Leo Adam Biga's My Inside Stories

Terence “Bud” Crawford is Nebraska’s most impactful athlete of all-time

©by Leo Adam Biga

Has there ever been a native Nebraska athlete who has made as big an impact as Terence “Bud’ Crawford? I submit there has not. In fact, it’s not even close when you consider the concentrated impact he’s made in a short time.

Mind you, I’m not suggesting he’s the best athlete to ever come out of here, but the one who’s had the greatest affect.

These things really can’t be measured because much of what I refer to by impact is intangible stuff like motivation, inspiration, popularity, hopes and dreams. However you look at it though, you have to concede that Crawford has surely given a lot of youth a new or renewed sense of possibilities because of how far he’s come from humble beginnings to being on top of the professional boxing world. That’s not to mention the sheer entertainment he’s provided by his winning performances in the ring, including three sold-out fights at his hometown CenturyLink Center, where there’s about to be a fourth sell-out for his championship fight this weekend against John Molina Jr. He has a following unlike anything we’ve seen around here before for a native born athlete.

Then there’s the pride he’s engendered in his huge hometown fan base who love his success and how he’s put Omaha on the map as a boxing city that matters for really the first time ever nationally, except for the time Ron Stander fought Joe Frazier in that heavyweight championship bout at the now reduced to rubble Civic Auditorium. But that was 44 years ago and it was a one-off event – there’d never been a title fight here before then and there hadn’t been one since then until Bud emerged as a title holder a few years ago. Thanks to Bud, it’s becoming a regular thing. This won’t last forever, but it’s a wonderful ride for him, for the city, for the sport and for anyone who needs affirmation that dreams do come true with enough talent and work.

Omaha also hosted the national Golden Gloves a couple of times, once notably when Bud lost a close, controversial decision in what turned out to be his final amateur bout. But by the time the city held those tournaments the Gloves were not what they used to be in a sport that had fallen far off most people’s radar.

Bud’s emergence as a world-class, perhaps one day hall of fame worthy fighter and his hugely embraced title defenses on his home turf, broadcast on HBO and pay per view no less, have taken boxing from irrelevance here to renewed interest. He has made boxing big time again, at least for his fights, and he’s become a local sports hero every bit as big or bigger than legends Bob Gibson, Bob Boozer, Gale Sayers, Marlin Briscoe, Johnny Rodgers, Mike McGee, Ahman Green and Eric Crouch ever were at their respective peaks. I mean, he’s even gotten a coterie of movers and shakers to endorse and advise him. Plus, he’s been feted in every way a sports figure can be – named athlete of the year, inducted in local athletic halls of fame, throwing out the first pitch at ballgames, using his name and fame to raise funds, being featured in big print spreads and in television documentaries. And on and on…

He’s big news and his fights mean big gates and presumably big business for downtown, Old Market, midtown and North Omaha bars and restaurants

Then there’s the fact that Bud has remained thoroughly rooted in his community. His family still lives in The Hood, an environment that he’s never really left and that’s never really left him, and his B&B Boxing Academy is right there within a stone’s throw of where he grew up and where he still trains part of the time.

As I have posted before, in my opinion the single greatest indicator of his impact is how he has dominated his sport over a few years time in a manner that no other Nebraska athlete has since Bob Gibson’s dominance from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s as a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals. Bud has a ways to go to match that extended period of mastery but he appears fully capable of doing it.

I have been privileged to help document some of Bud’s unfolding story and rise to greatness. You can find my collection of stories about him, including a trip to Africa I made with him, at the following link–

https://leoadambiga.com/?s=terence+crawford

Let me also reiterate a point I’ve made in previous posts that the trajectory of Bud’s career and the impact he’s made is similar in many ways to another native Omahan who’s risen to the top of his profession – filmmaker Alexander Payne. They are from the same city but from two totally different worlds and generations and yet their single-minded pursuit of their passion has gotten them to where they are and in that respect they both model the benefits of hard work, intense study, laser sharp focus and ultimate commitment to craft. Their rise to the top didn’t happen overnight but only with deliberate, intentional steps with their eyes always fixed firmly on the prize,

The same parallels can be seen in another Omahan, Warren Buffett, who has in fact jumped on the Crawford bandwagon because he recognizes a fellow winner when he sees one.

Win or lose this weekend, Bud’s story will continue to be one worth following because his legacy will only grow with time, not diminish. That’s how special what he’s done is and he has a whole lot of fighting left in him to ever more burnish his record and impact. But even if he were to quit fighting after the Molina match, I believe he’s already become the most impactful Nebraska athlete of all time. As someone who has covered Alexander Payne for 20 years, I believe the best is yet to come from the Oscar-winning filmmaker, and as someone who’s covered Bud for five years, I believe the best is yet to come from the world championship fighter.  Bring it on.