The Helvetic Mercenaries continue to build toward 2025, this time signing veteran athlete Jocques "Joc" Crawford to play a variety of positions. We've seen Crawford play offense in the ELF as a talented running back three out of the last four seasons, however now he'll likely be switching to defense for the Swiss squad in 2025. 

A long ELF career as a RB

The 37-year-old has been a key player in the ELF on and off since joining in 2021. Crawford ran for 2,145 yards and 16 touchdowns as running back for the Berlin Thunder in 2021 & 2022. Last season, he joined the Milano Seamen and ran for 608 yards and four touchdowns in seven games, while also adding 276 yards and 3 more scores as a receiver. The talented ball carrier ranks third all time in career rushing yards in the ELF with 2,753 rushing yards in 30 career games. 

However, this season Crawford will be focusing on defense, signing as a safety for the Mercenaries. The Mercenaries have already signed All-Star receiver Aaron Jackson in new coach Marcus Herford’s offense. 

A versatile player on offense or defense

Crawford has plenty of experience on defense playing safety in high school and internationally throughout his career, including 2024 where he played defense for the Lazio Marines in Italy. 

Before beginning his pro-career, the Memphis, Tennessee, native was a top high school recruit, playing both running back and safety. However, prior to joining the division one ranks, Crawford starred as a Junior College All-American at Cisco (Texas) Junior College, rushing for 1,935 yards and 19 touchdowns in his sophomore season.

He then went on to play for Kansas University where he rushed for 242 yards and four touchdowns before transferring after one season to Tennessee Tech University. 

After finishing up his college career, he first played in Finland, winning league MVP with the Seinäjoki Crocodiles. He followed that season up with another rushing title, this time with the Turku Trojans. 

Soon thereafter, the Finnish league All-Star moved to Brazil, playing there from 2015 to 2018. In his four seasons in Brazil, Crawford suited up for the Santos Tsunami, Corinthians, Recife Mariners, and Cruzeiro Imperadores.

Crawford will be a part of an exciting rebuild happening in Switzerland as coach Marcus Herford looks to bring the Mercenaries to new heights in 2025.

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