Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby grew up rooting for the Lions and watching them lose. And now they want to win?
"It kind of bothers me, because I had to wait my whole childhood for them to be good. Now that I’m in the league, I’m on another team and they want to be Super Bowl contenders," Crosby said with a laugh Friday on NFL Network's Good Morning Football. "So selfishly, I’m kind of mad at them."
Crosby, who just wrapped up his fourth straight Pro Bowl season, went on to say that "in all realness, seeing what Dan Campbell has built" and hearing from former teammates like Amik Robertson and Pat O'Connor who joined the Lions this season, "everybody says the same thing. They’re like, 'I hope one day you just get to be able to be in that locker room with Coach Campbell. He’s incredible.'
"They said he’ll literally die for the players. He lives by that. The things you see in the locker room post game and the interviews and everything, that’s who he is. People kind of clowned him at first, they’re like, ‘The kneecaps and all this stuff is out this world,’ but he truly lives by that. And I know that for a fact," Crosby said.
Crosby, 27, was born in Lapeer, raised in Michigan and has called himself a "diehard Lions fan." He moved to Texas in his adolescence, but returned to the area to play for Eastern Michigan before making it to the NFL. He said the rise of the Lions and the rebirth of Detroit sports is inspiring to watch, even from afar.
"I grew up in Michigan right down the street. It’s incredible to see for the city because it’s been some long years. The Lions haven’t won in a long time, and now you see the Pistons winning, the Red Wings are winning, so I get to watch from a distance. Even the Tigers are back winning. I’m like, 'Damn, now I’m in Vegas, now y’all wanna win," Crosby laughed. "My whole childhood I was in a tough place."
Crosby is under contract with the Raiders for two more seasons, but who knows: With the organization moving on to its fourth general manager and fourth head coach in the last five years after the recent firings of Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco, the Raiders are in need of a major reboot.
Maybe Campbell and Brad Holmes should give Vegas a call.