Respect is mutual between Patrick Mahomes and Maxx Crosby.
So is intensity.
Mahomes will renew his rivalry with Maxx Crosby this weekend when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Las Vegas Raiders
When the NFL’s reigning MVP and one of the league’s best defenders meet on the field, lines are crossed and passion flares.
“You woke up the wrong m***********!” Mahomes screamed at Crosby when the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders met last season.
“I’m here all day!” Mahomes emphasized, turning a punch and headbutt from Crosby into a thrilling 30-29 home victory for Kansas City in Week 5 of the 2022 campaign.
Mahomes and Crosby, who meet again Sunday when the Chiefs face the Raiders in Las Vegas, have one of the best running feuds in the NFL. On the field at least.
Their on-and-off relationship was showcased in Netflix’s fascinating Quarterback documentary, which provided a behind-the-scenes look at Mahomes’ life on and off the field.
The rivalry between Mahomes and Crosby is so intense that the Raiders defender crashed Mahomes’ streaming party, briefly taking over Mahomes’ time in the spotlight and becoming the talk of the league for openly challenging the two-time Super Bowl champion.
“It’s great,” Crosby said. “After the games, he always comes up to me, I go up to him, but when it’s between the quarters, he knows what time it is, and I know what time it is when he’s out there.”
Mahomes acknowledged that Crosby was ‘trying to do whatever he could to get in my head.’
Mahomes accused Crosby of punching him during an ill-tempered meeting between Kansas and Las Vegas in 2022Credit: Getty
Mahomes admitted Crosby’s on-field tactics caused him to ‘snap’Credit: Getty
That worked early last season, as the Raiders took a 17-0 lead in the second quarter.
Then Crosby went too far and woke up the league’s reigning MVP.
“Don’t just punch me for no reason, dog,” Mahomes told Crosby.
The two-time Super Bowl winner was frustrated at not playing up to his own expectations.
Mahomes also got tired of Crosby intentionally needling him.
“I just kind of snapped,” Mahomes recalled, adding that he knew he needed to reign it in when his coach had words with him.
“I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m just kind of blacking out and going crazy. Whenever coach [Andy] Reid has to grab you and pull you aside, that’s when you know you’re going too far. He’s usually all for letting your personality show.”
Crosby’s antics had the opposite effect as a fired-up Mahomes led the Chiefs to a remarkable 30-29 winCredit: Getty Images – Getty
There’s clear mutual respect between the Chiefs great and Raiders star.
There’s also a burning inner fire to win the day and beat that day’s opponent for the world to see.
When Mahomes and Crosby met early in the 2022 season, the Raider initially got the best of the Chief.
Then Mahomes responded and let Crosby know it, screaming that he wasn’t going anywhere and the Raider had messed with the ‘wrong m***********!’
“We were going back and forth,” Crosby told Von Miller in a recent episode of the “Voncast” podcast.
“I got him with a sack on the first drive and then I ended up getting him a second time, and I’m talking. I’m always barking at everybody. That’s just part of my nature. Pat wasn’t going for it. He was talking back. He’s like, ‘Alright, what’s up?’
“So they went down and scored. And I’m standing and I’m watching them in the end zone, and they were all running around the end zone. I get bumped behind my back. I get hit with a shoulder.
“I turned, and it was Pat, and he was still running. I’m like, ‘Oh no, I’m not going for that,’ and so I ran straight to him and I head-butted him, like ‘What’s up?’ ”
It was on between Mahomes and Crosby.
It will be again when the AFC West rivals meet on Sunday in Las Vegas.
