10 greatest Alabama football undrafted free agents of all time

Greatest Alabama football undrafted player No. 4: Paul Crane

Center/Linebacker
New York Jets: 1966-1972

Paul Crane makes this list not just because he was able to play for a College Football National Championship but also for a Super Bowl winner, but because he was able to do so while playing multiple positions. It’s also interesting to see that he played for one of the biggest juggernauts in the sports world one year and then one of the biggest surprises in the sporting world the next.

Crane won All-American honors for the Tide in 1964 and 1965 as a center and then, when he graduated, he signed a free-agent deal with the New York Jets. He managed to stick with the Jets for seven seasons, but it was the 1968 campaign that I’m sure even he would say was the most memorable.

That was the year that Broadway Joe Namath took the Jets to the Super Bowl III win over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. In fact, it seems likely that in that era, the Colts were basically the Alabama football team of the NFL. Crane was one of those guys that don’t get enough talk and attention these days, but he contributed to some of the best teams the Tide saw.