High School

Maxx Crosby Talks Texas High School Football

Las Vegas Raiders’ Star Tells Julian Edelman how his game got bigger in Texas

Jeff Hawkins

Las Vegas Raiders' defensive end Maxx Crosby talked about the impact of his high school football career, at Texas' Colleyville Heritage High, on his development as an NFL star.
Las Vegas Raiders' defensive end Maxx Crosby talked about the impact of his high school football career, at Texas' Colleyville Heritage High, on his development as an NFL star. / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, a four-time Pro Bowler, reminisced about Texas high school football.

Speaking recently with Julian Edelman on his “Games and Names” podcast, Crosby dedicated a lot of his time discussing his varsity years at Colleyville (Texas) Heritage High School, earning all-area and all-district honors as a senior in 2015. A native of Lapeer, Michigan, Crosby’s family relocated to Texas when he was a teenager.

How did Crosby describe his time playing for the then-6A program to Edelman, a former New England Patriots wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion?

Larger than life?

“I moved to Texas, and it was like holy $%^!” Crosby told the 2019 Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. “I played 6A, like the highest division, 15,000 in the crowd packed out. The whole parking lot was tailgating, and it was crazy.

“I mean, the environment was like nothing I’ve ever seen and I end up going to Eastern Michigan and we had less fans. My first two years, we had less fans in my college games.”  

Crosby was not exaggerating.

Big-time prep programs in Texas play before sell-out crowds at stadiums that rival some mid-major college institutions. As a junior at Colleyville Heritage, Crosby registered 41 tackles as the Panthers (7-3) made the playoffs, but could not climb out of district play.

Splitting his time at defensive end and tight end as a senior, Crosby compiled 62 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, six sacks and two forced fumbles. The Panthers finished 5-6 and Crosby received only one Division I scholarship offer (Eastern Michigan), which he accepted, turning himself from a lightly recruited prospect to a 2019 NFL fourth-round draft pick.

In six seasons with the Raiders, Crosby compiled 366 tackles and 59.5 sacks.

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Jeff Hawkins
JEFF HAWKINS

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in print and digital media. A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2023-24 and 2011-12), NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003). His minor-league coverage included the UHL’s Adirondack IceHawks (1999-2003), Northeast League’s Adirondack Lumberjacks (1997-99) and South Atlantic League’s Hickory Crawdads (1993-95). Hawkins penned four youth sports books and away from the laptop, his main hobbies include mountain bike riding and live music. He has been writing for High School On SI since 2024.

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