#Tae Crowder becoming anything but ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ for Giants

Rookie linebacker Tae Crowder can ditch the nickname Mr. Irrelevant — annually given to the last pick of the NFL draft — after scoring the touchdown Sunday that lifted the previously winless Giants past the Washington Football Team and put to bed fears of an 0-16 season.

“It’s funny that you call him Mr. Irrelevant because he’s been doing a lot for us,” Leonard Williams said. “Since he came in, he’s been a quiet guy who slowly worked his way up into playing with the defense. He built his trust up with his teammates and went out there and made a huge play today, possibly the deciding factor of the game.”

The Giants squandered a 10-point first-half lead and Washington was driving for the tie-breaking scoring with less than four minutes remaining. But Kyler Fackrell strip-sacked Kyle Allen and the ball squirted loose for Crowder, who scooped and raced 43 yards to put the Giants in front late in a 20-19 victory.

“I took it as motivation,” said Crowder, the seventh-rounder whose name was the 255th called on draft weekend. “I love the name. I just wanted to get here and get to work. One of my goals this year is just to help the team in any way that I can.”

Crowder initially kicked the ball forward instead of making a clean recovery. He still had the presence of mind not to waste an opportunity by falling on the fumble and leaving the fate to the Giants struggling offense.

“I wish Tae would’ve bent his knees a little better and taken it cleaner,” coach Joe Judge said, “but I’m glad the second time through he got it and finished it on out.

“We’ve been preaching for a while to put pressure on the quarterback and the turnovers will come. They did today. Tae did a good job of finishing the play, but we have to make sure we don’t kick that thing initially and give them an opportunity to get on it.”

Crowder didn’t play in Week 1, played exclusively on special teams in Week 2 and made his first appearance on defense with two snaps in Week 3. He has been a bigger part of the scheme ever since.

“That late in the game, when it was that tight, we needed a huge play and the defense delivered,” Williams said. “It was huge for him to not just dive on the ball and be OK with that.”

Crowder notched a 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown for Georgia against Tennessee last season. Still, his first instinct was not six points.

“I wanted to dive on it bad,” Crowder said. “I knew if I could scoop it up and get it in the end zone, it was something we needed at the moment.”

Crowder got a key block from rookie sixth-round linebacker Cam Brown and stepped through an ankle tackle at the goal line. He tossed the football to the Giants equipment managers to store for his memorabilia collection.

“We talked after the game and I told [Cam] it was a great effort,” Crowder said. “He gave me a great block. I’ll take that.”