Crum Has Class

Lowe's is sponsoring an award that recognizes Senior players with the 4 C's: Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition.

Classroom:Maurice Crum Jr. followed in the footsteps of 98.7 percent of football players at Notre Dame since 1962 and became another scholarship player to earn his degree. Crum graduated in four years in good academic standing with a degree in sociology and is currently enrolled in the graduate studies program at Notre Dame. Crum was in good academic standing all four years of his undergraduate career and chose to enter the graduate studies program at Notre Dame and return for his fifth year as opposed to enter the NFL draft and begin his professional career.

Character:The character of Maurice Crum Jr. can best be quantified by the fact he was elected team captain of the Notre Dame football team as a senior and again as a fifth-year senior. Crum became just the 17th two-time captain in the 120-year history of Fighting Irish football. As one of just three fifth-year seniors on the team, it was virtually a given that Crum would be selected team captain for the second straight season. Perhaps the bigger honor came in 2007 when he was one of five captains on the football team but the only captain who was not a fifth-year senior.

Community:From June 10th-18th, Maurice Crum Jr. traveled with eight other people to Ghana to help establish a new computer lab and library at an orphanage in the town of Koforidua about 2.5 hours outside the capital city of Accra. He was part of the team that helped deliver 14 computers, two printers and an LCD projector into an air-conditioned computer lab with seating for 24 students. The group also presented the orphanage with approximately 2,000 donated books in the new library that had seating for 16 students.

Competition:On the field, Maurice Crum Jr. has won three monograms and enters the 2008 season with 241 career tackles, needing 54 stops to enter Notre Dame's top-ten list for career tackles. He is on pace to pass former teammate Tom Zbikowski who sits eighth all-time with 300 career tackles. He has started every game during his career and holds the team's longest active streak for both consecutive games played and started at 37. Crum was named an honorable mention All-American in the 2008 preseason by The Sporting News and was selected to the preseason watch lists for the Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Award and Lott Trophy.

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