One of the newest Tennessee Titans, defensive lineman Jack Crawford, uses a somewhat unconventional way to train.
Crawford, who is a native of London, England, uses Mixed Martial Arts as a way to prepare for the football field, as he told Annika Weldon of NFL International in an article that was published in December of 2019.
“I’ve also found that MMA helps improve my game as a defensive lineman. A lot of people who play this game are not comfortable when people are right in their face,” Crawford said. “That’s their weakness. The more comfortable you can be with that, the more success you are going to have. MMA just helps reinforce that. It also helps with small muscles that we don’t train. We bench press, we squat, we do a lot of lifting and training for big muscles but there are some small muscles that you don’t work. It also helps with your hand strength, balance and when you are fighting with another person. The only thing harder than football physically is combat sports like boxing or MMA.”
Despite his foray into MMA as a tool to train, Crawford doesn’t think he’d want to take it up as a career.
“I don’t think I would want to do it professionally; I don’t think I want to take any extra hits or trauma to the head, any more than I’ve got from football,” Crawford explained. “I’d love to be in that world and compete, but for me I think it would be best to stick to Jujitsu. I do plan on trying to start that after I’m done playing.”
Crawford was drafted in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. He has also played for the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons during his eight-year career.
The 31-year-old spent the past three seasons in Atlanta, mostly as a backup. His best season came in 2018 when he started in 11 of 16 games and finished with six sacks.
Crawford offers versatility as someone who can play both defensive end and tackle. He will serve as depth for the Titans in 2020 after the departure of rotational defensive lineman, Austin Johnson, who signed with the New York Giants this offseason.