Las Vegas Raiders’ star Maxx Crosby proved without a doubt this season that he is one of the best defensive players in the entire NFL last season. The defensive end was a Pro Bowler, second-team All-Pro, and a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year.
He has seemingly gotten better and more dominant each and every year and is clearly a cornerstone for this Raiders franchise to build around. He has also stepped up as a leader, taking responsibility for shortcomings and speaking on anything that needs to be discussed for the team as a whole.
It seems as if the sky is the limit for what Crosby can accomplish and that is exactly how he prefers. The Raiders star spoke on this in the latest episode of his podcast The Rush with Maxx Crosby, noting how he doesn’t believe in ceilings and feels he is capable of literally anything via Carter Landis of Sports Illustrated:
“There’s no such thing as a ceiling,” he said. “I don’t believe in that. So, every single year, I don’t like to put a number on anything because I know I’m capable of taking that next step every year because of the work I put in on a daily basis. So, it doesn’t stop for me.”
“He [Pierce] knows how it is. The week after the season, I’m still walking around, and I’m limping stiff-legged, my arm is all messed up, but I live it every single day. I don’t believe in a ceiling, and I don’t believe in ‘realistic’ expectations. I don’t believe there’s a cap on what I can achieve going into next season.”
It is this mindset that has allowed Crosby to become the force that he is so quickly in his NFL career. Still only 26 years old there is much more for him to accomplish individually and, most important to him, on a team level with the Raiders.
Crosby has made no secret of his desire to be playing in big playoff games and ultimately bring a Super Bowl back to this franchise. He knows he has to lead the way on that front and is already doing so and if the rest of the team follows him and embraces the grind and work as he does, those goals will become reality.
Raiders’ Maxx Crosby recovering from hand and knee surgery
Before he can dominate on the field to that highest of levels, Maxx Crosby will need to get healthy which is something he wasn’t for most of the year, making his accomplishments that much more impressive.
Since the offseason began Crosby has undergone knee surgery to repair a bursa issue he was playing through since Week 2. Not long after he underwent surgery on his right hand as well. But there is no doubt that Crosby will put in all of the work to get back to training as quickly and as hard as possible.
