Milburn ‘Tiny’ Croft

Class of 1942: Green Bay Packers

Milburn Russell “Tiny” Croft was a 6’3” 285-pound offensive tackle who played 51 games in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers in 1942-47.

He was born Nov. 7, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois. At Ripon, he studied sociology and was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. He was a three-year starter as a linemen for the Red Hawks at Ripon College, earning first team All-Midwest Conference each year. He was also the team placekicker.

In February 1939, during his freshman year at Ripon, Croft was one of five students who invited screen actresses to their college prom. Croft invited Ann Sheridan, who sent her regrets and a photograph. He was the only one of the five to get a personal reply.

During his sophomore year, the Wausau Daily Herald newspaper reported about “a punch on the nose and how it awakened Milburn (Tiny) Croft to his potentialities as a football star.

“Tiny, 230 pounds of good nature and social inclination, came up from Chicago last fall, enrolled at Ripon College and went out for the freshman team.

“The coaches all but cheered. Here, they reasoned, was a man who could stop a truck.

“But Tiny didn’t. A genial soul, he disliked rough stuff; in fact, he preferred the social amenities of the sorority parlor to gridiron heroics.

“Where many a lad his size would have challenged the opposing quarterback to send the next smash his way, Tiny derived his fun out of life by inviting Ann (Oomph) Sheridan of the movies to a college hop. (She couldn’t make it.)

“Nevertheless, the coaches saw the heart of a football giant beneath Tiny’s jovial exterior. But how to make him thrill to the thought of body contact?

“One day, they enticed Croft down to the gym and after giving him the well-known buildup matched him with a semi-pro boxer ‘who just happened to be around.’

“Socko! The pro suddenly let Tiny have a haymaker on the nose. That was the pro’s undoing. Before the milling ceased even the ring posts were wobbly, but from it emerged a new Tiny. He went back to the gridiron with a better liking for give and take.

“Tiny’s a sophomore now and a starting tackle on the varsity. And does he thrive on hard scrimmage!”

Croft was drafted in the 20th round of the 1942 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins and was noted as the largest player ever to sign with the league. A month later, the Green Bay Packers purchased his contract. During his 51 games with the Packers over six seasons, he made 11 starts as an offensive lineman.

He retired from football in 1948 and worked for the next 30 years in the automobile industry, retiring as district manager for American Motors. He also coached at St. Norbert College and was a charter member of the Green Bay Packers Alumni Club.

He died Jan. 22, 1977, at age 56.