Carson Crawford, a soon-to-be Carthage High senior, announced his commitment to continue his athletic and academic career at the University of Colorado he announced last week.

Crawford, who splits time between defense and offense at Carthage, will head to Boulder as an outside linebacker.

The 6-foot-3 205 pounder who last season had 91 tackles including 22 for loss to go along with nine sacks and four forced fumbles did so while playing in only two fourth quarters in 16 games played last season.

It didn’t take long for Crawford to realize that playing and attending Colorado was the place for him.

“As soon as I got there it clicked and it felt like home,” Crawford said. “Just talking to coaches and players, I fit right in. It’s the place to be and an amazing experience.”

It wasn’t head coach Deion Sanders who lured Crawford in it was actually linebackers coach Andre’ Hart and fellow Buffaloes linebackers Mantrez Walker Gage Goldberg — son of WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg — and Jeremiah Brown that made Boulder the place to be.

“I love Coach Hart, he’s a great guy and a great coach,” Crawford said. “He’s a great man also off the field and you really love that. I have a connection with him and all the players. I went out with all the linebackers and really enjoyed them. Mantrez, Gage Goldberg and Jeremiah Brown, those are some great guys.”

Crawford took his official visit to Boulder with his mom and dad and the way the Colorado family treated his family left a lasting memory.

That along with beautiful campus, state-of-the-art facilities and playing on a football field overlooking the mountains put Colorado over the top.

“They all showed a lot of love for me and my family,” Crawford said. “It was a really enjoyable trip. It was really cool seeing how the coaches talked to my parents. They talked to us with a level of respect which we all enjoyed. We all fell in love as soon as we got there.”

Crawford has come a long way since getting called up to varsity as a sophomore. The three-start linebacker received no offers his sophomore year and had none through his junior year until after the postseason.

After a stellar performance in Carthage’s 28-14 victory over Waco La Vega in the 4A Division II State title game, the offers came in bunches Crawford said.

Among the offers were UTSA, UTEP and Texas State whom Crawford previously committed to before re-opening his recruitment and choosing Colorado.

Carthage Coach Scott Surratt is elated for Crawford and who is the fourth incoming Carthage senior to commit to a Power-four conference in the last three weeks.

“I’m fired up for Carson,” Surratt said. “He is a great football player. Not many players can say they have played five or six positions in a season. Obviously he is a very versatile player who can really run, jump, catch and is very physical.

“On top of all that he works extremely hard to keep getting better. He always plays with an edge and that makes him different. I’m excited to coach him this season and watch him get better and better.”

The three-star linebacker has only gotten better each season.

Like teammates KJ Edwards and DaQuives Beck who are going to Texas A&M and Junior Henderson who is going to Arkansas, Crawford will also graduate this December to early enroll at Colorado in January.

“I got all my classes taken care of this summer so I can do that,” Crawford said. “I want the best opportunity to start and at a program like Colorado you have to get there early.”

With his future intact Crawford can go ahead and focus on the upcoming season and being a senior. Crawford knows that even with Carthage once again predicted to make another deep postseason run, that his senior year will go by in a blur.

Not having to deal with recruiters anymore makes the process much easier, he said.

“It’s definitely a little weight off your shoulders,” Crawford said. “Not feeling like you have to answer all the calls and everything but I still show respect to every coach that showed interest in me. All love to them and even the ones that didn’t. Now it’s about perfecting my craft not just for this year but the following.”

Crawford is ready for the season to begin as the Bulldogs are in search of repeating as 4A-DII state champions and winning state title No. 11.

“It all starts Week 1 and we aren’t going to overlook anybody or any game,” Crawford said. “It starts off at Kilgore and that’s going to be a really good game. They are a really good team and always have the athletes. We’ll go in week-by-week, that’s we did last year and not underestimate any opponent.”