Crosby keeps focus on his NFL future
July 15th, 2005
COLUMBIA - Roscoe Crosby's path to the NFL took a familiar turn Friday, when he worked out for 17 scouts at Spring Valley High in anticipation of the NFL supplemental draft on July 14.
His audition began with promise, but ended abruptly.
Crosby, 22, from Union, S.C., was considered to be among the best high school baseball and football players in the country in 2001.
He opted to play both sports after high school, signing a pro baseball contract with the Kansas City Royals that included a $1.75 million bonus, and accepting a football scholarship to play receiver at Clemson.
However, since graduating from high school, he's had to overcome several obstacles.
He's dealt with the death of three lifelong friends who crashed while driving his car to Florida to watch him play baseball, and the drowning of his 14-year-old brother in Lake Hartwell, near Anderson, S.C.
He's lost almost all of his bonus money, and he's had shoulder surgery and a broken nose.
Crosby hasn't worn a helmet in 18 months, and never played an inning of professional baseball. But Friday, he vowed to begin realizing his potential.
He bench-pressed 225 pounds 18 times and ran two 40-yard dashes in under 4.5 seconds -- NFL-caliber results.
Then, he unlaced his spikes and received medical treatment on his right thigh, which cramped up in the 95-degree heat. Crosby failed to finish the workout because of the injury.
So, how high should a team take Crosby, if at all? If a team takes a player in the supplemental draft, it must forfeit its pick in the same round in April's draft. About a dozen players are expected to draw interest.
Shaun King, an NFL quarterback who threw passes during Crosby's workout, said Crosby, at 6-foot-3 and 218 pounds, is worth some risk.
"He reminds me so much of Anquan Boldin," King said, comparing Crosby to the promising Arizona receiver entering his third NFL season. "He's going to get an opportunity."
Crosby has worked hard to make that opportunity happen.
He reached a low point two days after Christmas, when he arrived on the doorstep of his high school coach, Mike Anthony, now a S.C. House Representative. Crosby was in tears.
"We talked," Anthony said. "We cried together."
Anthony found Crosby a place to live, in Columbia. He found him a vehicle to drive. He introduced him to agent Kevin Parker.
Parker and agent Larry Geiger were opening a gym in Columbia, Total Fitness 4 You. They envisioned an elite training facility, and Crosby became the gym's first star.
Crosby has been working out regularly, running, lifting weights and catching passes from King. Those who know him believe Crosby will soon be catching NFL passes.
"He could make an impact Day 1 in the NFL," said Clemson receivers coach Dabo Sweeney. "Maybe not as a receiver, but as a special teams player. Give him two years and it's not farfetched that he'll become a star."
