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Mike Crotty
Burien Flyers
Running Back / Defensive Back / Player-Coach
1973 - 1979
Earning the last available scholarship in the 1968
recruiting class, Mike Crotty headed east to play for the
Notre Dame Fighting Irish where in two years he recorded 142
tackles, 13 pass break ups and 4 interceptions including a
65-yard TD return. Starting at free safety in 1971, Crotty
was one of four Washington natives starting for the Irish.
Billed to be 5'10", Crotty admitted he was actually closer
to 5'7" when he had his best season. The former
Glacier High star, made a name for himself in college,
little did he know when he returned to the Northwest, he
would be making a name for himself in semi pro football as
well.
Joining the Sea-Tac Flyers in 1973 after an in-home visit
from team owner Tim Robinson, Crotty was an immediate
impact player on both sides of the ball. This was
clearly evident when he trashed the Whatcom County Lakers defense
for 3 rushing TDs (3, 15, 23) while starting at safety on a
defense that held the Lakers to minus-91 yards of offense.
Two weeks later in a 0-0 mud bath against Snomhomish, Mike
took the halftime kickoff 70-yards straight up the heart of
slipping and sliding defenders for the only score of the
game.
A member of the NIFL all-star squad in 1974, Crotty was a starting
safety in the season-ending upset of the undefeated Pierce
County Bengals. Crotty and the Flyers would be
involved in more upsets of the Bengals than anyone else in
the region during the 1970's.
Mike took over as coach in 1975 under Phil Pompeo,
General Manager of the Flyers and former center who headed
to management following an injury.
Opening the '75 season, newly tabbed as a player-coach,
Mike helped engineer a 17-6 upset victory over the Pierce County
Bengals, their first regular season loss in the two-year
history of the franchise.
Nearly pulling another upset against the 1975 Pierce County
Bengals, Mike blocked a first quarter Mark Conrad field
goal, picking it up and scoring from 81-yards out.
Crotty was considered a top safety in the NIFL during his
tenure before focusing more on coaching the
squad.
Through the '76 and '77 seasons Mike was the Flyers
home-run hitting tailback when needed. The slippery back
posted numerous 100-yard outings in leading Burien to the
1976 NIFL championship game, and finally taking home the
crown in 1978 avenging the lone regular season defeat in a
defensive struggle topping Pierce County 7-3 for the NIFL
title. One of Crotty's pupils, Mark Kreutz, led the
inspired defensive effort with 3 intereceptions of Bengal
QBs, including the final one that sealed the game. The
Crotty-led Flyers traveled to Santa Ana, California two
weeks later for a national playoff game against the Southern
California Rhinos. The Flyers battled, but came up
short on the road 18-14.
The 1978 Flyers had accomplished what others had not in
dethroning the Pierce County Bengals. First, they
snapped a 32-game Bengal win streak by defeating Pierce
County in the season opener. By virtue of the 7-3
victory in the championship, Crotty and the Flyers became
the first team in five seasons to win the NIFL title game
over the Bengals. They had come close in 1976 losing
7-0 proving the Flyers had a defense capable of shutting
down the high-scoring offense of the Bengals that averaged
34 points per game from 1973-1978. In three meetings
during 1978, the Flyers defense held Pierce County to 16
total points, a tribute to the type of defensive play Mike
Crotty demanded of his squad. The Bengals lost 7 games
during their NIFL run, #22 was involved in handing out 5 of
those losses, 3 as a Flyer, and 2 as an NIFL All-Star.
No other NIFL team owned a victory over Pierce County from
1973-1981.
Mike Crotty was part of the Burien franchise from it's
beginning and led by example as the passion and heart of the
team. It can be a feverish debate about who may have
been the best athlete to ever play for the Flyers, but what
cannot be argued is who was the best pound-for-pound on both
sides of the ball and finding ways to out coach the cream of
the NIFL.
Mike went on to a teaching career in the Seattle School
District and is still actively guiding students in 2021.
Tim Robinson on Mike Crotty (Burien Flyers owner; 1973-1979):
Mike was a terrific HS football player at Glacier HS. His
dad and brother had attended and played at Notre Dame.
Mike was a natural to go there and was recruited. At
5-9" and about 190 lbs he was a tough running back in
HS. He was on freshman team at ND as a defensive back.
Ara Parseghian had a few of those and asked Mike to drop
into a running back series during Spring ball. Mike's
assignment was to block 6'7" Walt Patulski, a big
defensive end and tackle for the Irish.
Mike blocked him so well the coach asked to run the same
play again. Mike blocked Walt again. You would think the
coach would keep Mike at running back but maybe he
needed him for at strong safety. Mike played sparingly
his freshman year. He played three more years as the
starting free safety.
After college he went to Canada to play on a contract
for the Ottawa Roughriders. He tore his achilles heal in
practice. Ottawa paid him and sent him home. Rehab too
expensive. That was 1972.
I started the Flyers in 1973. Someone asked me about
Mike and that someone knew he lived in Burien. I found
out his was renting a house and asked to come visit him.
I interviewed him for 1/2 hour, asking him basically to
come "look us over". I did not expect him to play. He
shrugged it off but must have remembered the next
scheduled practice. He showed up. He watched. He asked
for a helmet and shoulder pads. We were all in just
shoulder pads and helmets.
We ran thirty plays. Mike lined up at strong safety and
was impactful on every single play. He liked us. We like
him. He stayed.
We were not very good in 1973 but Mike was. He could
play both offense and defense. Running back and Strong
safety. Just like in college.
We had some stats in some of our programs and even some
news articles of some of our games. Mike played a lot
more defense than offense and was instrumental in
developing our entire team. He became head coach by 1975
and stayed thru 1979.
There are memorable games but one in particular stands
out. We played up at Snohomish Rambler at HS field in
Lake Stevens. It was a mud bath. Heavy rain all week and
during the game. Cold, miserable playing conditions. 0-0 at half time. What a slog. We went into dressing
room but the Ramblers did not. They huddled out by the
goal posts, in the rain. We got inside the gym and wrung
out our jerseys and pants. We warmed up a bit. The
Ramblers kicked off to start the second half. Mike took
the kickoff at about the 30 yd line (wet, dead leather
ball) and sprinted right up the middle for the only TD
of the game. That hole was so big we could have move a
three-bedroom house through it. Players were slipping
and sliding and trying block, Mike ran straight up the
middle, untouched.
Mike is one of the most humble people I have ever met.
He's quiet, strong willed, intelligent and honest. I
always admired his tenacity. I kept him and others busy
in the off season with a rec-league basketball team. He
was good there too. Fine athlete.
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