The first time Dalton Crossan touched a football at Sachem he scored on a punt return against Patchogue-Medford. On the next play, this time holding down the secondary as a defensive back, Crossan knocked the ball away on a pass attempt. Sachem won the game, 33-7, and their immediate future looked bright.
“I remember looking at someone standing next to me and saying ‘this is going to be fun’,” said Sachem football coach, Dave Falco.
Crossan was a versatile juggernaut that led Sachem to one of its most prolific offensive stretches in program history. There was no stretch of imagination needed to recognize that he would star at the University of New Hampshire as one of the best running backs and return threats in the Colonial Athletic Association, and now, almost seven years later, he is about to embark on the next chapter of his football career as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
Crossan went undrafted and will sign with the Colts, who lack depth at the running back and slot receiver positions. He confirmed this news himself.
“Blessed to have the opportunity to play in the NFL,” he said from his Instagram account. “Can’t wait to get to work in Indy.”
There has only been one Sachem alum to actually play in the NFL and that’s Jumbo Elliott, who spent his entire career in New York with the Giants and Jets and was a member of the Giants’ team that won Super Bowl XXV. He is also the only player from Sachem to be drafted. Unlike Crossan, who was an all-state caliber star from the second he put on the black and gold, Elliott was a raw talent in high school who blossomed once he got to the University of Michigan.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Crossan talking about his Sachem experience
Crossan also joins Sachem alums Brian Bravy, Doug Shanahan and Chris Manno, who all have ties with NFL clubs. Bravy, who won a national championship at Georgia Tech, was on the practice squad in Atlanta. Shanahan, a two-sport All-American at Hofstra in football and lacrosse, was within one cut of making the Jets’ 53-man roster, and Chris Manno, a walk-on at Hofstra, signed contracts with Kansas City and Carolina.
There have been nearly 100 players from Long Island to play in the NFL, but the talent pool has been slim within the last few seasons. Crossan joins Glenn’s Iefanyi Momah, a tight end with Arizona out of Boston College, and Valley Stream Central’s Victor Ochi, a linebacker with Kansas City out of Stony Brook, as the newest Long Islander in the league. Lynbrook native and Arizona product Paul Magloire signed with Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent this year as well.
A friend and former flag football teammate of Major League pitcher Marcus Stroman, a native of neighboring Medford, N.Y., Crossan is in good local company across the pro sports landscape. Aside from Stroman, the pitching ace of the Toronto Blue Jays, there is Hills West’s Tobias Harris who plays for Detroit in the NBA, and a handful of players in the NHL, including Sachem East alum Keith Kinkaid, a goalie with the New Jersey Devils.
“Sachem and Long Island are two huge parts of my life and things that I am very proud of,” said Crossan. “I’m proud to be from Long Island and proud to have graduated from Sachem. To be able to put those two places on the map, for a little bit or a lot, however it ends up happening, will be an honor.”
All in the Family at Sachem
Crossan’s journey in Sachem didn’t start until his junior season when he transferred from Shoreham-Wading River.
“Sachem was a huge part of my life,” said Crossan. “One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was to make the switch from Shoreham to Sachem. It was a part of our lives even before we came here. We would hear the stories from our parents. It was great for two years to be a part of that tradition and a part of that legacy.”
His parents, Mike and Susann, were gifted student-athletes that loved the tradition of excellence Sachem had to offer when they were in school on Smith Road. They wanted the same for their children. Trent, who is two years younger than Dalton and made his debut as a freshman on that same night against Pat-Med, led Sachem to its only Long Island championship when the Flaming Arrows beat Farmingdale in 2013. Trent, a junior on the football team at Lafayette, scored the game-winning touchdown in the final minutes of the championship.
Mike, a quarterback, was Sachem’s team MVP in 1982 and played at East Carolina University. Susann, a track star who still holds some records at Sachem, ran at SUNY Binghamton.
Crossan’s numbers at Sachem are nothing short of legendary. He set the program record for career touchdowns with 50 and has the single-season touchdown record with 35. Most impressive, in his whirlwind 2011 campaign as the Hansen Award winner – Suffolk County’s top player – he set Sachem’s single-season rushing record with 2,186 yards, topping James O’Neal’s mark of 2,185 that stood for 14 years.
If that wasn’t enough, his 10.91 career yards per carry is a record, meaning he ran for a first down almost every time he touched the ball.
Combining his Sachem varsity yards (3,170) from 2010 and 2011 with his Shoreham varsity yards from 2008 and 2009 (1,044), he totaled 4,124 career rushing yards, which ranked him No. 10 all-time in Long Island history when he graduated. Pretty good considering high school football on Long Island dates back to 1884.
Sachem was 19-3 in his two varsity seasons with all three losses coming to rival William Floyd, two in the county championship. The Flaming Arrows experienced their two single best offensive seasons with Crossan in the driver’s seat, totaling a team record 421 points in 2010 and 204 points in 2011.
“I don’t think Sachem has ever seen a more dynamic and versatile football player than Dalton Crossan,” said Falco. “He was a kick and punt returner, an outstanding defensive back, a runner, a receiver, he played quarterback, and all at a very high level. And then when you add on that he is an extreme workout and nutrition nut and dedicated to reaching his goal of making the NFL, he’s a special kid. He was a great leader, a great captain and has been a great ambassador to this program.”
For Crossan, in Sachem he received a well-rounded football experience that preached strong academic commitment with intense gridiron preparation.
“Sachem was run as close to a college program as it possibly could have been,” he said. “In the area, in the nation, I think they do it very well in terms of X’s and O’s, the weightlifting, the eating, the nutrition, the knowledge they give you to be successful and make a seamless transition into the college game.”
