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One of the coolest parts of being a parent is discovering how much the little milestones matter.
The first steps and first days of school are obvious benchmarks. But sometimes, a memory worth holding onto comes in an even smaller form.
Maxx Crosby’s daughter, Ella Rose, recently celebrated her fourth birthday with her first taste of McDonald’s. Chicken McNuggets, to be precise.
Her reaction was predictable and relatable.
“She wanted more,” Crosby said before practice on Wednesday.
Listening to the Raiders pass-rush demon tell it, you would have thought he had just brought down a quarterback on third down.
The same excitement. An entirely different reason to celebrate.
“It’s the best,” Crosby said. “I love being a dad.”
Every parent knows the feeling. We mark our children’s lives with firsts, celebrate their discoveries and wonder how another birthday managed to arrive so quickly.
Some milestones come with photographs we frame and dates we remember forever. Others sneak up on us, turning an ordinary meal into a story we cannot wait to tell.
Crosby sounded every bit the proud dad sharing this one.
His daughter had discovered something she loved. He had another memory to tuck away.
And anyone accustomed to watching him torment offensive tackles got a glimpse of someone those players rarely encounter.
A softer Crosby.
There are few people on a football field, or anywhere else, more fiercely competitive than the Raiders defensive end. He is stubborn, relentless and seemingly incapable of approaching a snap as anything less than a personal challenge.
His job requires him to impose his will on people equally determined to stop him. Then line up and do it again.
That intensity is central to who he is. But his daughter has a way of turning down the temperature.
Suddenly, there is something more interesting to discuss than beating a double-team.
Like her enthusiastic review of Chicken McNuggets.
There is a healthy balance in that, especially in a profession that demands so much physical and emotional energy. Fatherhood offers another place to direct that passion, with rewards that never appear on a stat sheet.
“Football is my everything, but being a dad and having that little princess makes my world,” Crosby said. “She’s probably the only person on earth to allow me to, you know, be calm.”
A fourth birthday. A first trip to McDonald’s. A little girl deciding she would happily have another helping.
Nothing complicated. Nothing to dissect on film the next morning.
Just a moment to enjoy and a reminder that even someone who spends his Sundays making life miserable for quarterbacks can find his greatest happiness in something wonderfully simple.
Crosby will have plenty more sacks to chase.
This was a different kind of milestone.
And judging by his excitement, it belonged on the highlight reel, too.