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When you think about college football in the state of Michigan, Eastern Michigan is way down the list. The school, located less than ten minutes from the University of Michigan, might even have a less popular football program than in-state Division 2 power Grand Valley State.
But, they’ve produced one of the NFL’s best players right now in Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby. Now, Crosby is giving back to his alma mater by taking a role in their football program while still playing in the NFL.
Crosby has 59.5 sacks in six seasons with the Raiders, and is one of the best defensive ends in the entire league. He’s great against the run, too and has 105 tackles for loss, leading the league in both 2022 and 2023.
This upcoming season will be his age-28 season, so he has plenty of good years left. But, he’s decided to take on added responsibilities to help his alma mater. Here’s Pro Football Talk with more.
Eastern Michigan has named Crosby Assistant General Manager for its football program. While Crosby will continue his playing career, he now has an official position where he played his college ball.
“There is no place more important to my personal and athletic development than Eastern Michigan University,” Crosby said in a statement released by EMU. “It truly is an honor for me to not only be named the Assistant GM of the EMU, but together with my wife Rachel, make another donation aimed at creating opportunities for other athletes to be impacted by the EMU program, community, students, and alumni.”
According to the program’s release, Crosby will assist in evaluating high school and transfer portal prospects, help manage the team’s NIL/revenue share budget, and assist the program in fundraising, alumni relations, and student-athlete support.
Eastern Michigan is a really hard place to win at. They’re over 150 games under .500 in history, and have four winning seasons in the last 30 years. Current coach Chris Creighton is considered one of the very best in program history. He’s 57-75, which isn’t great, but he’s won at least 5 games in every full season since his first two years, which is honestly really impressive.
They don’t have a big NIL budget, but will get some revenue share money, assuming the House settlement goes through. It will be up to Maxx Crosby, Creighton, and staff to best distribute limited resources for a team that went 5-7 last year.