Las Vegas Raiders’ defensive end, Maxx Crosby, entered the league in 2019, drafted by the team with the 106th overall pick. The same year that the team traded for wide receiver Antonio Brown, whose entry was fraught with drama to start with.
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In a stunning move, Brown had requested a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers that offseason. While a deal to send him to the Buffalo Bills was agreed upon by the teams, it was rejected by Brown, who refused to play for the Bills. So, the Steelers sent Brown to the Raiders in exchange for a third and fifth-round pick.
AB, who is known for his antics, began his off-the-field drama around this time. And multiple things happened during his short tenure with the Raiders. First, his feet got frostbite from not wearing proper footwear during a cryotherapy session. The second? He filed a grievance to wear his old helmet. There was more, as if that was not enough.
AB flew into practice one time in a hot air balloon, and in another instance, he called former General Manager Mike Mayock a “cracker”. For a rookie like Crosby, it was a lot to take in.
Speaking with former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel on his YouTube channel, Crosby opened up about what it felt like being around Brown during that weird phase. It felt like “reality TV” to the young DE.
“It was like reality TV, bro. I think AB was the biggest culprit from the feet getting burned off to the hot air balloon going into camp, like this is not real. This is like Blitz the League type s**t,” Crosby told Manziel.
“It didn’t seem real but it was like I knew nothing else and at the time I’m just trying to figure the f**k out. It was a crazy experience, I mean, Antonio Brown, that dude, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he added.
Crosby recalled that he was having a hard time trying to figure out simple things such as his role and finding out what kind of sockwear gets you fined. And then he saw Brown on the sidelines tossing the football with his family, which blew his mind.
“He had his whole family, we’re in training camp, in team period, and he has his shoulders off on the sidelines playing catch with his kids on the other field. I’m like, is this normal?” Recalled Crosby.
The same year, the team hired Jon Gruden as head coach. It was his second stint with the team. Unfortunately, he was fired during the 2021 season for sending inappropriate emails in the past. Crosby opened up to Manziel about how emotional he was about Gruden’s firing, adding that he and his teammates support the coach even today.
“I think he’ll definitely be back. Gruden was so good to me,” Crosby said. “When that situation happened, I remember it so vividly. We started the year very well. I think we were 4-0, we’re feeling good. You could tell Gruden felt bad; he apologized in front of the team, [and] he was in tears.”
As Crosby enters year seven in the NFL, he will have a new head coach in Pete Carroll. The team fired Antonio Pierce midway through last season after going 9-17 in his first 26 games as the team’s head coach.
Carroll joins from the Seattle Seahawks and will take on his second assignment as a head coach in the NFL.
