NFL players are no strangers to fashion. They love expressing themselves with the latest drips. Unfortunately, the NFL doesn’t allow that much freedom of expression during gamedays.
Maxx Crosby wants to see a change.
Crosby is among the top pass rushers in the league. Since entering the league, he has received a couple of All-Pro and five Pro Bowl honors.
Earlier in the year, the Las Vegas Raiders accepted a trade offer for Crosby. However, the deal broke down, and Crosby remained in Vegas.
Crosby is entering the eighth year of his league career. Ahead of the season, the 28-year-old explained how the NFL doesn’t allow players to wear their favorite merchandise.
The shoe game. NBA does it right… Players get creative with how they want to be swagged out. In the NFL, you can’t even wear, like, any color that’s off the jersey, which is lowkey lame… NFL shouldn’t be tripping, bro.
Maxx Crosby told N3on’s stream
Last year, Crosby had planned to wear a pink rose-patterned Air Jordan for the Raiders’ Week 15 clash against the Philadelphia Eagles. But he couldn’t wear it because the NFL didn’t give him clearance.
Jordan designed them pink with roses for my daughter. They made me take them off. So, I had to get a sack in them… NFL should just let us wear our own colors with our shoes. It’s not that hard, bro. And it ain’t hurting anybody.
Crosby said
The players are permitted to wear customized footwear during pregame activities and team warmups. However, the NFL guidelines state, as reported by ESPN, ‘Players may use footwear that is solid black, solid white or a secondary or tertiary constitutional team color.’
From 2009 to 2016, NFL players wore pink gear—gloves, masks, cleats—to spread breast cancer awareness during October games. Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III popularized the idea during his rookie season.
Crosby’s CV proves he is among the top pass rushers. And yet he doesn’t get enough coverage like Micah Parsons or Jalen Carter. That’s partly due to playing for a Raiders team that has played postseason football just once since he’s been there.
That doesn’t mean his talents are hidden from scouts, coaches, and executives across the league, and it is reflected in Crosby’s report card compiled by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler when he put together the list of best pass rushers. Per Fowler’s list, Crosby ranks fourth.
Voters who value a complete game—relentless play from start to finish—rank Crosby very high. He has the best motor of any defensive player.
Jeremy Fowler wrote
Only Parsons, Myles Garrett, and Will Anderson Jr. rank ahead of Crosby on the list. Some of the notable ones he ranked ahead of are Aidan Hutchinson, Nick Bosa, Danielle Hunter, andTJ Watt.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl champion, last year called Maxx Crosby the best pass rusher he has ever faced.
I think he’s sacked me the most out of anyone I’ve ever played against, so to me, he’s the best pass rusher I’ve played against.
Mahomes said
The Raiders drafted Crosby 106th overall in 2019. Since then, he has played 110 games for the AFC West franchise, and has racked up 539 tackles, 69.5 sacks, and 133 tackles for loss.