If ever a player had the justification for the nickname “Suitcase”, Craddock might be the one. After playing for tiny Parsons College in Iowa, where he made Iowa Inter-collegiate All Conference team in 1960 & 1961 and was a Little All-American selection, Craddock was drafted by three teams: the NFL Giants, AFL Patriots and CFL Alouettes all selected him in their respective drafts.And that’s when his 1963 saga began:

• Signed by the Giants, he seemed to have what the NFL team wanted, but despite scoring twice in the final 1963 pre-season game, Craddock was cut. The main reason was that he lost his contact lenses after being hit. Said teammate Andy Robustelli: “We have the longest workouts of any football team. We spend two hours practicing and then an hour looking for Craddock’s contact lenses”
• Desperately searching for a running back, the Rough Riders offered him a CFL tryout, and he flew to Ottawa. However, before he could play the league reminded Ottawa that he was Montreal property.
• Rather than wait for the CFL red tape tangle to be sorted out, Craddock contacted the AFL Patriots and was offered a tryout there. He flew to Boston and dressed for the Patriots in a game against the NY Jets, but never got to play. Under the AFL rules of the time, the Jets claimed the rights to Craddock since he was a NFL castoff. The league’s commissioner, Joe Foss, had to sort out the ensuing debate, and placed Craddock on the Jets’ roster.
• While those teams sorted out the rights question, Craddock jumped at an invitation from rookie coach Don Shula of the NFL Baltimore Colts. His downfall with the Colts came at the end of October when he lost his contact lenses and was unable to return to a game when coach Shula wanted to send him in.
• He returned to the CFL, with the Alouettes this time, and was set to replace the injured Don Clark for the eastern semi-final but didn’t dress for the game. At the end of the season he signed a contract for 1964 with the club.  If you are keeping score, that was six teams in three leagues in one season.

1964 started on an equally confusing note when he signed another contract with the AFL Patriots. That contract was voided because of his existing Alouette contract. The season’s training camp started but Craddock left in July to return home to in Chicago. The Alouettes put him on their suspended list, and later assigned him to play with the Portland Sea Hawks of the Atlantic Coast League. Now 20 pounds heavier and with new, hopefully better fitting, contacts in place, Craddock rejoined Montreal in mid-September, and at 238 lbs was the heaviest back to play in the league since Cookie Gilchrist. To make room on the roster, the Larks released much-ballyhooed fullback Dave Hoppman. However the move almost backfired immediately when Ottawa lodged a protest, claiming Craddock was still on the suspended list, and that he would have to be waived through the league before playing for Montreal. Just before his first game, Sydney Halter disallowed the protest and Craddock played, scoring the only TD during a 23-8 loss to Ottawa. In all he played in eight games and posted a 4.6 yard rushing average that year and finally got into a playoff game - a 27-0 pasting by Ottawa.

His play was appreciated enough for the Als to sign him to three consecutive one year contracts in January 1965. Despite the security (or maybe because of it),  Craddock had a poor training camp, ended up in coach Jim Trimble’s doghouse and after only one regular season game (1 carry for minus three yards), he was released. So after an outstanding collegiate career, his pro career consisted of 9 CFL games and three NFL games over two seasons on seven different rosters.

Note: The most notable Craddock contribution to the Alouettes may have come from Craddock’s wife who along with Moe Levesques wife founded the “Gentilles Alouettes”, a club for female fans which existed for several years. These days that name denotes the Alouette cheerleading team.

[Bio by Wes Cross]

Nat Craddock on Fanbase

NFL Stasts For Nat Craddock

Rookie Gridder Is On 5 Teams In One Week - September 1, 1963

Craddock Signs With Colts - September 27, 1963

Colts Sign Near-Sighted Fullback - September 28, 1963

Rough Rider Protest Tossed Out - September 19, 1964

Approved by Halter - September 19, 1964

Women To Learn Football - July 15, 1965

Craddock Placed On Waivers By Alouettes - August 10, 1965