Mason Crosby’s toughness
Lori Nickel explains how the Packer kicker maintains his focus, even during a difficult period in his life.
GREEN BAY – He has to be one of the toughest kickers – no, toughest players – to put on a Green Bay uniform in generations.
Thirty-five-year-old Mason Crosby has triumphed again in 2019, well before he kicked the 23-yard walk-off winning field goal Monday night against Detroit and celebrated Green Bay's stunning 5-1 start to the season with that joyous Lambeau Leap.
Crosby also held off another challenger in training camp to secure the job he's held since 2007, even at one of the worst times of his life, as he and his wife went from doctor after doctor for test after test until she was diagnosed with a tumor in her lung.
The mostly self-coached Crosby has, in his 13 seasons in Green Bay, played for four special teams coordinators. He has made 343 field goals off the hands of nine holders. He has worked in the worst weather conditions anywhere in the NFL.
And in a job where division contemporaries have faced death threats, Mason Crosby has practically laughed at the dumbest of critics.
How the man has never been named a Pro Bowl starter is a complete mystery. But how he's endured the tests of time, pressure and the most demanding job is not.
One year ago, 2018. Do you remember?
Crosby missed four field goals and an extra point in Packers loss at Detroit almost a year ago to the day. It was the worst game of his 216-game career. Crosby addressed the media afterward; he never ducks out of those tough postgame interrogations.
“Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment,” said Crosby, smiling. “It's a flushing mentality. So many guys, and with so many things in life, we hold on to it, and then you never actually just vent and get it out of there.
"You can't let it become who you are."
Afterward, Crosby turned to the
people he can always turn to when he needs to talk, his dad, his mom, his brother. He let himself feel the lowest of lows. And then he moved on.
Crosby's kick beat the 49ers the following week – a 27-yarder as time expired for the 33-30 win in San Francisco. It was his fourth field goal of the day.
How Crosby handled that – mentally – has to make him an expert on the psychological aspect of professional sports.
“I almost lumped it all into one kick,” said Crosby of the 2018 Detroit debacle. “One situation that snowballed.
“Sometimes you just step away from it. Talk about it. Just vent. And just (say), ‘That was crazy.'
“That was something I didn't think I would ever experience, but it's like, it did happen. Deal with it. It was definitely kind of a shot in the gut – but ... through experience and things that I've learned over the years, it was definitely not as hard as it probably would have been early on in my career.”
We forget the early years. They were so long ago. But they helped defined the Crosby we know now. The one-time youth soccer player used to just line up 3 yards back, eyeball the field goal and launch. It took a few youth kicking camps to settle into his routine, which has varied little in the 20 years since.
“When I look back it's always been: 3 back, 2 over, the same set,” said Crosby.
Crosby was fortunate to know NFL alum Matt Stover – Stover's wife is from Crosby's hometown, Georgetown, Texas – and in high school, Crosby would kick with Stover. Crosby marveled at how nice this pro was, working with a kid more than 15 years his junior.
Crosby came to Green Bay after being drafted out of the University of Colorado and was mostly on his own. It's rare for teams to have kicking-specific coaches in house, and Crosby never has had one. So he went to more clinics on his own, making minor tweaks and adjustments. And he relied on one very influential mentor.
Morten Andersen, who kicked in the NFL for 25 seasons and retired in 2008 as the all-time leading scorer, would look at Crosby's kicks and give feedback.
“At this level, everything is just inches,” said Crosby. “Little details. It might not even look glaring on film, but it might be: Where was your mindset? Where was your head placement?”
Through it all, Crosby returned, year after year, sometimes fending off competition in camp. Through it all, he and his wife, Molly, had five children and his hair started to turn gray, but on the field, through sleet and snow, through the cold and wind, Crosby was an 80.7% kicker. Always reliable.
The 2012 season was not his best, but Crosby answered with a thunderous 2013, making 33 of 37 field goal attempts for 89.2%, including a 57-yarder.
Still, no Pro Bowl. (Yes, he's been an alternate; I'm talking about being named a starter.)
“That was a little surprising…” said Crosby, without a hint of bitterness.
