf . Metcalf had coached at Texas A & M for 32 years , winning five Southwest Conference championships . The relationship between the men had often been described as bitter , and Crow cited " uncalled - for criticism " in his firing of Metcalf , who was not given the opportunity to say goodbye to his players . Crow appointed Kermit Davis to replace Metcalf . Later that year , after Arkansas left the Southwest Conference , Crow and DeLoss Dodds , the athletic director at the University of Texas , met with officials from the Pac - 10 Conference about aligning with that conference . The two later cancelled a similar meeting with officials from the Southeastern Conference . Crow resigned from his position as athletic director in April 1993 to invest as a limited partner in a greyhound racetrack . At the time of his resignation , the Texas A & M football program was embroiled in a scandal over students accepting money from boosters for jobs they had not performed . He was succeeded as athletic director by Wally Groff . As a result of the scandal , the Texas A & M football program was placed on five years probation and was banned from television or postseason appearances for one year . He then took a job as the fundraiser for the university until 2001 , when he retired . Awards and later life . Crow was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1976 . In 2004 , Crow was awarded the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award , presented annually by the SMU Athletic Forum . The award is given to former college football running backs who had excellent college careers and later became leaders in their community . Crow is retired in College Station , Texas . In an interview with the " Bryan - College Station Eagle " , Crow said , " I tell everybody that A & M is my true love and that I want us to win everything that we do , but Alabama is a close second because of the ties I had with Coach Bryant , and with my son playing over there .