Raiders Defensive End Maxx Crosby Reveals How Wife Rachel Washburn Helped Him with His Sobriety (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

The 27-year-old Las Vegas Raider will be five years sober in March, and he tells PEOPLE during a conversation at the SiriusXM set at Media Row in New Orleans ahead of theSuper Bowl LIX, and it was his “partner in crime” who helped him through the darker days.

The Michigan native — who was drafted to the Raiders in 2019 when they were still in Oakland — married Washburn,a collegiate soccer playerat Eastern Michigan University when they met,during a lavish Nevada weddingin Boulder City on March 4, 2023.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 05: Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders kisses his wife Rachel Crosby before a game against the New York Giants at Allegiant Stadium on November 05, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Raiders defeated the Giants 30-6. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

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The longtime Raiders player recalls that he “had to go to a dark place” and “live through that” in order to emerge stronger from those dark days. “It made me so much stronger and it made me a better person,” he shares.

“I love the person I am, and the person I look in the mirror and see now, and I wasn’t able to say that when I was younger going through what I went through, and that means more than anything,” he continues.

source: people.com