Hogs Haven
FOX Sports
After his stints at Alabama State and New Mexico, Croskey-Merritt transferred to Arizona last year. But he played only one game, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown against his former Lobos teammates, before being suspended for an eligiblity issue. It’s a little complicated. He played four games in his first year at Alabama State, the most a player can play and still redshirt, but the NCAA ruled that he had played more. Croskey-Merritt said another player later wore his number, but the NCAA wouldn’t accept the explanation.
“The compliance officer at the SWAC wrote a letter saying they did have to [share] uniforms,” said Danny Gonzales, his head coach at New Mexico and now the defensive coordinator at Arizona. “There were numerous kids wearing 21 throughout the season. You can see, some of them have long hair, some of them have short, some wore tights, some don’t. We went through game by game. … We never got a full ruling.”
The Commanders were impressed by Croskey-Merritt’s reaction to his suspension. Most players, told their season was over after one game, would simply walk away, train on their own and prepare for the draft. But Croskey-Merritt stayed with Arizona football, practicing and working on the scout team, helping to prepare his teammates for the backs they’d face on Saturdays.
“That’s the biggest testament to his maturity,” Gonzales said. “Every time a scout came through and watched him busting his tail on scout team, in the situation he’s in, they saw he approached it like a pro.”
[S]aid Robinson Jr., who spent 11 years in the NFL as a linebacker: “It’s fun watching him play, because you know how hard he wanted to get there. I’ll tell kids, ‘You have to do A,B,C and D.’ He was one of the kids who did A,B,C and D. That’s not a guarantee it’s going to work, but it put him in position, and now he’s taking advantage of the opportunity.”
Once the Commanders’ 53-man roster was set, Croskey-Merritt traded out his preseason jersey number for a new one — No. 22 — and he doesn’t have to worry about anyone else taking that number this season. Teammates, coaches and fans already know what to call him, another huge change from his humble beginnings in college football.
“He’s been called Bill his entire life,” Gonzales said. “I call him Jacory. His mom and dad call him Jacory, but everybody else calls him Bill. Always smiling, but ultra, ultra competitive, wants to be the best at everything he does.
“He’s going to do wonderful things in D.C.”
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