Ned Crotty
By Mark Kitchin
After one of the best summers that any men’s lacrosse player has ever had, it looks like Ned Crotty is already looking to the future as well as embracing the present. Crotty seems to be combining his ability to play and his acquired business acumen in order to stay involved in the sport he loves far beyond a time when his playing days are over.
In late September, it was announced that Crotty was being hired as Sales and Marketing Manager of Trilogy Lacrosse, a Manhattan-based lacrosse business that holds camps and clinics across the country. There are New Jersey ties in this as well. The five-year old company was founded by former Princeton lacrosse players Ryan Boyle and Rob Lindsey.
Crotty has emerged as a star and is arguably the best lacrosse players ever to come out of the Garden State. No one can deny that the lacrosse summer of 2010 could be renamed the “Summer of Crotty”. Although he didn’t always dominate the games he played, Crotty seemed to be everywhere a lacrosse stick was raised.
The New Vernon resident and Delbarton School graduate’s busy season started in March when Duke was preparing for their 16-4, national championship season. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound athlete was truly sensational. He led the nation in assists with 63 and was fourth in total points. His efforts were rewarded with NCAA Lacrosse’s highest honor, the Tewaaraton Trophy.
Crotty was selected by the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse. He would eventually score 11 goals and 13 assists in seven games for the squad which worked as a traveling team and didn’t play a game in Chicago. He would eventually be selected as the league’s Rookie of the Year.
On July 6, he signed a multi-year endorsement deal with Brine Lacrosse for an undisclosed salary. By mid-July, he was off to Manchester, England playing for the U.S. team in the FIL World Championships. He didn’t dazzle during the tournament until it mattered most. He tallied the game’s tying and go-ahead goals in the U.S. team’s 12-10 win over Canada in the title game on July 24.
In August, the 3-time collegiate All-American earned another extremely rare honor, that of All-Atlantic Coast Conference Male Athlete of the Year. Only two men’s lacrosse players have been recognized in the 56 years the award has been given. Next Crotty was chosen by the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado Mammoth in their lacrosse draft. He was the first pick in the second round, the 11th pick overall and the first American college player to be chosen. As of now, he has not signed a contract yet with the indoor league team which begins its season in January.
The summer of success probably wound up on September 13 when all the NCAA champion teams visited the White House on Champions Day. He had the honor of attending the special event which included a speech from President Obama and celebrating with his teammates one last time.
Always a team player, both at Delbarton and Duke, he finished his NCAA career with 92 goals and 147 assists. The soft spoken athlete seems to go about his business, often helping his teammates as much as himself. Wherever he goes from here, Crotty seems to be readying to make an impact in the sport of lacrosse whether that happens on the field or off.
