21 days until Texas Football: Kitan Crawford is in the mix at safety
Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on.
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We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best.
Today is 21 days until kickoff. No. 21 for the Longhorns this season will be worn by Kitan Crawford, a senior defensive back.
Kitan Crawford season outlook
Upon signing with the Texas Longhorns Class of 2020, Crawford was a four-star cornerback from Tyler (Texas) Tyler High, home of former Horns like Earl Campbell, Aaron Ross, and Tim Crowder.
Crawford played corner in Austin during his first season, where he mostly logged time on the special teams units. He was moved to safety a year later to add athleticism to that portion of the secondary. While he’s likely running at field safety with the second team currently, he’s been a special teams stalwart over the last two years. He’s known for his nasty, hard-hitting and dog-like mentality.
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Crawford has played in 33 games with one start in his three years at Texas, recording 37 tackles (27 of them solo), a tackle for a loss, two passes defended and a blocked kick.
Crawford earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors in 2021 and is a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (fall 2020, spring 2021, spring 2022).
Kitan Crawford as a recruit
Notable player to wear No. 21: Rod Babers
Babers was a three-year starter at Texas who was a first-team All-Big 12 Conference choice and Jim Thorpe Award (nation’s best defensive back) semifinalist as a senior. He totaled 131 career tackles (104 solo) and five interceptions (176 yds.), including three returned for touchdowns, to set a Longhorns career record with a 35.2-yard interception return average.
A USA Today honorable mention All-American as a senior at Lamar High School in Houston, Babers had three defensive touchdowns (2 INTs, 1 fumble return) during his final prep season.
Roderick Henri Babers was born Oct. 6, 1980, in Houston.
All-Americans to wear No. 21
Rob Babers, CB, 2002
Justin Wells co-authored this article.
