TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
By Aaron Williams
Cornelius Craig, Jr. 1948–2021 Retired NFL Player, Businessman
L ongtime Cincinnati, OH (Cincinnati (OH) Alumni 1981) en- tered the Chapter Invisible on August 9, 2021, at age 73. He was born in Cincinnati, OH, on April 21, 1948, to Myrtle Washington and Cornelius Craig, Sr. Raised in the West End and South Cumminsville communities of Cincinnati, Craig attended Garfield El- ementary School, Heinold Junior High School. He graduated from Robert A. Taft High School in 1966, where he played football and ran track. He was later inducted into the Taft High School Hall of Fame. He attended historic Fisk University on a football scholarship where he was selected twice to the All-SIAC Confer- ence team. Craig graduated from Fisk in 1971 with a B.A. degree in sociology. The NFL Cincinnati Bengals franchise resident and retired National Football League (NFL) player Cornelius “Neal” Craig, Jr. selected Craig in the seventh round of the 1971 NFL Draft. Craig played defensive safety for six seasons for the Bengals, Buffalo Bills, and the Cleve-
land Browns before retiring at age 28.
“Neal is a brother that never forgot where he came from. He built
Post-NFL, Craig worked in corporate sales, including working as the Dis- trict Business Manager for the Letica Corporation. Craig also was a candi- date for Cincinnati’s City Council. A Life Member of the Fraternity, Craig was a member of the Cincinnati (OH) Alumni Chapter, where he served as the chapter’s 30 th P olemarch. He is an inductee of the Taft High School Athletics Hall of Fame. Brother Cornelius Craig, Jr. is survived by his children, Cornelius, III (Long Beach/Inglewood/So. Bay Alumni (CA) 2001), Qia, Cornell, and India Crum; granddaughter Anaya Crum; sister, Thelma Curtis; his long-time compan- ion, Deborah Spradley; and a host of relatives and friends.
everlasting relationships in his neighborhood, his city, in college (Fisk), NFL, family, and fraternity brothers,” said Jim Anderson (Delta Epsilon
1970), a retired NFL coach for the Bengals
and a Cincinnati (OH) Alumni Chapter member.
THE JOURNAL ♦ FALL 2021 | 63
PUBLISHING ACHIEVEMENT FOR MORE THAN 110 YEARS
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