- Played four seasons in Canadian Football League; Edmonton Eskimos (2005-06), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2009-10)
- Fourth-round pick by New Orleans Saints in 2002 NFL Draft (125th overall pick)
- 2001 First-Team All-American (Football News, The Sporting News, CNNSI.com)
- 2001 Mosi Tatupu Special Teams Award Finalist
- 2001 Football News Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist
- 2001 Thorpe Award Semifinalist
- 2001 First-Team All-Big 12 (AP, Coaches)
- 2001 Team Captain
- 2000 First-Team All-Big 12 (Houston Chronicle)
- 2000 Honorable-Mention All-Big 12 (AP, Coaches)
- 1999 Honorable-Mention All-Big 12 (Coaches)
- Second-Team Academic All-Big 12 (1999, 2001)
- Second in School History with 41 Pass Breakups
- Fourth Among NU Defensive Backs with 192 Career Tackles
- Tied NU Bowl Record With Three Pass Breakups (vs. Northwestern, 2000)
Career
Craver spent three NFL seasons with the Saints from 2002 through 2004. He enjoyed his best season as a rookie in 2002, when he played 10 games with one start and recorded 18 total tackles. Craver added seven tackles in 12 games with the Saints in 2003. He also spent four seasons in the Canadian Football League, spending the 2005 and 2006 seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos, before playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2009 and 2010.
Senior (2001)
Keyuo Craver (pronounced KEY-oh) Craver captured first-team All-America and first-team All-Big 12 honors as a senior. The Harleton, Texas, native was also a finalist for the Mosi Tatupu Special Teams Award, and a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award and the Football News National Defensive Player-of-the-Year award.
Craver played in every game since his arrival as a true freshman in 1998, making 38 consecutive starts (including bowl games) to end his career. He led the Huskers with eight tackles in the 2002 Rose Bowl loss to Miami. He also hauled in an interception of a first-quarter pass from the Hurricanes' Ken Dorsey.
Craver played in the bowl game with his degree in hand, graduating from Nebraska in December 2001.
Craver provided blanket coverage on the top opponent receiver and was one of NU's top tacklers, ranking among team leaders in tackles in each of his final three seasons, including a career-best 60 tackles in 2001.
He closed his career ranked second only to fellow All-American Ralph Brown with 41 pass breakups in the Nebraska record books, while his 192 tackles were the most ever by a Husker cornerback and ranked fourth all-time among NU defensive backs.
Along with his abilities as a defender, Craver showed a knack for the big play, recording 10 tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks, and three career touchdowns (one interception and two blocked punts). He blocked four kicks in his career, scoring a pair of touchdowns on blocked kicks in 2000. In 2001, the Husker coaching staff found more ways to get the versatile Craver on the field, as the senior returned 21 punts for 246 yards (11.7 avg.) to rank 25th nationally.
A three-year letterwinner on the Nebraska track and field team, Craver helped the Huskers to back-to-back indoor league titles in 2000 and 2001 as a triple jumper. During the spring of 2001, Craver placed fourth at the indoor conference meet. He posted a career-best triple jump of 55-1. Although he did not compete in track as a senior, Craver became the first Husker male athlete 20 years to earn seven to earn seven letters in his career.
Junior (2000)
Craver ranked second on the team in pass breakups with 13 in 11 regular-season games, four behind team leader DeJuan Groce. Craver also ranked third on the team with 56 total tackles, including 33 solo stops. He added six tackles for 20 yards lost, including 2.5 sacks for 16 yards lost.
Nebraska ranked seventh in pass efficiency defense and among the nation's top 30 teams in all four major defensive categories. He earned first-team All-Big 12 honors from the Houston Chronicle and second-team all-conference accolades from The Sporting News and Dallas Morning News.
Craver scored the first points of his college career when he blocked a Baylor punt and recovered it in the end zone. He added his second career sack against the Bears, after recording his first career sack against Iowa. He scored the second touchdown of his career when he recovered a punt blocked by Aaron Terpening in the end zone at Kansas State. In the 2000 Alamo Bowl win over Northwestern, Craver had six tackles, including two for loss, and three pass breakups, which tied the NU bowl record.
Sophomore (1999)
Craver took over the starting left corner duties for Erwin Swiney, who had surgery following the 1999 Spring Game. Playing opposite All-American Ralph Brown, Craver finished fourth on the team with 51 tackles, while ranking second only to All-America rover Mike Brown with 34 solo tackles.
