Maxx Crosby made an impact immediately upon joining the Las Vegas Raiders as a rookie in 2019 (the final season in Oakland). That wasn’t just once the games started either as there were some serious battles in camp amongst an offensive line that featured longtime veteran Richie Incognito.
While certainly a controversial player who had some off-field issues, Incognito was still a very good guard and he immediately tested the young Crosby in camp as the two spoke about on the latest episode of Crosby’s podcast The Rush, via Carter Landis of Sports Illustrated:
Crosby recalled a story about when he experienced Incognito in practice for the first time. Incognito was heavily taped on his arms, ready to take on whoever came his way. Crosby said Incognito punched him in the chest at half-speed.
Crosby said that was when he realized the NFL speed was different from what he was used to … “I remember our first camp, pulling over there with Hard Knocks, pulling and hitting you, and pulling and hitting you, and I was like, ‘Oh s—, all right, let’s go!” Incognito said.
Crosby and Incognito squaring off time after time in intense battles is the least surprising thing as both are known to go all-out at all times. Especially Crosby as a fourth-round rookie trying to prove himself, these kinds of battles are everything.
The two would then recall a huge fight that the Raiders got into during a joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams that included Aaron Donald:
“I was just trying to run through a f—ing brick wall, but it was a good time,” Crosby said, laughing. “Honestly, it’s funny, I was just talking about camp a couple days ago; we went against the Rams. I’ve gone against the Rams in joint practices three times now. I remember as a rookie, this is when I knew you were a f—ing savage, which most people already knew. First day, it’s straight warfare. Everyone’s brawling each other, beating the s— out of each other, and I think the first fight was you and Aaron Donald.”
Incognito opened up about that fight.
“It was Gabe [Jackson] and Aaron Donald,” he said. “Little dust up, gotta see what’s up. When we went out there with Gruden our last year, I got in that big fight with Sebastian Joseph-Day. ‘No fighting in joint practices.’ Yeah, f—ing right.”
Joint practices often lead to brawls between teams as it is their first time facing off with players from other teams. And when you have players such as Crosby, Incognito and Donald, things are bound to rise to another level. And now Crosby is the leader and veteran holding the young Raiders to that standard in camp and practices.
Maxx Crosby invited Raiders teammates to Sack Summit hosted by himself & Von Miller
Maxx Crosby has embraced being the leader of this Raiders team and is taking on the responsibility of lifting his teammates. As one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL, he was asked to host and be a speaker at the Sack Summit, started by Von Miller.
But Crosby didn’t just go there for himself. He invited the rest of the Raiders defensive line to attend, work out, and gain valuable knowledge from speaking and working with some legendary players. And all of those Raiders linemen happily attended.
