University of North Carolina Athletics
My Carolina Experience: Alge Crumpler
August 20, 2014 | Football
My Carolina Experience: Alge Crumpler
By Zoya Johnson, GoHeels.com
Algernon "Alge" Crumpler is one of the best tight ends in the history of college football and one of the best athletes to come to be a part of the Tar Heel football program.
He had a father who was deemed a legend out of high school and college and who went on to play in the National Football League, as a well as a brother who played at the same college as his father, East Carolina University, and who also went on to pursue a very successful career in the pro ranks. Yet, Alge Crumpler was never pressured to be an athlete.
In fact, none of Carlester Crumpler, Sr.'s sons were, they were only encouraged to never give up and to do their absolute best in everything they did. It was because of this genuine encouragement that Crumpler was able to make the decision to go to a college he absolutely loved to create his own legacy.
According to Crumpler they "Kept it even in the family," as his younger brother followed him to UNC a year later. Though he came to Carolina as a Morehead Scholar, Bryan was able to join Crumpler on the field for every home game of his UNC Career. "My younger brother never played football a day in his life. He was in the marching band at UNC so I high fived him every single game that I ran out of the tunnel from his freshman year until the day I graduated."
Crumpler came out of New Hanover High School as a highly recruited letter winner on the football and track Teams. "I grew up around a football family, track was just something I was good at. My high school coach Joe Miller said, 'All my athletes are going to play sports all-year round because I want the best all-around athletes." And an all-around athlete he was, as he left New Hanover as an All-Mideast 4-A Conference choice for football, having played every position except quarterback, a three-time state champion in the discus and as the 1996 state champion in the shot put.
"Just working hard every day makes you a better athlete as well as having goals and being committed to the process. I am never going to do something just to do it. If I am going to do it, I am going to make sure I am doing it right. I just felt like being at North Carolina surrounded me with those types of people."
That mindset was perfect for the Carolina football teammates and coaches Crumpler had at the time. He came into UNC in 1996 surrounded by a lot of talent that pushed everyone involved to be better. In '96, the team went 10-2 and Crumpler was one of five true freshmen to play. That year his time on the field along with his first touchdown earned him the honor of being named a co-recipient of most outstanding special teams player.
The 1997 team went 11-1. During his sophomore year, he caught 24 passes for 278 yards, including five pass receptions for 77 yards in the Gator Bowl victory over Virginia Tech. That year, he was the fifth-leading receiver on the team with 24 receptions.
The following spring Crumpler suffered an ACL tear during football practice and was forced to sit out the entire 1998 football season. Thanks to his outstanding abilities as a thrower, he was able to stay in an athletic mindset once recovered from his injury and placed third at the UNC Invitational in the shot put with a mark of 52-1 ¼, and finished eighth in the shot put with a throw of (50-11 1/2) at the indoor ACC Championships.
The following year Crumpler returned to the football field with a vengeance. He earned first-team All-ACC honors, started all 11 games, and made 20 receptions for 191 yards, at an average of 9.6 yards per catch. He had at least one catch in seven of the 11 contests that year and was Carolina's best run blocker. He finished his junior season by leading the team with 45 "domination" blocks, six more than any other UNC blocker. Needless to say UNC was more than happy to have a healthy Crumpler playing for them on the field and throwing for them inside Eddie Smith Field House.
Although the decorated North Carolina native left UNC with many accolades thanks to his athletic abilities, the experiences are what he truly cherishes. Reflecting on his time at UNC, Crumpler had this to say, "My goals coming in were to get bigger and stronger and to graduate. That was to be expected in my family, that and a chance to win a championship. We didn't win a championship but it kind of laid the foundation for the rest of my career because I learned a lot. I never looked at it as not meeting a goal it was more of a process. Everything that we dealt with, whether it was summer conditioning or intense practice weeks, those developed you as a stronger person. I learned so many different things that kind of prepared me throughout life."
"One of the best things about scholarships is everything is taken care of. It is very tough to leave that world and go into a world where you have different financial responsibilities, but I would always have sit downs with my strength coaches and position coaches and we would talk about things other than football and I would always pull from those stories when I had to make that transition. It was like 'wow this is what they were talking about.' It was not just preparing you for life on the field it was always preparing you for life off the field."
Crumpler continued to say, "I was prepared for the challenges that I was going to face. If there was something tough professionally I could always draw back on an experience that I went through in college to help me get through it. I've always had a network of guys that I could call and reach out to." To this day, thanks to Crumpler's time at UNC he has people in his life who continue to reach out to him simply because they belong to the same Tar Heel family regardless of the amount of time they were together at the university.
"I've always viewed Carolina as one of the most positive places in the world. I always reinforce it to my kids. I met my wife at UNC, and we love Chapel Hill. I've always enjoyed talking to other teammates of mine throughout my professional career and they always say, 'man, everybody at North Carolina is so close' that's the way I've always felt about UNC. It pains me that there's a different perception out there.
"There are so many resources that can help prepare you for life in general whether it be the academic center, computer lab, counselors, everybody loves to help but so many people are afraid to ask for it. When you ask for assistance with anything it gives that person the most joy to do what they're brought there to do."
Editor's Note: Alge Crumpler was a three-time first-team All-ACC tight end. He was selected for four Pro Bowl rosters. Between 2001-10 he played 10 seasons in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots.