Still, Crosby endured. Receivers and running backs and linemen who were drafted after him had their time and retired. The locker room evolved as always, but the incoming faces started to look younger and younger.
And then the world changed, too. Blair Walsh in Minnesota and Cody Parkey in Chicago missed gut-wrenching playoff kicks and faced not only unforgiving criticism but even death threats on social media. With unprecedented access to public platforms, it was a despicable display of inhumanity.
“I've been there,” said Crosby. “Anytime anyone misses a big kick, or just has a tough game, I actually try to reach out and just say: Keep your head up. Stand strong. Face the music. And move forward.
“The people that are saying this on social media? It's a real bummer, but they're not the people I'm too worried about, what their opinion is. It's just people trying to make other people feel bad or throw dirt on a wound.”
This may surprise you, but Crosby sometimes checks social media. The studies of human behavior have grown into a fascination for Crosby.
An example: After 2012, every kick of Crosby's in 2013 was scrutinized. That year, in a game at Baltimore, Crosby was the primary source of scoring, making 4 of 5 field goal attempts in Green Bay's 1917 win. But he did push one to the right. After the game he checked Twitter. “I'm getting name called, I'm like the worst person, the worst in the world,” said Crosby. “Literally 10 seconds later its, ‘Oh way to come through!'
“People are living their lives in these huge fluxes of emotion."
Crosby has one advantage. He came of age just before social media became a black hole of whiners. That means he knew who he was before outsiders could tell him otherwise.
“Sometimes I am curious,” said Crosby. “It almost levels me out. Like, I'm going to just stay in this middle ground and make sure I am true to who I am and don't get caught up in that stuff.
“Know who you are. That's why if the game defines you, those things will define you. If it becomes the only identity you have – the game is going to end. …
“This game is not going to define who I am.”
That's a pretty remarkable statement. Imagine the eyes of 70,000 people focused on what you're about to do. Imagine television broadcasting everything, with closeups, a camera in your face.
Imagine that pressure, not just once, but over and over at the highest level for 13 years. If this doesn't define Mason Crosby – the ability to function, to perform – what does?
One day, when his playing career is over, Crosby may consider coaching or some kind of mentoring role.
“My goal is to help young guys transition,” said Crosby. “We have so many kids that have talent, but they get pushed at such an early age, they don't know how to handle that.
“I don't like seeing guys elevate to a level. There needs to be checks and balances along the way. Sometimes you see high school kids that are treated like professional athletes. How do you handle that for a long period of time?”
Crosby's inclination to serve others goes beyond football. Crosby always talks about his family. That's why August was so hard.
Molly had been feeling congested and was coughing over the summer, which was unusual for the fit, 32-yearold fit. Just as training camp began, the couple consulted the Packers doctors, and an X-ray showed a spot on her lung. After going to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Molly was diagnosed with cancer. It was a carcinoid endocrine tumor. She also had a blood clot in her stomach.
Crosby gave everything he had at work, but as soon as he was off the field, 100% of his focus turned to supporting his wife.
About the time training camp wrapped up, she had surgery to remove the tumor, and her treatment doesn't require chemotherapy or radiation.
“For me, it was like, I wasn't worried about this game …” said Crosby. “I'm going to worry about the actual things I need to focus on.”
As hard as the weeks of training camp were, going to all the doctors appointments, Crosby said the last six weeks have been even harder. Molly couldn't drive. The recovery is tough.
At least a dozen friends of the Crosbys stepped in and brought meals to the family to help out.
“It's such an amazing place, being here in Green Bay,” said Crosby. “We've connected and made such an amazing life here – and how many people showed up to help us in our time of need.”
Crosby is the all-team leading scorer for the Green Bay Packers, in the regular season and in playoff history.
He's never missed a game.
He holds the record for the longest field goals in team history.
And yet, he won't let this game entirely take over his identity, nor will he let it singularly define who he is. He doesn't wilt under pressure and isn't affected by modern distractions. His focus is on family and teammates.
It has to make him one of the toughest players we've ever seen in a green and gold uniform.