"It was an adrenaline rush," he said.
"The most amazing feeling to actually bring my son into this world and to hand him over to my beautiful wife."
The couple are also parents to daughter Jurzie, 5, and son Jagger, 3.
Twelve is a lot of kids, enough in fact to field a full football team plus a kicker, but it's nothing the world of reality television hasn't seen before. Alas, the plot thickens.
The real shock comes in the knowledge that Cromartie had a vasectomy prior to his wife Terricka falling pregnant, clearly to stem the reproduction of genetics that had already seen the cornerback father 10 children, including eight from previous relationships. Now that is extraordinary.
Terricka told Us Weekly of her shock after discovering she was pregnant in October last year.
"I really thought I was dreaming, even after, I was just in total disbelief," she said. "I didn't even tell Antonio right away because I didn't think it was possible.
"I was going back and forth in my head how it could even happen. In my head we were good to go, we were having free sex! I just really thought that his procedure was the best protection you could have at this point."
Despite his wealth of experience in this field, even Antonio was surprised by the pregnancy.
"Originally, he was like, 'Are you serious? How did this happen?'" Terricka said.
"It was shocking news for the both of us. It took me a while to process it, but Antonio stood firm and was saying, 'It's God's will.' And he's been excited the whole time."
Cromartie became infamous in 2010 after appearing on HBO's reality series Hard Knocks, where he was asked to recount the names of all his children. At the time he had just seven kids, and it was a hard ask to say the least. How is the poor guy going to remember all 12?
When the Jets star married his wife in 2008, he already had his hands full with a team of offspring. With the 32-year-old likely approaching retirement in the coming years after 10 seasons in the NFL and his new free-agency status, he is sure to keep himself entertained with the pick of a dozen teammates to throw the pigskin to.
- news.com.au
