Name: Jeff Criswell
Title: Real Estate Agent, Coldwell Banker
Age: 52
Experience: None
Jeff Criswell was a starting tackle in the NFL (Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs) for a dozen seasons – more than twice the league average – before retiring in 1998. Since then, he’s honed his business skills by owning a chain of car washes in greater Kansas City, started a wellness company, worked in promotions, had a small automotive dealership, and was the president of a publicly traded marketing company in Los Angeles. Most recently, he reconnected with his college sweetheart, Lisa, and moved to Connecticut to start working as a team professionally selling real estate in Greenwich.
Q: Your NFL career must be a great ice-breaker. Did you have a nemesis in your division?
A: The most common question people ask me is if I enjoyed it, which I did. I enjoyed playing in the NFL. But the difference was we didn’t win a lot of games with the Jets. We did in Kansas City. The Jets are a great organization to play for. But I’m getting older now, so the conversation changes. People don’t remember the players from that era.
[Hall of famer] Bruce Smith was a defensive end with the Bills. He absolutely schooled me. My second start in the NFL on a Monday night when they were in their prime. By halftime they were up 34-0 and he had two sacks. It was an absolute nightmare. We played them twice a year. Over the years I got better and more confident and there were times he never got a sack on me.
Q: What brought you to Connecticut?
A: Lisa [Sullivan] and I were college sweethearts 25 years ago. Our lives took different paths. My daughter was going to college and I had no reason to stay in Kansas City. I was ready to move to California and I came to Connecticut. She was a pharmacist for 25 years and we wanted to get into business together and thought real estate was something we both liked and enjoyed. With her contacts and my relationship-building skills, we think we can make it work and have fun. It’s always been easy for me to meet people. We’re both easy to get along with. Lisa and I want to do something together. Win together, lose together.
I wish I’d done it years ago. I’ve been buying and selling real estate for 20 years. I’ve been out here for two years now. I’m still finding my way around these circley Greenwich roads. Thank God for GPS.
Q: How do you plan to break into such a mature and competitive market?
A: We started off looking at several companies, what was the deciding factor was Coldwell Banker had what we were looking for and had an office in Greenwich.
We are now up and running and planning to do some farming as well as our marketing budget allows us to get on homes.com. We’ll be cold-calling expired listings like everyone else does, trying to turn over all the stones. We wanted to be in Greenwich because Lisa’s been in Greenwich for 27 years and she belongs to the country clubs, had kids in the schools and was a pharmacist here and has ownership in some doctor’s schools.
It’s always tough getting started in a relationship business, though. It’s a buyer’s market in Greenwich right now. There’s a lot of inventory. Things are starting to pick up, but they’re not where they were a few years ago. We understand there’s a battle in front of us, but we’re in it for the long haul.
Q: Which NFL skills will you bring to real estate to be successful?
A: There’s a lot of things it takes: dependable, trustworthy, a lot of core values you’d want in any relationship, particularly as an offensive lineman. Players in that position have always typically been real team-oriented. We’re the backbone of the team. We’re the unsung heroes. The teams I’ve played on had a[n informal] fine system. Like you’d get fined $20 if your name was in the paper or mentioned in the news. I had a radio show, so I got fined off the bat. All the money went to a party at the end of the year. It’s based on the fact the offensive lineman are to be seen and not heard. We’re good guys to have on your team. We’ve got your back. I’ve had enough real estate dealings to know what’s right and wrong and I’m a straight shooter. I’m not much on wasting my time or anyone else’s. That’s very important to me. In the NF,L if you’re 15 minutes early, you’re late. Those qualities and the fact that I’ve been one of the top five tackles in the league. I know what it takes to win. Even at 6’7” and 300 pounds, I was never the biggest or the strongest. I was a free agent from nowhere coming in during the strike. I got hired because I picked up on things quickly, I studied from day one. I knew people were counting on me and I made sure they could count on me.
Criswell’s Top Five Favorite Things (In No Particular Order):
- Sports (Rangers, Jets and Chiefs)
- God
- Playing golf (though Lisa is better)
- Traveling to warm weather destinations
- Watching my daughter and Lisa’s daughter play sports and grow up
