Sports
Countryside's Gray Crow Says Intangibles Led Him to Miami
Countryside quarterback gets his choice of college out of the way, partially thanks to his work ethic.
Gray Crow is something of a legacy at Countryside High School.
His brother, L.D. Crow, was one of Countryside's best quarterbacks and eventually found his way to Stanford where he played for the Cardinal on then-coach Jim Harbaugh's first season.
Crow, who will be a senior this fall at Countryside, is like his older brother: a savvy, smart, hard-working pro-style quarterback with a big arm.
Like his older brother, he too will play Division-I football.
Unlike his older brother, Gray Crow will attend classes at the University of Miami not this fall, but next year.
While Miami is where Crow will go, playing for Countryside very nearly didn't happen. Crow, who last season threw for 1,254 yards completing 103 of his 194 attempts for eight touchdowns and seven interceptions, did play for Countryside his freshman year and, with a logjam of quarterbacks, then coach John Davis decided to go with a senior quarterback instead. Crow, a sophomore, thought otherwise.
"I just thought I was ready to play and I wanted the experience to play on a state playoff team," Crow said about transferring to Ocala Trinity Catholic, the same school where Gators quarterback John Brantley played. "I just wanted playing time. Simple as that."
But returning to Countryside was a thorny issue. Sure, there was an opening at quarterback but would Davis welcome Crow back after being spurned. More important, would his teammates accept him back?
The decision got easier when Davis left for Clearwater Central Catholic. His successor, Jared Davis, was open to Crow's return but then there was the Cougars players.
But one of the traits that Miami found alluring with Crow is a trait Crow displayed when he came back to Countryside.
"When he came back, the only way that he was going to win back his teammates was by working hard," Davis said. "And that's what he did."
It was a trait that Crow knew he had in him.
"I think the main things Miami liked in me were my intangibles," Crow said. "I work harder than anyone out there. I pride myself in that. I have character. I have leadership."
