For a little more than four years, Maxx Crosby has been affectionately known to Raider fans and the NFL community as ‘The Condor.’
It was a nickname given to Crosby in 2019 by NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger, and the term has stayed with the league’s most dominant edge rusher since the fourth game of his rookie season.
Appearing this month on The Rush Podcast with Maxx Crosby, Baldinger talked about the play where ‘Mad Maxx’ transformed into ‘The Condor’…
“It was the third or fourth game of his career, they went to [Indianapolis], and I’m watching the Raiders… and I don’t even think he started the game. He was just like a rotation player at that time, but in the game he gets off the block and he’s chasing down the running back and he just swats him from behind. [It was] pure effort and he strips the ball. The ball is out and they get the ball. A big play in the game…
And I’m watching him and he’s like all arms and legs. I don’t even know what a condor is, [but] that guy needs a name… and so I just threw “Condor’ out there because I think it’s kind of a predator and I don’t know. It just hit me, and I just said I’m going to throw ‘The Condor’ out there. I didn’t know if it would stick or not, but now it’s obviously trademarked.”
For what it’s worth, Baldinger was correct in his assessment that he isn’t an expert on the animal kingdom.
He won’t be guiding nature tours anytime soon and that’s shame because who wouldn’t want to hear Baldy explain how killer whales stalk a sea lion?
The “Condor” is a fitting name for Crosby because of his massive wingspan, but a condor isn’t a predator in the traditional sense of the word.
A condor is actually a scavenger. It glides around looking for dead animals to eat.
twitter: @raidersbeat