Asked what his favorite Sachem memory was, he recalled the 57-6 Suffolk County semifinal win against Sachem East during his senior year.
“It was very cool because of the build up for the game,” he said. “It was the first time that I had played against Sachem East. The trash talk was fun to be a part of. We came out and played very well.”
His teammates, especially the younger running and defensive backs, appreciated his talents and leadership. Malik Pierre, a sophomore when Crossan was a senior, eventually grew into one of Sachem’s all-time greats. He was on Sachem’s Long Island championship team in 2013 and is the starting half back at LIU Post now.
“It was just amazing watching some of the things he did on the field,” said Pierre, who was impressed by Crossan’s fortitude against William Floyd in the 2011 county final. “One thing that sticks out is the championship game where we depended on him for everything and he played out of this world. Not many people can say they left everything out on the field but he really didn’t hold anything back and that was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen on a football field.”
Sachem’s coaching staff has witnessed Crossan’s dedication towards achieving his goal of playing professional football, even on those humid summer days during training camp in Fishkill, N.Y.
“Many athletes have great natural ability, yet very few are capable of maximizing these abilities,” said Sachem defensive coordinator, Dave Caputo. “That is what is most impressive about Dalton; he made athletics his full-time commitment from a very young age. He has not wavered in his pursuit of excellence, displaying the ultimate work ethic and focus.”
Once a Wildcat, Always a Wildcat
At New Hampshire, Crossan was a member of teams that played in the FCS playoffs every season during his college career. He put up big numbers, including 5,189 all-purpose yards, 2,617 rushing yards and 27 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 105 passes for 779 yards and eight touchdowns.
“When they look at Dalton it’s his versatility,” New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell told the Union Leader newspaper. “Here’s a kid who can run with the football, he can catch it and he can return. The thing I think impresses them as well are his ball skills — his hand skills. Catching the football.”
As a senior, Crossan was selected HERO Sports FCS All-America Third Team and All-CAA Football Second Team. He had 1,977 all purpose yards last season, ranking him No. 13 in the nation with 152.08 yards per game. He also ranked No. 12 in rushing yards for FCS backs.
On the all-time Wildcat leaderboards, Crossan ranks second in all-purpose yards per game, third in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, and total touchdowns, and fourth in rushing yards per game.
Catching Fire and Staying Hot
When the Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman comparisons started a few months ago, the proximity of New Hampshire to Patriot nation helped stir the pot for interest in Crossan. Combine that with the correlation to lacrosse and Hogan, and the fact that Crossan had turned down lacrosse scholarship offers to Michigan and Notre Dame, and the lore grew greater. He was written about by ESPN, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, the Boston Globe, Newsday, and NESN, among other outlets.
In January he put on an impressive audition for NFL scouts at the College Gridiron Showcase & Symposium in Texas. Not long after he headed to San Diego to train at EXOS with other top talents like Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers, who was a first round draft selection by the Browns.
Then came his pro day at New Hampshire where his numbers were eye-opening. If you compare his data to that of players who performed at the NFL Combine, he would rank in the top 10 running backs in every combine event and he would rank first in the 20-yard shuttle and second in the 60-yard shuttle only behind first round pick, Christian McCaffrey. His overall pro day stats read: 40-yard dash (4.46 seconds), bench press (21), vertical jump (35), broad jump (122), three-cone drill (6.84), 20-yard shuttle (4.06), and 60-yard shuttle (11.19).
Then came the individual workouts with NFL teams in Seattle, San Francisco and New York, and countless conversations and interactions with other clubs over the last two months.
“I’ve been trying to take it day-by-day and enjoy the process overall,” Crossan said. “The all-star game, training in San Diego, pro day, workouts, talking to media, talking to my agent, talking to scouts. You have to compartmentalize the on-field and off-field and focus on what you have to do to get better on the field. It’s been a crazy process, but a lot of fun.”
Representing a New Generation
For decades Sachem has held its hat on Elliott as its lone pro gridiron star. His name will forever live in Sachem history, especially since he’s the only football player to have his number retired, and he’s a member of the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame and Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame. When you win a Super Bowl, and make a Pro Bowl team, you deserve local adulation.
Enter Crossan. Without ever playing a down in the NFL, his name already has a powerful notoriety for current and future Sachem football players. They see his name on the record board in the weightlifting room and read about his many accolades on Sachem alumni websites. He has also been a guest speaker at the Sachem Football Youth Experience.
“Dalton is the face of football in the Sachem community,” said Caputo. “For kids in elementary and middle school to see that one of Sachem’s own has a shot at the NFL will be important for the growth of football in our district.
“I look forward to seeing kids wearing an NFL Crossan jersey on the playgrounds of Sachem. My own kids cannot wait to order the jersey and they will wear it proudly through the hallways of Wenonah Elementary. In a recent conversation with Dalton, I expressed how important he is to the young athletes in this community. He was very humbled, and accepting of this role.”
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Crossan talking about his Sachem experience
The youth experience event was impactful because it put Crossan in front of grade school players and their parents.
“Players walked off the field in admiration, with the thought that they could someday become the next Dalton Crossan,” said Caputo. “Parents left thinking, ‘I can only hope that my son turns out to be a first-class individual like Dalton’.”
As for his legacy in Sachem, beyond just the numbers and the accolades, it’s in the production and value of the players who come after him, who idolize him and who respect his values on and off the field.
Said Pierre, “It’s no shock that he’s in this position because I’ve seen up close his work ethic. Being younger than him that’s something I admired, and I aimed to match his work ethic.”
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro
