Maxx Crosby Talks Sobriety Journey in Light of Alcohol Awareness Month
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby has defied the odds in more ways than simply his rise as an NFL star.
More than two years ago, the star edge rusher made the decision to move on with his addiction to alcohol and become sober.
Crosby joined Addiction Talk, an online talk show presented by American Addiction Centers, to share his inspiring journey to sobriety.
The Pro Bowler began experimenting with alcohol when he was a sophomore in high school. From there, he "Fell in love with it."
"Growing up, I was a middle child, very insecure," Crosby said. "I never was first for anybody, it felt like, just in my own head. So when I first had that first drink, I was like, 'Oh my God, this is like my savior.'
" ... I feel like I knew from Day 1, you know drinking, I couldn't just drink like everybody else, and just over time, it progressively got worse and worse."
Crosby said the habit was something he became heavily reliant on.
"I loved it," he said. "I became dependent on it. Through high school and college, I was able to get by with my bad drinking because I didn't necessarily have the time to do it all the time because I was constantly busy and I was in sports, but when I would drink, it was always over-the-top, and I was always that guy blacking out and always doing dumb things.
"So, over time, I noticed all the bad decisions I was making in my life all revolved around drinking, so it kind of hit me after a while, for sure."
Crosby believed his addiction was limiting his potential as an athlete.
“Deep down, I always had a strong belief in my true ability as an athlete, and I never had that yet," Crosby said. "Like, I never fully experienced that because once I got into my high school years, my college years, I had that crutch, I always was drinking, there was always something holding me back as far as partying and doing stuff as a distraction. So it was like I never really got to truly see how good I could be."
The addiction followed Crosby out of college. The defensive end said he was drinking alone in Las Vegas every day following his rookie season.
"I knew deep down this wasn't gonna last long," Crosby said. "Like, I had to do something, something's gotta change. ... I was at a very low point in my life, but even though I didn't want to go to rehab, I didn't want to do any of that, I needed to."
Despite how far he's come, Crosby said there's still a lot of room for growth. For now, though, he's proud of the progress that he's made.
"I'm proud of who I've become," he said. " ... There's still struggles every day, no matter what. But I'm happy with the person I'm becoming and I know I'm gonna be."
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