Maxx Crosby sets record straight on Ashton Jeanty's claim of Raiders star ruining draft pick suspense

Maxx Crosby doesn't think he ruined the surprise that the Las Vegas Raiders were going to draft Ashton Jeanty.

Crosby sent Jeanty a text the night before the draft, saying he can't wait to go to war with him. Although many thought that meant he knew the Raiders would pick him, Crosby says he just wanted to speak it into existence.

"The whole draft process, I seen the videos it got released, I don't know how it got released, I think Jeanty was talking about it. But, somehow the reporter knew about it, they were talking about that I heard Maxx blew the surprise the night before. I didn't know we were going to draft him," Crosby said.

"I knew we wanted him, we were interested, but with the draft you never know. At that point, it look liked Jacksonville was going to take him. In my head, I try to manifest everything and shot him a text. I've known Jeanty for some months now, I just shot him a text, can't wait to go to war with you... In my mind, I was speaking this into existence."

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Crosby says when he sent the text, the rumor was the Jaguars would take Jeanty at fifth overall. So, he just wanted to send a message to someone he knew and hoped the Raiders would pick him.

Jacksonville ended up trading up to second overall and selected Travis Hunter. That led to Jeanty falling to sixth overall and being picked by the Raiders.

Ashton Jeanty reveals Maxx Crosby texted him the night before the Draft

Ashton Jeanty revealed that Maxx Crosby texted him the night before the draft, which hinted at the Las Vegas Raiders being interested in the star running back.

Jeanty claimed that once he got the text, he had a good feeling he'd be picked by the Raiders.

"He did text me last night and, you know, he said, 'ready to go to war with you,' and I was like, 'shoot, I'm ready to go to war with you, too,'" Jeanty said, via SportingNews. "But, you know, yeah, I mean once he texted me, I kind of was like, 'man, it's really feeling like I'm going to go to the Raiders and, you know, it happened."

Jeanty will be the Raiders' starting running back and be a focal point of the offense in 2025.

Last season at Boise State, the running back ran for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns as he was a Heisman Finalist.

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton