BOULDER ? Opponents seldom had an answer for two-time All-American placekicker Mason Crosby, as he scored at least one point in all 50 games of his University of Colorado career. Now if Colorado’s wacky spring weather doesn’t become the first to stop him, Crosby and his jersey will officially be honored Saturday at halftime of CU’s annual spring game.
Crosby, who in at his family home in Georgetown, Texas, is scheduled to fly back to Colorado Friday to take part in several of the alumni events built around the game. But a spring storm expected to assault the Front Range between Thursday evening and early Saturday morning could alter or even postpone the ceremony.
If all goes as planned, Crosby will have his No. 16 jersey honored in a special halftime ceremony, as he will become the 25th player to have his name and number enshrined on the Fred Casotti Press Box fa?ade inside Folsom Field. The honor is bestowed on those who have earned first-team All-America status twice, and/or honored three times as a first-team All-Conference performer (or being the recipient of one of college football’s postseason trophies for being selected the best at a particular position).
Crosby qualified on two counts, as he became just the seventh two-time, first-team All-American, as well as only the seventh three-time, first-team All-Conference performer in Colorado football history. He is the first placekicker to have earned the distinction at CU, which retired three numbers but has since ended that practice in lieu of honoring Buffalo greats with honored jersey status.
“It’s the greatest honor I’ve ever had,” Crosby said of the impending ceremony. “Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve accomplished, it’s an honor to have it end this way and is kind of a dream come true. When I first came to school, I looked at those names hanging up there in the stadium, and I challenged myself to have the kind of career to earn my name along side those all-time Buff greats. So it’s going to be sweet and special, especially for my family, to have my name be up there with those guys. They are the greatest names in Colorado football and it’s a privilege for me to be able to join them.”
He set 33 single-game, season and career records at CU, most notably becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer with 307 points. He set or tied 19 of the school’s 38 placekicking records, including all of the major marks: field goals made (66), field goals attempted (88), extra points made (109), extra point attempts (117), field goal percentage (75.0) and the longest field goal made (60 yards against Iowa State in 2004). Several of those are also Big 12 Conference records.
Crosby made 12 career field goals of 50 yards or longer; the most before him had been three as he owns nine of the 14 longest kicks in school history. He excelled in late game heroics, making 14-of-18 in the fourth quarter, including 12-of-14 in the final 9? minutes.
In 2005, his 58-yard field goal at the Orange Bowl in Miami was the longest in college football history at sea level without a tee, and the third longest all-time on any level of organized football when including two by NFL kickers.
And when it came to kicking off, no one was better, as 138 of 203 went for touchbacks, 88 through or over the end zone, all school records.
Among the previous 24 players recognized with honored jersey status includes the three who did have their numbers retired, Byron “Whizzer” White (#24), Joe Romig (#67) and Bobby Anderson (#11), three of CU’s four members of the College Football Hall of Fame; the fourth, Dick Anderson (#31) also has been honored. Others include Rashaan Salaam (#19), CU’s only Heisman Trophy winner; Alfred Williams (#94) and Matt Russell (#16), CU’s two Butkus Award winners; Deon Figures (#2) and Chris Hudson (#47), both Thorpe Award recipients; Daniel Graham (#89), a John Mackey Award winner; and Mark Mariscal (#8), winner of the Ray Guy Award.
Former Buff quarterback Joel Klatt perhaps summed up the love affair between CU’s fans and Crosby the best when he said, “I was the only guy in the country who could throw an incompletion on third-and-five and the fans would start cheering because that meant Mason would be coming on the field.”
Crosby graduated last December with a bachelor’s degree in communication and anxiously awaits the 2007 NFL Draft just two weeks from now. He is expected to be drafted on the first day, with some predicting he will be a second round selection.
