Long before Julio Jones’ injury, and Micheal Thomas’ Saints made it to the championship game indicating that Buccaneers WR Mike Evans would be playing in the 2019 Pro Bowl, Tampa Bay already had a superstar headed to Orlando for today’s game.
If you attended the December 9th game at Raymond James stadium vs the New Orleans Saints, you may have had a chance to see who the Buccaneers nominated for their 2018 Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year award, Pinellas Park Patriots HC, Kenneth Crawford.
Coach Crawford has been coaching at the high school level in Pinellas County for 22 years. He has been the head coach at Pinellas Park for the last 10. When asked what he would do with the $15,000 he could receive from the NFL Foundation if selected as a finalist later today, in true Coach Crawford fashion, he stated it would be used to buy equipment for the football players. “It would help us tremendously”, he said. “We have to fundraise for everything we get and we are way behind. The money would go right back to the kids”.
Every person who gives their time, energy, patience, to having an impact in the lives of our youth, are heroes. Coach Crawford would be the first person to tell you that he is doing something he loves. The example he leads by is one of the reasons he will be in Orlando for today’s Pro Bowl. Let’s congratulate Coach Crawford and all of our 2018 Don Shula High School Coach of the Year nominees.
Sources: Buccaneers.com, WFLA.com
