November 29, 2011
BLUFFTON, Ohio - Bluffton University senior Justin Crosier (Columbus/Hamilton Township) was recently selected to play in the 2011 All American Bowl in Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday, Dec. 17. The All American Bowl was founded in 1996 to give athletes the opportunity to compete against the best at their level in an all star game setting. The All American Bowl was created to fill the void of the lack of all star games available to athletes in High School, DII, DIII, JUCO, and minor league football. Crosier is the first Bluffton athlete to be selected for the All-American Bowl.
In April of 1996, the first All American Bowl was played in Minnesota and has since been played at various cities across the country including Atlanta, Miami, and Las Vegas. The All American Bowl also gives athletes the potential to be scouted by colleges and professional football teams.
The All American Bowl has several types of games for different levels of competition that include: DII, DIII, JUCO, Minor League Football, Free Agent, and High School. The participants in the All American Bowls have been nominated for their outstanding performances throughout their season, their accomplished career, love for the game, a chance to be noticed, and a last chance to play the game we all love!
The All American Bowl player sponsorship fee is funded by personal sponsorships that the player has received. Players have the opportunity to go out and find sponsorships, so they ultimately don't have to pay the sponsorship fee themselves. To help players get sponsored we provide sponsors name recognition an advertisement in our All American Bowl Game Program. A player can have multiple sponsors; as sponsors have the option of sponsoring the player in any increment they desire.
Crosier took home his second consecutive first team All-Heartland Conference honor after leading the Beavers to their best season since 2004. For the second straight year, Crosier led the HCAC in tackles-for-a-loss (16.5) and he was second in the conference with six sacks. The pre-season All-American nose tackle equaled Jake Luthy for second on the team with 56 stops after topping the Beavers (63 tackles) in 2010.
He ended his career first all time with 50.5 TFL's and seventh all time with 219 total tackles. Crosier also finished with 15.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries, four forced fumbles and two blocked kicks. He was a three-time All-HCAC performer, earning honorable mention as a sophomore.