Marvin Lewis impressed by star pass-rusher
Marvin Lewis is entering his 27th season as an NFL coach (his first since 2018) as he becomes an assistant head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Lewis knows what a Pro Football Hall of Fame player looks and acts like. He’s had the pleasure of being around many legends during his time and a head coach and assistant in the league. Lewis, who ended last season as a consultant for the Raiders, hasn’t been around Raiders’ superstar defensive end Maxx Crosby long.
Yet, it has been clear to Lewis that Crosby has the special qualities that many of the Hall of Famers he’s been around possessed.
“I see a driven player. I also had the opportunity to be around Bruce Smith and Darrell Green for a season and Champ Bailey, you see guys that have become at the pinnacle – Shannon Sharpe – of their game and how they go about their business each and every day,” Lewis said at a recent OTA session. “You can set your watch by Maxx Crosby now. Somebody said to me he’d to be easy to assassinate him because you know where he’s going to be at all times. He’s phenomenal, and being over there in Arizona, I got to spend a lot of time with the Cardinals and watching J.J. Watt at the end of his career. And the very last practice J.J. Watt had for the Arizona Cardinals, he looked like Maxx Cosby looks every day out here. And I think to me that shows you what a great player is like. I was influenced as a young coach in the NFL by Rod Woodson, and then later was fortunate enough to draft Ray Lewis, and then we brought Shannon Sharpe, so I’ve been watching how these guys who’ve become Hall of Fame players, how they go about their day each and every day, and Maxx has those qualities.”
It’s a fascinating response.
One of my favorite aspects of covering the NFL for nearly 30 years has been be to closely cover, watch, talk to and get to know Hall of Fame players. they’re just different in every way.
You can just tell that they are special by the way they carry themselves. It’s extremely interesting that Lewis sees these hall-of-fame qualities in Crosby.
Will Crosby end up in Canton some day like these players Lewis has compared him to?
Look, he is entering his sixth season and he will be 27 in August. He is entering his prime and he is a dominant player at a premium position. If Crosby can continue to dominate for the next 5-7 seasons, he very well could end up in Canton, so it’s pretty fitting Lewis feels this way about him.
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