Tara Murray
From the football field in Spotswood, to the gridiron field of Mississippi, it’s been a whirlwind few years for Keelan Crimmins.
Having grown up playing a number of sports, including playing representative football and cricket, Crimmins is now hoping to make his mark in American football.
After starting punting a couple of years ago, Crimmins is making the trek to Mississippi where he has signed a scholarship.
After committing in late November and signing his contract just before Christmas, Crimmins flies out to America this week.
“It is pretty exciting and obviously a good opportunity,” he said.
“It’s the second biggest sport in America. I didn’t know much about the American College system, let alone American football until the last couple of years.
“There was not a single chance of this happening. Even12 months ago, two years ago, I would not have believed it.
“It’s a bit of a whirlwind.”
Crimmins, who is a distant relation of the late AFL champion Peter Crimmins, first thought about punting when a friend suggested it to him. He got involved with Prokick run by Nathan Chapman and John Smith.
He enjoyed the transition and it all started from there.
“When you’re growing up playing sport, you want to play at the highest level you can,” he said.
“I played football with the Western Jets and cricket with the Western Spirit.
“This was a new challenge. The Fletcher boys, who are local, have gone over to America. Adam Korsak is another local who was named the best punter in college.
“I could always kick a football, so I thought why not go down and give it a try.”
Crimmins said it had been a big learning curve getting into punting, with periods of self doubt but his coaches had given him plenty of confidence.
He said, the signing at Mississippi State, the only college he spoke to, came together pretty quickly.
“John let me know a few weeks beforehand that it was probably going to happen and happen pretty quickly,” he said.
“The coach called me on the Tuesday and within 10 minutes offered me a scholarship. That was November 30.
“I signed on December 22 and it all happened in a couple of weeks and I’ve had to get everything together.”
For Crimmins, who once had stress fractures in his back from playing football, he’s just looking forward to the opportunities that might arise.
“I’ll focus on college at the moment,” he said. “I’ll play this year and try and get the number one spot.
“I want to play in the NFL, but it’s one step at a time and I’ll play what is in front of me.”
