Kevin Craft

Kevin Craft
	Craft (#3) passes during an October 2008 game against the California Golden Bears
Personal information
Born:	October 15, 1985 (age 39); Escondido, California, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:	Valley Center (Valley Center, California)
College:	San Diego State (2004–2006); Mt. SAC (2007); UCLA (2008–2009);
Undrafted:	2010
Career history
	Cougars de Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône (2010–2011); IBM Big Blue (2012–2023);
Career highlights and awards
	2009 EagleBank Bowl champion; All-Rookie Selection Japanese X-League (2012); All-X-League Team (2012-2013);

Kevin Craft (born October 15, 1985) is a former American football quarterback and Head Coach for the IBM Big Blue in the Japanese X-League. He played college football at UCLA.

Early life

Craft attended Valley Center High School in Valley Center, California and was an excellent student and a letterman in football, basketball, and track. In football, he was a three-year letterman and earned All-California Interscholatic Federation honors. Kevin Craft graduated from Valley Center High School in 2004.

College career

SDSU

Craft originally attended San Diego State University, where his father, former SDSU Aztecs quarterback Tom Craft, was head coach. Arriving in 2005, Craft redshirted his first year; his father was fired at the end of the season and replaced by Chuck Long. Craft remained and, as a redshirt freshman, appeared in nine games and started five as the Aztecs went on to a 3–9 record in 2006; he had a 109.8 passer rating. In his first career start at San Diego State, Kevin Craft completed 20 of 32 passes for 216 yards against BYU.

Mt. SAC

Craft transferred from SDSU after the season and played football at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in Walnut, California during the 2007 season; again for his father Tom, who became the offensive coordinator at Mt. SAC.^[1]

UCLA

Craft transferred to UCLA in time for the 2008 spring practices. He soon found himself in as the starting quarterback for the UCLA Bruins Football team after the two veteran starters, Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan, both fell to extended injuries. In the Bruins opener for the 2008 season, Craft led the Bruins to a 27–24 victory against 18th ranked Tennessee in overtime. After throwing 4 interceptions in the first half he came back to complete 18 of 25 passes for 193 yards and 1 touchdown in the second half.^[2]

The Bruins finished the season with a record of 4–8 (3–6 Pac-10) and failed to participate in a post-season bowl game. He competed with Kevin Prince and freshman Richard Brehaut for the quarterback position in 2009.

In the 2009 Washington game at the Rose Bowl, Craft came in after Kevin Prince went out to guide the Bruins to a one-point victory, 24–23, and an end to the team's five straight Pac-10 conference losses. He had 10 of 14 completions for 159 yards with an interception.^[3]

Professional career

Cougars de Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône

France 2010-2011

In 2010, Kevin signed with the Cougars de Saint-Ouen l'Aumône, France. The Cougars play in the highest level of competition in France Ligue Élite de Football Américain and in the EFAF Cup. Every team in the French national championship is eligible to sign two American players. Kevin decided to choose this challenge over his coaching job in order to try to help the Cougars to reach the national title. Craft chose the Cougars despite a late offer from the CFL Calgary Stampeders.

During the 2010 season, Kevin completed 216 of 398 passes for 2,851 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He rushed for 245 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. The Cougars reached the playoff in both seasons without reaching the championship game.^[4]

IBM Big Blue

In 2012, Kevin played for IBM Big Blue in Japanese X-league. He was an all league selection and a rookie of the year for the central division.

Craft passed for 199 yards in a May 31, 2014 game.^[5]

Statistics

Regular season

Year	Team	G	GS	W - L	Passing								Rushing				Sacked		Fumbles
Year	Team	G	GS	W - L	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Sack	Yds	Fum	Lost
2012	IBM	5	5	3–2	130	176	73.9	1,628	9.3	20	3		31	105	3.4	1	5	37	4	4
2013	IBM	7	7	5-2	117	176	66.5	1,735	9.9	23	4		23	161	7.0	1	2	13	5	5
2014	IBM	8	8	6-2	149	231	64.5	1,969	8.5	23	9		27	140	5.2	0	6	41	3	2
2015	IBM	6	6	4-2	60	95	63.2	823	8.7	8	3		22	-55	-2.5	0	6	55	1	1
	Total	26	26	18–8	456	678	67.3	6,155	9.1	74	19		103	351	3.4	2	19	146	13	12

Post season

Year	Team	G	GS	W - L	Passing								Rushing				Sacked		Fumbles
Year	Team	G	GS	W - L	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Sack	Yds	Fum	Lost
2012	IBM	2	2	1–1	31	48	64.6	327	6.8	5	0		15	87	5.8	1	1	11	1	1
2013	IBM	2	2	1–1	57	79	72.2	709	9.0	7	1		20	110	5.5	1	1	2	4	2
2014	IBM	4	4	3–1	102	159	64.2	1,456	9.2	17	8		31	123	4.0	2	4	29	5	4
2015	IBM	2	2	1–1	57	85	67.1	641	7.5	6	3		12	-19	-1.6	0	5	37	0	0
	Total	10	10	6–4	247	371	66.6	3,133	8.4	35	12		78	301	3.9	4	11	79	10	7

Personal

Craft majored in sociology and participated in the 2009 UCLA commencement ceremony.

References

^ "UCLA player's profile". Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
^ Foster, Chris - UCLA 27, NO. 18 TENNESSEE 24 (OT) Kevin Craft rallies UCLA past Tennessee. Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2008.
^ Chris Foster, Craft comes through for Bruins, Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2009
^ Signature of QB 2011, lescougars July 2010
^ "Kinoshita makes three TD grabs in Seagulls' rout over BigBlue". May 31, 2014.

[1] "UCLA player's profile". Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2008.

[2] Foster, Chris - UCLA 27, NO. 18 TENNESSEE 24 (OT) Kevin Craft rallies UCLA past Tennessee. Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2008.

[3] Chris Foster, Craft comes through for Bruins, Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2009

[4] Signature of QB 2011, lescougars July 2010

[5] "Kinoshita makes three TD grabs in Seagulls' rout over BigBlue". May 31, 2014.

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