MONTEREY — He was a blur in the open field with a cannon for an arm behind center when needed, often chasing his own shadow when sprinting past defenders toward the end zone at Monterey High.
A personality that would fit in with any crowd, Claude Crabb is arguably one of the best athletes to ever come out of Monterey County and don the Toreadores uniform.
Crabb, a former multiple-sport standout and NFL defensive back, passed away last week in Palm Desert after a bout with COVID-19, succumbing at the age of 80.
“When we weren’t in school, we were at Louie’s Pool Hall,” long-time friend and former teammate Bob Enea said. “When Claude showed up, he was the leader of the pack. People liked being around him.”
Crabb, the first athlete from Monterey High to play in the NFL, spent seven years in the league with three teams, intercepting six passes as a rookie for the Washington Redskins in 1962.
Over 80 career games, Crabb compiled 10 interceptions, including a 53-yard pick-six. He also recovered five fumbles before retiring with the Los Angeles Rams in 1969.
Crabb appeared in one playoff game with the Rams in 1967, falling to eventual Super Bowl II champion Green Bay.
“Football was his best sport,” said Enea, who played football with Crabb at Monterey Peninsula College for one year. “But he could do it all. He was one hell of an athlete.”
Inducted into MPC’s second Hall of Fame class in 1993 as a quarterback/defensive back, Crabb started his college career at USC before returning to MPC for one season.
Drafted by the Buffalo Bills of the upstart American Football League and Washington of the NFL in the pre-merger years after two seasons at the University of Colorado, Crabb chose the older league as he was the 253rd player taken in the draft.
Selected as a defensive back/wide receiver, trial by fire for Crabb came early in his rookie year on the defensive side of the ball when he had an encounter with Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown.
“Claude told me he came up on a sweep to make the tackle and Jim ran over him,” Enea said. “When he looked up, he was looking through the earlobe of his helmet. He said it felt like a rhinoceros hit him.”
Former long-time Toreadores football coach Dan Albert recalled how the offense went from a single-wing to a more traditional attack with Crabb at quarterback during Albert’s time as an assistant coach.
“He could do everything,” Albert said. “He was equipped to do whatever was asked of him. He was quick and elusive. He was a tremendous athlete.”
When Crabb missed part of his senior year because of an injury, Albert said it altered the Toreadores’ hopes of chasing a title in 1957.
“We just weren’t the same team without him,” Albert said. “He wasn’t hurt the entire season, but it was enough to squelch the season as far as the championship was concerned.”
One of nine players who have played in the NFL after starring for the Toreadores, Crabb also excelled in basketball and track.
Crabb remained a big supporter of MPC athletics, returning five years ago when the school honored the 1958 football team and his old coach.
“Almost all of our football team was there,” Enea said. “It was the last time we got together. It was great seeing all those guys again.”
