His journey has been eccentric, one that has spanned more than 3,500 miles and a half-dozen sports.
Yet just four years removed from the "real gray, real dull" environment of London, Jack Crawford is the man Penn State is pointing at to fill the gap left by Aaron Maybin, its All-America defensive end and first round NFL Draft pick.
The conundrum, of course, is that it's been a mere three years since the sophomore's discovery of football.
"I lined up offsides as a receiver on the first play. I stood up as a defensive end," Crawford said through his mild English accent.
"I had no idea. I didn't know the rules, to be honest. I didn't even no what offsides was."
Such is the predicament Crawford found himself in upon his arrival to the United States in 2005.
He entered a basketball camp at powerhouse St. Augustine Prep in Richland, N.J., the summer before his sophomore year.
The now 6-foot-5, 262-pounder hoped to dazzle opponents with his finesse as an off-guard and small forward the same way he had in England, where he gave boxing, cricket, rugby and soccer tries before realizing nothing would provide him the educational opportunities that America had to offer.
At the camp, Crawford befriended Peter D'Andrea, a rising freshman working as a counselor.
The two bonded and, not long after, Crawford asked if he could move in with Peter's family.
"We both come from families that are always entertaining," Steven, Peter's father, said of he and his wife, Mary. "We've always welcomed kids and people in our home, and Jack was just a pleasure from Day 1."
The D'Andreas immediately fell in love with Crawford, whom Steven said was polite and kept out of trouble while staying reserved for the first three to four months of his stay.
It was around that time a pair of events shifted the gentle giant's focus to the gridiron.
First, Crawford came across the 2006 Rose Bowl on television, taking a liking to Southern California despite its loss to Texas.
Then, Dennis Scuderi was hired to resurrect the downtrodden St. Augustine football team.
"[Coach Scuderi] came in and he built the program, and after Jack's sophomore year he's asking Peter, 'What is this American football?' " Steven said. "Peter described it to him, showed him 'Madden' on his X-Box and how the game works, and he said he'd like to try it."
Crawford played his junior year, with Peter helping him unwrinkle the cobwebs along the way.
The agile Crawford -- Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick called him "one of the most athletic human beings I've ever come across" -- quickly shined at defensive end and even wide receiver.
By his senior season, the Hermits were 8-2, six games better than their 2-8 campaign just two years earlier.
Peter, who will be going to Pennsylvania as a tackle in the fall, said the two engaged in a brotherly rivalry during line drills in practices.
"It's funny because in high school you have a lot of kids who don't go 100 percent in practice -- they're just there because you gotta be there," Peter said. "When you have a kid like Jack, there's no such thing as not working hard. For me, it was pretty tough."
The offers began to roll in, but Jack, no longer California dreaming, was set on staying close to his new family, with Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers as his finalists.
Crawford had never even heard of Joe Paterno, the man who has a summer house in Avalon, N.J., about 25 miles from the D'Andreas' home in Longport.
"We tried to explain that certain guys like Woody Hayes, Vince Lombardi, if you're fortunate enough to play even one play for them, it's something to tell your kids about forever," Steven said. "That's how we were with coach Paterno."
Paterno was effusive in his praise of Crawford before Saturday's Blue-White game.
Crawford saw action in every game his freshman year at Penn State and will likely start in 2009.
"He works hard, he's tough, he's trying to be really good," the 82-year-old said. "He's been a real asset to us."
But it's been tough for the D'Andreas to travel to Penn State games because Crawford has touched so many people, said Steven, who lives next door to his parents, two houses from his sister-in-law and three houses from his brother.
Steven receives four tickets for each home game, but even then, he considers himself lucky if he can attend more than one contest a year on account of everyone in his large family wanting the chance to watch Crawford play at Beaver Stadium.
That's a privilege Crawford's parents have only seen through YouTube videos.
Crawford visited them in London over spring break, and feelings of homesickness have been gradually alleviated through his father's occasional trips to the D'Andreas, who call the Crawfords once a month and exchange gifts with them during holidays.
"What those people did for Jack is incredible," Scuderi said of the D'Andreas. "They took Jack as their son. You don't find many people like that. They are great people."
Crawford's legacy is now set in stone at his high school, which went 10-1 this past fall without him.
And as he currently sets his sights on developing more techniques to beat his collegiate opponents, he has already won something bigger -- the enduring love of a second family and adopted hometown.
"As a little brother I can't give him too much credit, but to say he flipped our football program around wouldn't be enough," Peter said. "We never had a big D-I prospect, so for a kid to come from London is just a 'Cinderella' story.
"Everyone loves him."
