Eric Crouch Eric Eugene Crouch ( born November 16 , 1978 ) is an American football quarterback for the Omaha Nighthawks . He also is a TV sports analyst and recreational equipment vendor . Crouch played college football for the University of Nebraska . In 2001 Crouch won the Heisman Trophy , awarded annually to the most outstanding collegiate football player in the United States . He also won the Davey O ' Brien National Quarterback Award , given annually to the best collegiate quarterback in the US . During that year running Nebraska ' s option offense , he completed 105 of 189 passes for 1 , 510 yards and seven touchdowns , while also rushing for 1 , 115 yards and 18 touchdowns . Crouch was the " USA Today " Nebraska Player of the Year , and a " Parade " All - American athlete at Millard North High School , where he was a two - time All - State selection at quarterback . Crouch appeared on the cover of the video game " NCAA College Football 2K3 " . College football . Ankle surgery forced Crouch to redshirt for the 1997 co - national championship - winning season . In 1998 , Bobby Newcombe began the season as the starting quarterback , but he was sidelined by a knee injury after the first game and Crouch took over the starting duties . Against UAB , Crouch rushed for two touchdowns and completed 11 of 17 passes in his first career start . 1998 proved to be a chaotic season for the Cornhuskers . Crouch made another start before being replaced by a healthy Bobby Newcombe . Newcombe started the next five games , but was pulled in the middle of a game because of a PCL strain . Senior walkon , Monte Christo , took over for Newcombe , and started the following week against Texas . With Texas leading 10 - 0 in the middle of the second quarter , Christo was pulled and replaced by Crouch . Crouch remained the starter for the rest of the season , which ended with a 23 - 20 loss to Arizona in the Holiday Bowl . The next fall Newcombe was named the starting quarterback , and it was rumored that Crouch might leave the team . Crouch , however , was given significant playing time in the first and second games . He started the third game against Southern Mississippi , and Newcombe moved to wingback . Crouch led Nebraska in a season that saw NU avenge its only loss of the season in a rematch against Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game . The Cornhuskers finished the season with a 12 - 1 record and ranked No . 3 after defeating Tennessee in the Orange Bowl . Crouch started every game in the 2000 season , which ended with a 66 - 17 trouncing of Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl . Nebraska ' s only losses during the 10 - 2 season were to eventual national champion , Oklahoma Sooners , and the Kansas State Wildcats . In 2001 Crouch had his best year , breaking school or NCAA records almost weekly and appearing to be a serious contender for the Heisman Trophy . In the first game of the 2001 season , a 21 - 7 defeat of TCU , Crouch surpassed Tommie Frazier as Nebraska ' s all - time total offense leader . He became the Big 12 all - time career rushing quarterback in the emotionally - charged game against Rice . The next week , against Missouri , Crouch was backed up near the goal line when he scrambled to escape from defenders and pulled off a 95 - yard touchdown run , the longest in school history . Against Iowa State the following week , Crouch broke the record for career touchdowns by a quarterback . Crouch became only the fourth player in Division 1 history to both pass and rush for 3000 yards in a career with his performance against Texas Tech . Next , in a hard - fought game against defending national champion Oklahoma , Crouch again showed off his speed and playmaking abilities , this time serving as quarterback and receiver in a single play , the famous Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass in which Crouch made a 63 - yard touchdown reception . By mid - November Crouch had set a school record for most career wins as a starter and became only the ninth quarterback in D - 1A history to have won 35 games as a starter . The Cornhuskers were 11 - 0 going into the annual contest with Colorado the day after Thanksgiving . Crouch had a career day , setting the school record for offense yards in a single game with 360 yards . The Nebraska defense was dominated by the Buffaloes , however , and gave up a then - record 62 points to Colorado . The 62 - 36 loss appeared to have ended Nebraska ' s hopes of playing for the national championship and to have hurt Crouch ' s chances of winning the Heisman . Two weeks later , however , Crouch was announced as the recipient of the award , edging out Florida ' s Rex Grossman and Miami ' s Ken Dorsey in the closest Heisman ballot since 1985 . His outstanding season also was recognized when he won the Davey O ' Brien Award for being the best collegiate quarterback in the nation during the 2001 season . In the meantime several highly - ranked teams were upset and in the final BCS rankings , Nebraska beat out one - loss Oregon and two - loss Colorado to earn the No . 2 spot in the BCS rankings . The final BCS rankings were steeped in controversy since Nebraska had the chance to play in the Rose Bowl for the national championship despite not winning a conference or division championship . In the Rose Bowl on January 3 , 2002 , Crouch rushed for 114 yards against the Miami Hurricanes but was denied a touchdown for the first time since September , 1999 . The No . 1 Hurricanes defeated the Cornhuskers 37 - 14 , leaving Crouch with a 35 - 7 record as a starting quarterback . Professional football . NFL and NFL Europe . Crouch was initially drafted by the St . Louis Rams of the NFL as a wide receiver , but still wanted to play quarterback . Crouch , however , was seen by NFL teams as being too short to play quarterback . His athleticism was seen as better suited for playing wideout , but a hard tackle by a defensive player caused him to have 150cc of blood drained from his leg . Because of the injury , Crouch left the team before playing a game . Crouch signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in January 2005 , and was allocated to the Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europe . Crouch converted to the safety position , recording 25 tackles and 2 passes defended . CFL . Crouch ' s opportunity to play quarterback at the professional level finally came when he signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League on February 15 , 2006 as a quarterback . ( The Argonauts had owned his CFL rights for several years . ) In his inaugural CFL season Crouch eventually became the fourth - string quarterback in Toronto , behind Damon Allen , Michael Bishop , and Spergon Wynn . On July 22 , 2006 , Crouch made his regular season CFL debut against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina , Saskatchewan . Coming in at the start of the second half following an injury to Wynn , Crouch sealed the win for Toronto with solid play , including a 94 - yard pass completion to Arland Bruce III . In 2007 Crouch was expected to battle Michael Bishop , Damon Allen , Mike McMahon and Tom Arth for the Argos ' starting quarterback position , but he eventually faltered because of injury . He began the season on the nine - week disabled list . After coming off the disabled list , Crouch was released by the Argos on September 6 , 2007 . AAFL . On September 25 , 2007 , Crouch signed with the upstart All - American Football League . He was drafted 3rd overall by Team Texas on January 26 , 2008 , in the first round of the league ' s inaugural draft . He was , however , released from his contract ( along with all AAFL players ) when the league canceled its debut season . UFL . On April 9 , 2011 , Crouch attended a public workout for the United Football League ' s Omaha Nighthawks . Although Coach Moglia praised the workout , he has yet to commit to resuming Crouch ' s playing career . On June 8 , 2011 , Crouch accepted an invitation to attend the Nighthawks mini - camp . On June 10 , 2011 , he was added to the Nighthawks official roster . Post - playing career . Crouch was a sales territory manager for a major medical device manufacturer in the US . Currently , Crouch is a vendor of playground and recreation equipment at Crouch Recreation in Omaha , Nebraska . He has been a TV studio analyst for KETV Channel 7 in Omaha , and a studio analyst on Versus . Eric recently joined Fox College Football as an In - Game Analyst for FX .