“Yoo!! This one goes out to the absolute best Edge Rushers in all of College Football! I want you at Eastern Michigan.” Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby made this announcement, hoping star edge rushers will prefer his alma matter, Eastern Michigan. Not only that, he will reward the player who ends up assuming the starting role with the No.92 jersey he used to wear. This player will also get to visit a Raiders game to watch Maxx Crosby terrorizing QBs in Sin City. But this announcement was just the teaser of something bigger Crosby and Eastern Michigan was going to drop soon. Let’s just say Crosby will soon be taking up a new gig, expanding his horizons beyond the playing field.

Maxx Crosby follows the footsteps of NBA stars Steph Curry and Trae Young to become the first NFL player to assume a role in his alma matter. Curry and Young are already serving as assistant general managers for their respective college basketball programs, Davidson and Oklahoma. Now, Crosby is joining Chris Creighton’s staff as their assistant general manager while continuing to play with the Raiders. Eastern Michigan football announced that his role will have several facets attached to it.

Crosby will be tasked with scouting high school players and boosting their NIL and recruiting game. Given the responsibility to help make the Eagles stand out in college football, Crosby couldn’t be more grateful. “There is no place more important to my personal and athletic development than Eastern Michigan University. It is truly an honor for me to not only be named the Assistant GM of the EMU. But together with my Rachel, make another donation aimed at creating opportunities for other athletes to be impacted by the EMU program.”

Crosby’s wife, Rachel, is also an EMU alum, having played soccer for them. In 2023, both of them chose to donate $1M to the EMU athletics department. So, to express their gratitude, the school chose to rename their playing field at Rynearson Stadium to Crosby Field. Not only a field rename. Just a few days ago, EMU also spilled their plans on renaming the weakside defensive end position of theirs from “LEO” to “MAXX”

Their tributes to Crosby show the lasting legacy he left behind in Eastern Michigan. He may have left the program a long time ago, in 2019. Still, his aura and image as the face of EMU continues to grow bigger as each day passes. Crosby’s foray into a managerial role comes weeks after he landed a $106.5 M extension with the Raiders.

Not just an Eastern Michigan Legend—Maxx Crosby is now a Raiders legend, too

Crosby starred for EMU from 2016 to 2018, racking up 41 tackles for loss and 20 sacks in the process. He was even named to the first-team All-MAC twice for those monstrous numbers. Then came the Raiders in 2019. They unlocked a different beast in Crosby. Since 2019, Crosby has ranked first in tackles for loss (105), in 4th in tackles (364), tied for 4th in sacks (59.5), and 4th in QB hits (144). In just his first 6 seasons, Crosby already ranks 3rd in the Raiders sacks leaderboard (59.5). Eclipsing that achievement is his 364 total tackles, the most ever by a DE in his first 6 seasons.

Adding to his honors is Crosby’s 4th consecutive Pro Bowl last year. Raiders’ star defensive linemen have earned the second most Pro Bowls in franchise history at his position. His season may have ended sooner last year, but Crosby still led his team in sacks (7.5), TFL (17), QB hits (20) and QB pressures (35). So, it was only a matter of time before the Raiders awarded him with a multi-million dollar extension. Crosby’s $106.5 extension briefly made him the highest-paid non-QB in the league. Myles Garrett then snatched that record with over $40M per year in his Browns extension. But the crown now belongs to Ja’Marr Chase after his $161M extension.

But the money probably doesn’t matter to Crosby anymore. He has already cemented his legacy as an EMU and Raiders legend. Now, he is on his way to search for personalities who can write their legacies, starting with EMU like he once did.