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Mar 28, 2020
Mason Dockter
Cole Croston stands in the lobby of Pioneer
Bank in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. Croston, a former offensive tackle for the New
England Patriots now works as a Business Banker for Pioneer Bank, Wednesday,
March 4, 2020 | Jesse
Brothers, Sioux City Journal
SERGEANT BLUFF -- Cole Croston wants
to be known for more than his NFL career.
The former
Iowa Hawkeye and New England Patriots offensive lineman recently started his
banking career at Pioneer Bank's location in his hometown of Sergeant Bluff.
While some
bankers probably dream of playing in the NFL, for Croston, it's somewhat the
reverse. He wants people to know he's now a business banker.
"Football
has kind of defined my life up until the last few months, where all I did, and
all I was known for, was playing football," Croston said. "I just
don't want football to be, 100 percent Cole Croston. Obviously, it was a part
of me in the past. But now I've kind of moved past that."
Cole Croston
talks about his time in the NFL playing for the New England Patriots,
Wednesday. He now works at Pioneer Bank in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, March 4, 2020 | Jesse Brothers, Sioux City Journal
Croston, 26, was a prep standout at
Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School and went on to Iowa, where he started as an
offensive tackle for two years and received honorable mention All-Big Ten
honors his senior season
In May 2017,
the Patriots signed Croston as a rookie free agent. Against heavy odds, he made
the Patriots 53-man roster as a reserve due to his versatility playing both
guard and tackle. Inactive for the first nine games of the season, he made his
NFL debut in Week 11 in a 33-8 win over the Raiders.
The Patriots
made Super Bowl LII that year, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles, 41-33.
Croston was inactive for the 2018 game, as well as Super Bowl LIII, where the
Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3.
His NFL career ended late in 2019,
and Croston was back home by January. He said the close of his NFL career was
brought on by "a combination of things."
"I
mean, all good things have to come to an end. Struggled through some injuries
here and there," he said. "I was just kind of ready to move on from
football. They have all these studies out now, and the health aspect of it -- I
liked being able to walk away, literally."
Cole Croston
talks about his time in the NFL playing for the New England Patriots,
Wednesday. He now works at Pioneer Bank in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, March 4, 2020. | Jesse Brothers, Sioux City Journal
Croston probably could have gone
anywhere he wanted after his NFL days were over. He's seen big cities. Yet he
chose to move back to Sergeant Bluff.
"Iowa's
always been home for me. The East Coast was quite an experience, different
culture, everything over there, and I enjoyed it. But, I'd never really see
myself living anywhere but here," he said.
Why did
Croston become a banker? His father, Dave Croston, who was also a starting
offensive tackle for Iowa in the mid-1980s and later played for the Green Bay
Packers, had a lot to do with it.
"My dad always kind of pushed
me to, he wanted me to be an accountant," the younger Croston said. (Dave
Croston works in pharmaceutical sales.)
But while he
was a student at the University of Iowa, Cole Croston said he "kind of
realized that, maybe accounting wasn't for me."
"Finance was kind of an
alternate path that was something I found enjoyable," he added.
Three of
Croston's football helmets -- one from his days playing for Sergeant Bluff, one
from his days at Iowa and one from the Patriots -- decorate his office. The
helmets are displayed on a shelf physically behind where Croston sits in his
office; he uses the helmets' strategic placement in his office as a metaphor
for how he's "moved past" the sport.
But he
doesn't decorate his finger with his Super Bowl ring from Super Bowl LIII.
"I've always been a low-key kind of person, and, you know, the ring is the
size of my entire hand."
The Super Bowl ring will probably
make its way to Pioneer Bank eventually, but not for showing off: "I'm
looking forward to bringing it in here and actually getting it in a safe
deposit box, which is probably the best move for me."
He chose
Pioneer Bank because of its "team culture," as he described it.
"I was
kind of looking for, like a team culture, which is tough to find. Kind of like
a tight-knit group. I had been to this bank a few times, Pioneer, and I had
kind of gotten that feel. And the more I hung around here, the more I just
realized that, I fit this mold," he said. "The culture aspect of what
Pioneer brings was kind of the same culture aspect that Iowa -- the Iowa
Hawkeyes -- brought, the New England Patriots brought."
He was living with his parents
earlier this month, but he recently acquired a house in Sioux City's Whispering
Creek neighborhood and was planning to set up house there shortly.
"Looking forward to moving into that place in about a month
here," Croston said.
