Leave it to the NFL offseason to produce a moment where one of the league’s most feared pass rushers has to clarify his ethnicity on a Twitch stream.
Las Vegas Raiders star Maxx Crosby found himself at Adin Ross’ Brand Risk event Saturday, Johnny Manziel’s MMA debut providing the backdrop, when streamer BenDaDonnn cut straight to what he called “the elephant in the room.”
“Im gonna address the elephant in the room, everybody wanna know if you actually Black,” the streamer asked.
Crosby laughed. Then answered: “No, I’m not.”
Four seconds. Done. One of the more surreal NFL offseason exchanges in recent memory, just like that.
The Raiders star handled it better than most…
The five-time Pro Bowler has Serbian and Albanian roots and has openly embraced his Balkan heritage throughout his career. He seemed more amused than bothered, which is honestly the only sane response to being ethnicity-tested at a combat sports event on livestream.
Related: Kolton Miller gives his notable nod of approval
What makes the moment land differently is everything happening around Crosby right now. This isn’t exactly a stress-free chapter of his life. He’s grinding through rehab on a serious knee injury, meniscus and cartilage damage that required January surgery and cut his 2025 season short. In March, Baltimore briefly acquired him in a trade before pulling out over medical concerns while Crosby was already at the Ravens facility. That one stings no matter how you frame it.
And yet there he was, laughing at a Twitch stream.
Now back with Las Vegas and re-committed to the Raiders under first-year head coach Klint Kubiak and incoming quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Crosby’s return to the field carries real weight for a franchise trying to turn the page.
The ethnicity question, though? Closed. Definitively. Relax, folks; it’s the slow time in the NFL offseason.
*Top Photo: Chris Unger/Getty Images