Mason Crosby

Mason Walker Crosby (born September 3, 1984) is an American football placekicker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Colorado, and earned unanimous All-American honors. The Packers chose him in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He was a member of the Packers' Super Bowl XLV championship team against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Early years

Crosby attended and played high school football at Georgetown High School. Crosby also attended Werner Elementary in Fort Collins, Colorado.

College career

Crosby attended the University of Colorado Boulder, where he played on the Colorado Buffaloes football team from 2003 to 2006. While enrolled at Colorado, he displayed extraordinary leg strength, making a school-record 60-yard field goal against Iowa State in 2004. Crosby's 58-yard field goal against Miami in 2005 was the longest ever kicked in NCAA Division I-A football at sea-level without a tee. In all, Crosby holds 31 school records. Crosby connected on 66 of 88 field goals in total during his college career, and 30 of 34 inside 40 yards.

He developed a reputation for kicking in the clutch, making 12 of 13 field goals in the fourth quarter, and a perfect 10/10 in the final 8½ minutes of games. This bent was most evident when Crosby played rival Colorado State University, against which Crosby made kicks of 55 (2004), 48, and 47 yards (2005) in consecutive years to win the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

Crosby also served as the Buffaloes' kickoff specialist, where his knack for forcing touchbacks after touchdowns made him a fan favorite. Overall, 138 of Crosby's 203 career kickoffs were touchbacks, including an 87-yard kickoff touchback from the 20-yard line against Iowa State in 2004. The Sporting News named Crosby to its All-Decade team for the first nine years of the 2000s (decade).

Crosby was a first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Following his junior season in 2005, he was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American, having received first-team honors from the Associated Press, the Football Writers Association of America, ''The Sporting News'', and Walter Camp Football Foundation. As a senior, he was again selected as a first-team All-American by ''Pro Football Weekly'' and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. He was the runner-up for the Lou Groza Award, despite being heavily favored to win. During his senior season, he became the first player in Big 12 Conference history to be named player of the week eight times, and became Colorado's all-time leading scorer, with 308 career points.

College statistics

Professional career

2007–2010 seasons

Crosby was chosen by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round (193rd overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft, the last of three consecutive picks for the Packers, and the third kicker overall. Crosby entered training camp in a battle with incumbent placekicker Dave Rayner. During Green Bay's first pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Crosby kicked a 52-yard field goal, the longest field goal in the history of Heinz Field. Crosby won the starting job during the final roster cut. In his first regular season game, Crosby converted all three field goals he attempted, including a 53-yarder and a 42-yard kick with two seconds left on the clock to help the Packers defeat the visiting Philadelphia Eagles. The kick was the first game-winner by a rookie on opening weekend since 1979 (when Matt Bahr achieved the same feat). Crosby was the first player in NFL history to kick a 50-yard field goal and a game-winning field goal with under a minute remaining in his NFL debut. Crosby was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week (the first rookie kicker to receive this honor on opening weekend).

Crosby was awarded the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November 2007. He led all NFL kickers with 54 points and tied for the lead with 12 field goals as the Packers posted a 4-1 mark. Crosby converted 12 of 15 field goals during November and was a perfect 18-for-18 on PATs. He had at least one field goal in every game, including four in the Week 9 win at Kansas City. His longest field goal of the month was a 52-yarder in the Week 13 contest at Dallas. For the 2007 season, Crosby led the NFL with 130 points scored and his 24 field goals ranked first in the NFC. Crosby finished second for most points scored in a season by a rookie ( Kevin Butler had 144 points for Chicago in 1985). Crosby finished 2007 with the highest-scoring season by a kicker in franchise history and third-highest season point total by any Packers player.

In the first game of the 2010 regular season against the Eagles, Crosby kicked a field goal from 56 yards in the last seconds of the first half, his then career long and a franchise record.

At the end of the 2010 season, Crosby and the Packers appeared in Super Bowl XLV against the Steelers. In the 31–25 victory, he converted all four extra point attempts and his only field goal attempt.

2011 season

On July 27, 2011, the Packers re-signed Crosby to a 5-year, $14 million deal. Crosby kicked four field goals in a game on three occasions, which were October 9, 2011 (Atlanta Falcons), October 23, 2011 (Minnesota Vikings), and December 11, 2011 (Oakland Raiders). On October 2, 2011, Crosby kicked a season-high 7 PATs against the Denver Broncos. On October 23, 2011, Crosby set the franchise record when he made a 58-yard field goal in the third quarter as part of a four-field-goal game. He also was good from 39, 45, and 24 yards and made all 15 of his field goals through week 9. He equaled his then record distance on a 56-yard field goal on October 9, 2011, in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons. He finished the 2011 season converting 68-of-69 extra point attempts and 24-of 28 field goal attempts. The Packers' season ended in the Divisional Round against the New York Giants. In the 37–20 loss, he converted both extra point attempts and both field goal attempts.

2012 season

Crosby kicked three field goals a game at the most all season, on 3 occasions, September 13, 2012 (Chicago Bears), October 21, 2012 (St. Louis Rams), and December 2, 2012 (Minnesota Vikings). On December 23, 2012, Crosby kicked a season-high 7 PATs against the Tennessee Titans. On September 14, 2012, Crosby kicked a season-long 54-yard field goal against the Chicago Bears.

In 2012, he finished with a 63.6 field-goal percentage. This was the lowest field goal percentage for any active kicker in the league in the 2012 season.

2013 season

On September 15, 2013, Crosby kicked a season-high five PATs against the Washington Redskins. On October 27, 2013, Crosby tied his season-high 5 PATs against the Minnesota Vikings as well. On October 6, 2013, Crosby kicked a season-high 5 field goals against the Detroit Lions. On November 17, 2013, Crosby kicked a season-long 57-yard field goal against the New York Giants. On December 15, 2013, Crosby tied his season-long 57-yard field goal against the Dallas Cowboys. Crosby kicked 33 field goals in the 2013 season, tying the franchise single-season record with Ryan Longwell and Chester Marcol.

2014 season

On September 14, 2014, Crosby kicked a season-long 55-yard field goal against the New York Jets. On November 9, 2014, Crosby kicked a season-high 7 PATs against the Chicago Bears. Crosby kicked 27 field goals in the 2014 season, which is the 5th most in franchise history. On January 18, 2015, in the NFC Championship game, Crosby kicked a season-high 5 field goals against the Seattle Seahawks, including a 48 yarder to force overtime. However, Seattle scored a touchdown which ended the Packers season.

Crosby scored his 1,000th point in his 124th career game, the Packers' Week 13 game against the New England Patriots, making him the third-fastest player to 1,000 points (after the Patriots' Stephen Gostkowski and Gino Cappelletti).

2015 season

On September 20, 2015, Crosby broke Ryan Longwell's team career scoring record of 1,054 with his fourth field goal of the game against the Seattle Seahawks. He is now the all-time leading scorer in Packers' history.
On September 28, 2015, Crosby kicked a season-high five PATs against the Kansas City Chiefs. On November 1, 2015, Crosby kicked a season-long 56-yard field goal against the Denver Broncos. On November 22, 2015, Crosby kicked a season-high 5 field goals against the Minnesota Vikings. On January 3, 2016, Crosby recorded a forced fumble against the Minnesota Vikings.

2016 season

On March 1, 2016, Crosby signed a four-year contract extension with the Packers.

On January 15, 2017, Crosby kicked three field goals, of 56 and two of 51 yards (one of which did not count), in the final two minutes of the Packers' 34–31-second-round NFC divisional playoff win against the Dallas Cowboys. The first 51 yarder was invalidated due to a Cowboys timeout called in a process called icing the kicker. Crosby kicked the second 51-yard attempt for the win as time expired, marking the first time a kicker made two 50+ yard field goals in the final two minutes of a postseason game. He also converted his 20th consecutive field goal in the post season, surpassing David Akers's previous record of 19.

2017 season

Crosby completed the 2017 season with the Packers, maintaining a 78.9% field goal completion percentage, his lowest since 2010. Crosby also accomplished a 94.3% extra point completion percentage, the second lowest of his career. The Packers had been suffering difficulties with the longsnapper position and holder responsibilities changed hands several times throughout the year. The search for a longsnapper and reliable holder led to several missed field goals and two missed extra points.

During a Week 10 matchup against the Chicago Bears, Crosby missed a 35-yard field goal off of an off-line snap that was then mishandled by rookie holder and punter Justin Vogel. After that game, Crosby only missed one more kick for the rest of the season, a would-be record at Heinz Field of 57 yards.

Due to the Packers' loss of Aaron Rodgers for most of the season, defensive difficulties, and special teams miscues, 2017 would be only the second year Crosby had not played in a playoff game in his 10-year NFL career. He finished the 2017 season converting 33 of 35 extra point attempts and 15 of 19 field goal attempts.

2018 season

In a Week 2 tie against the Minnesota Vikings, Crosby made what appeared to be the game-winning field goal at the end of regulation. However, the Vikings called a timeout just before the attempt to "ice the kicker", and Crosby missed the second attempt sending the game into overtime and an eventual tie. In Week 5, Crosby was 1–5 on field goals and also missed his only extra point attempt, becoming the first player since Kris Brown in 2001 to miss four field goals in a single game and just the fourth player in NFL history to miss at least four field goals and an extra point in a game. Crosby bounced back the following week, converting all three extra point attempts and all four field goal attempts, including a 27-yard game winner as time expired in a 33–30 win over the San Francisco 49ers, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He finished the 2018 season converting 34 of 36 extra point attempts and 30 of 37 field goal attempts.

2019 season

On October 14, 2019, Crosby kicked three field goals, including the game-winner, in a Week 6 victory over the Detroit Lions; he performed a Lambeau Leap to celebrate the victory. He kicked another game-winning field goal during a Week 17 rematch against the Lions on December 29. He finished the 2019 season converting 40 of 41 extra point attempts and 22 of 24 field goal attempts.

2020 season

On February 24, 2020, Crosby signed a three-year, $12.9 million contract extension with the Packers. On July 30, the Packers placed Crosby on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He was activated on August 15, 2020. Crosby had a perfect regular season on field goal attempts for the first time in his career, making 16 of 16 field goals. Crosby and Jason Myers both recorded a perfect season in 2020. They became the 8th and 9th players in NFL history to qualify as players to earn a perfect season kicking field goals. The 16 field goals he attempted were a career low, as the Packers offense had a record-setting year—Crosby had fewer field goals than wide receiver Davante Adams had touchdowns (18).

2021 season

On March 23, 2021, the Green Bay Packers restructured Crosby's contract by converting part of his base salary into a salary bonus, as well as his $1.25M roster bonus to a signing bonus. Part of this restructure was also included extending his contract with three void years. In a Week 3 win against the San Francisco 49ers, Crosby made all three of his field goal attempts, including the 51-yard game-winner as time expired, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, Crosby missed three straight field goals that could've won the game for the Packers, but ended up making a game winning field goal in overtime to help the Packers win 25–22. In what had been an up and down year, the special teams unit was ranked dead last in efficiency by DVOA. This in part was due to the myriad of miscues and miss-kicks. Crosby finished the 2021 season converting 49 of 51 extra point attempts and 25 of 34 field goal attempts.

In the Divisional Round against the San Francisco 49ers, Crosby had a kick blocked by Jimmie Ward at the end of the first half. This blocked kick would come back to haunt the Packers as they went on to lose by a score of 13–10.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Professional awards

*8x NFC Special Teams Player of the Week
*2x NFC Special Teams Player of the Month (November 2007 & October 2013)

Personal life

Crosby graduated in December 2006 from the University of Colorado, majoring in communication. He attended Georgetown High School in Texas, where he played football and soccer. He is a Houston Astros fan and an avid golfer. Mason's father, Jim, was a running back in college for the UTEP Miners and graduated from Texas Tech. Crosby married Molly (née Ackerman) on June 28, 2008. They have three children.

Crosby is a Christian, who has spoken about his faith by saying, "I think He helps me knowing that kicking is what I do, not who I am. It's not everything that I am. I can escape knowing that my relationship with Christ is what carries me. I'm always reading in the Proverbs and Psalms to relax my mind before we play. I know that God cares for me all the time regardless of any outcome here."

Crosby is a supporter of Compassion International and their "Fill the Stadium" initiative.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioColorado Buffaloes bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosby, Mason
1984 births
Living people
All-American college football players
American football placekickers
Colorado Buffaloes football players
Green Bay Packers players
Sportspeople from Lubbock, Texas
Players of American football from Texas
Ed Block Courage Award recipients