Craver finished the year with three interceptions and 18 return yards, while ranking second on the squad with 12 pass breakups. Craver added two blocked punts, one fumble recovery, three quarterback hurries and two tackles for loss. He had a season-high 10 tackles against Kansas and had two fourth-quarter interceptions to preserve NU's win over Southern Miss.
Craver had two blocked punts (Iowa State, Kansas State). His block against Kansas State was one of three in the game by the Huskers, giving NU seven blocked punts on the year and 10 total blocked kicks on the season. Craver also had 10 punt returns for 106 yards, including five returns for 63 yards against Iowa.
Freshman (1998)
One of three true freshmen (also Jason Lohr and Jeremy Slechta) to play valuable reserve roles, Craver saw action in every game. He gradually earned a spot on the first team, claiming his "Blackshirt" after a season-best performance against No. 2/1 Kansas State. In that game, he had a season-high six tackles, broke up two passes, had one quarterback hurry and broke Michael Bishop's string of five games without an interception with his third quarter pickoff.
On the season, Craver totaled 25 tackles and three breakups. He had two solo tackles in the Holiday Bowl.
At Harleton High School
Craver was a first-team all-state running back in 1997, totaling 3,024 yards on 271 carries (11.2 ypc) with 50 rushing touchdowns. He had 10 200-yard rushing efforts and five 300-yard outings (career-high 340). He finished his prep career second on the all-time single-season rushing and scoring charts behind national leader Kenny Hall of Sugarland, Texas.
Craver had 2,329 yards and 36 touchdowns as a junior to earn second-team all-state honors. In 1997, Craver was the district MVP, the offensive player of the year and an All-American as named by the National Recruiting Advisor. He had 192 tackles as a junior and senior, five interceptions and a punt and kickoff return for 80-plus yard touchdowns. Craver was also a four-time champion in the triple jump.
Personal
The son of Steve and Kathy Craver, Keyuo was born on Aug. 22, 1980, and has three brothers. He graduated from Nebraska with a degree in communication studies in December 2001. He was a two-time member of the Unity Council.
Craver's Career Statistics
|
. |
. |
Tackles |
. |
. |
Fum. |
. |
. |
. |
QB |
Int. |
||
|
Year |
G/S |
UT |
AT |
TT |
TFL |
Sacks |
C-R |
BK |
PBU |
PI |
Hry. |
Csd. |
|
1998 |
12/0 |
11 |
14 |
25 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
1999 |
12/12 |
34 |
17 |
51 |
2-3 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
2 |
12 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
2000 |
11/11 |
33 |
23 |
56 |
6-20 |
2.5-16 |
0-0 |
2 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2001 |
12/12 |
35 |
25 |
60 |
2-3 |
0-0 |
1-0 |
0 |
13 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| Totals | 47/35 | 113 | 79 | 192 | 10-26 | 2.5-16 | 1-1 | 4 | 41 | 7 | 4 | 1 |
Interception Returns: 7-115-1 Total; 1-0 yards vs. Kansas State, 1998; 2-18 vs. Southern Miss, 1999; 1-0 vs. Texas A&M, 1999; 1-57-1 vs. ISU, 2001; 1-16 vs. Baylor, 2001, 1-24 vs. Oklahoma, 2001
Punt Returns: 31-352-0; 10-106-0, 1999; 21-246-0, 2001
1998 Holiday Bowl vs. Arizona: Tackles, 2 UT, 0 AT, 2 TT
2000 Fiesta Bowl vs. Tennessee: Tackles, 1 UT, 1 AT, 2 TT; 2 PBU
2000 Alamo Bowl vs. Northwestern: Tackles, 5 UT, 1 AT, 6 TT, 2-2 TFL, 3 PBU
2002 Rose Bowl vs. Miami: Tackles, 4 UT, 4 AT, 8 TT, 1 INT (no return)
Craver's Personal Bests
Tackles - 10 vs. Kansas, 1999
Solo Tackles - 6 vs. Texas Tech, 2000
TFL - 2 (three times, most recently vs. Rice, 2001)
Sacks - 1-9 vs. Iowa, 1-3 vs. Baylor, 2000
Quarterback Hurries - 2 vs. Southern Miss, 1999
Passes Broken Up - 4 vs. Southern Miss, 1999
Interceptions - 2-18 vs. Southern Miss, 1999
Interception Returns for TD - 1-57 vs. Iowa State, 2001
Fumble Return - None
Blocked Kicks - 1, four times, vs. Iowa State (punt), Kansas State (punt), 1999; Baylor (punt), Colorado (field goal), 2000
Punt Returns/Yards - 5-63 vs. Iowa, 1999; 4-63 vs. Kansas, 2001
Long Punt Return - 50 vs. Kansas, 2001