Why Raiders' Maxx Crosby Didn't Believe He Belonged as Rookie

Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby did think he belonged in the NFL back in 2019 during his first training camp as a rookie with the Raiders.

Dec 15, 2019; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) walks off the field before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby has established himself as the best defensive player in the National Football League. When you talk about defense in the league, Crosby is at the top of that list. He has been the best player in the league over the last few seasons, and he is also looking at ways to improve and get better, no matter what. He is the hardest worker in the league as well.

But that was not always the case for Crosby. Coming into the league Crosby was not a highly scouted player or a top player coming out of the draft. A lot of teams did not have him on their draft board and some did not even know who he was. But the Raiders took a chance on the kid out of Eastern Michigan. And that was all Crosby needed to turn into the superstar he is now.

Right out of the gate, Crosby had some doubts if he even belonged in the NFL. In his first training camp with the Silver and Black, he saw some things he was not used to seeing, and the players were not like the ones he faced in college.

“Antonio Brown… I’ve never seen anything like it,” Maxx Crosby told Manziel on the Glory Daze podcast. “He had his whole family. We’re in training camp, like in team period, and he’d just have his shoulder pads off on the sidelines, just playing catch with his kids on the other field."

“In my head, I’m like ‘Is this normal?’ But I’m like, ‘Oh, I guess he’s a superstar, so he just does what you want. And then you see the guys pulling out, everyone’s got Rolls-Royces and all this stuff, and I’m like, ‘What is this? Why am I here?’ I just felt like I was like placed in a movie, and I just happened to fall into the wrong movie at that time. It was just crazy on a daily basis.”

“Trent Brown, he had just been paid, the highest paid lineman of all time. I’ve gone against a lot of bad ..., even in the MAC I played some real competition,” Crosby added.

“And I see Trent Brown, this is the biggest human I’ve ever seen in my life. And he moves like a cat. I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I can play here. I don’t know if this is going to work out.’ Every time I stunt inside, I got Richie [Incognito] waiting for me, trying to decapitate me.”

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