Elizabethtown native Chris Cromartie not only received the opportunity to play 4 football games on national television for Campbell this fall, but the shortened 4 game schedule did not cost him a year of eligibility.
When the Big South Conference elected to move their league season to the spring because of COVID-19, they gave their member schools the option to play an abbreviated 4-game schedule this fall. However the Big South and the NCAA decided to give the teams that played the shortened fall schedule a year back on their players eligibility.
Campbell Coach Mike Minter, a former safety for the Carolina Panthers, seized on the chance to give his Camels a chance on the national stage to play against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents. All 4 games were on the road but all of them were televised by either ESPN or ESPNU.
The Camels led at Georgia Southern for 3 quarters then after falling behind 27-20, rallied with a touchdown to pull within 27-26 with 15 seconds remaining. A 2-point conversion pass for the win fell incomplete.
Cromartie anchored the Camel defensive line with 6 tackles from his nose guard position against the Eagles then recorded 2 more tackles the next week in a loss to a Coastal Carolina team that had opened with a decisive win at Kansas.
The Camels led Appalachian State until the final minute of the first half before the Mountaineers rallied for a 41-23 victory. Cromartie recorded 5 tackles in that game.
The former East Bladen star was credited with 2 tackles in the Camels final game at Wake Forest but felt that he got shortchanged. “I don’t know what the stat guy was looking at, but I felt like I had at least 5 tackles,” chuckled Cromartie.
Officially the 6-4, 325-pound senior totaled 15 tackles – 2 solo – in the 4 games against top-notch competition. “It was a good opportunity for us to play those teams, especially on national television,” said Cromartie.
Now Cromartie is focused athletically on the fall of 2021 – the Camels will not play in the spring. “My plans now are to work hard to get stronger and faster for next season,” stated Cromartie.
The son of Leon and Sheilah Cromartie, Chris will graduate in the spring of 2021 with a degree in business administration, but will still have the fall of 2021 to complete his senior year on the football field.
About Author
