Crosby on Playing in Another Raiders Era

The Raiders, from Los Angeles to Oakland to Las Vegas, have been one of the most storied franchises in the NFL.

The Silver and Black are among the most well-known sports franchises, with three Super Bowl victories and countless Hall of Famers.

Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby is making a name for himself in Raiders’ lore and ranks fifth all-time in sacks in franchise history.

On his most recent podcast episode, The Rush with Maxx Crosby, he received mailbag questions from fans, and one fan asked him what era of Raiders football he would have liked to play in before the 2000s.

Crosby answered quickly.

“It would have to be the ‘80s,” he said. “From Ted Hendricks, Howie [Long], Lyle Alzado, George Atkinson, those dudes were f—ing different. The way they played football was different. The Raiders were feared. You did not run crossing routes because you knew somebody was going to get murdered over the middle of the field. It was a different type of football, and those guys, to this day, I still talk to George Atkinson. He still comes to the facility. That’s, like, an OG for me. I love that guy to death. Howie Long, Ted Hendricks, I know them and their families. Those dudes are the people I look up to -- another one, Greg Townsend. Those guys were all-time.

“I don’t know where I would play because they had Howie; they had so many guys. Put me on one of the ends, and let me get on that D-Line with Ted Hendricks, Howie Long, Greg Townsend and Lyle Alzado. We would have been the greatest. They already were the greatest front, but if I could have played on that front with them, that would 100 percent be the team I’d play for.”

As Crosby mentioned, the Raiders featured one of the most feared defensive lines in the 1980s. They won two Super Bowls in that decade off the strength of their tenacious defensive line.

Featuring Hall of Famers like Hendricks and Long, adding Crosby to the mix would have made them essentially unstoppable.

Crosby is preparing to lead the Raiders during the final five games of the 2023 regular season as they look to make a push for the postseason.

The entire podcast episode can be found here.

The Silver and Black will return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, December 10, at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST.

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