Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby entered the league in 2019, the same year that the team traded for wide receiver Antonio Brown. However, in a stunning move, Brown requested a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers that offseason. While a deal to send him to the Buffalo Bills was agreed upon between both teams, it was rejected as Brown refused to play for Buffalo. As a result, 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 stints around this time. Multiple things happened during his short tenure with the Raiders: his feet got frostbite from not wearing proper footwear during a cryotherapy session. The second? He filed a grievance to wear his old helmet. 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 to Manziel about being around Brown during that weird period of time, and felt like he was in ‘reality TV.’
“It was like reality TV bro,” Crosby said to Manziel. “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. 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.
Additionally, Crosby recalled that while he was trying to figure out the simple things such as his role and finding out what kind of sockwear gets you fined, 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?”
The same year Crosby entered the league, the team hired Jon Gruden as head coach in his second stint with the team. Unfortunately, he was fired during the 2021 season due to sending inappropriate emails in the past. Crosby opened up to Manziel about how emotional he was about Gruden’s firing and said he still has support from he and his teammates 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, he was in tears,” Crosby recalled.
As Crosby enters year seven in the NFL, he will have a new head coach in Pete Carroll. Notably, 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 over from the Seattle Seahawks, and will take on his second assignment as a head coach in the NFL.
