Silver And Black Pride
It’s been a wild offseason for Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, the craziest since he was drafted by the club almost a decade ago and had to go through the pre-draft process.
Crosby’s offseason started a couple of weeks early, when the Raiders infamously decided to shut him down for the final two games of the regular season to get a jump start on the recovery process for a torn meniscus in his knee. That drove a temporary rift between the player and the organization to a point where an agreement was made to trade him to the Baltimore Ravens, leading to a 13-minute goodbye video for Raider Nation, only for that deal to fall through just days later.
All of that, combined with having some downtime while rehabbing his knee, seems to have led the five-time Pro Bowler to take an introspective approach heading into his eighth NFL season. While Crosby hasn’t been cleared to fully participate in OTAs or mandatory minicamp and won’t be practicing until training camp, he’s been present at the facility the entire time.
On Wednesday, June 3, the pass-rusher spoke to the media after an OTA session and shared what he’s learned about himself over the last six months, providing a lengthy and detailed answer rather than the typical, short, cliche reply.
“Yeah, honestly, just the whole offseason in general, I faced a ton of adversity. There’s been a lot of bullets flying in my direction. And truly, you figure out who you are in those types of moments. And everyone has a different quote about pressure makes diamonds and all these different things and sayings and things like that, but ultimately, it’s real,” Crosby explained.
“And you could talk about it, and you could say, ‘Yeah, man, I can go through this adversity, I’ll be fine if this happens to me.’ But whenever it’s really going on, you figure out who you are, and you have a choice: you can fold or you can respond. And I know myself. I’m not working to just come back, I’m coming back better, and that’s my mindset.
“I know that and I believe it, and I prepare and work like an animal daily, and I do it for my teammates. Those guys see me and I want to show them that even if I’m not on the field, I’m on the bike, going just as hard, getting in shape so I can be ready when I’m back out there with them. And I’m trying to set that example and standard on a daily basis. This has been an amazing offseason.
“I know the biggest pet peeve of mine is when people see me, they’re like, ‘Man, you good?’ and I’m like, ‘S***, I’ve never been better.’ Honestly and I don’t just say that just to say it, I truly mean it and believe it. I have great people around me. My circle’s never been tighter and I...
