The Green Bay Packers witnessed one of their all-time greats officially retire from the game of football on Monday. 40-year-old kicker Mason Crosby announced his retirement from the NFL after a 17-year tenure in the NFL, with 16 of those years spent kicking for the green and gold. In honor of his legacy, let us re-witness greatness in revisiting the top five plays of Crosby’s career.
Top 5 Plays Of Mason Crosby’s Career
The former Packers kicker had one of the more decorated careers of any leg talent in NFL history. Crosby finished his career with the 11th most points of all-time, the franchise record for games played with 258, and the most extra points and field goals of any Packers ever. On top of that, he helped lead his team to a Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
To say the least, Crosby has an amazing track record to extract his best individual plays from. So let’s do that.
5. Game Winning Field Goal vs. Giants To Stay Undefeated
The year after the Packers returned to the Super Bowl and hoisted the Lombardi trophy once again, Green Bay was having another historic season. The undefeated Packers had the top offense in the league and were dueling it out against Eli Manning and the New York Giants to keep their winning streak alive.
In Crosby’s only field goal of the game, the Super Bowl champion kicker sends the ball through the uprights in a statement 38-35 victory to advance to 4-0. The Packers would eventually go 15-1 that season, but fall short once they met the Giants again in the playoffs.
4. Rookie Crosby Game Winning Field Goal On Opening Day
There is no better way to start your illustrious football career than with a game winning field goal on your NFL debut. In a game where a Brett Favre-led offense struggled to put points on the board, Crosby stepped up in the best way possible after the Eagles punt returner muffed a punt on the 31-yard line with less than a minute remaining. After hitting a 53-yarder and 37-yarder earlier in the game, the sixth-round draft pick out of Colorado hit the 43-yard field goal as time expired to defeat Donovan McNabb and the Eagles.
3. Forced Fumble on Vikings Cordarrelle Patterson
In a game with the NFC North title on the line, the Packers saw themselves down by seven heading into the latter part of the fourth quarter. Green Bay needed to make a stand against the Vikings to get the ball back and have a chance to tie the game.
After Crosby hit a field goal to make it a one-score game, the Packers kicked the ball off to a dangerously good punt return specialist in Cordarrelle Patterson. Surprisingly enough, Patterson had a good return taking the ball into Packer territory until Crosby came out of nowhere to strip Patterson of the ball.
Because of this, Green Bay was able to recover and have one more chance to change the outcome of the game. Although the Packers ended up losing, Crosby made a play that not many kickers can say they have made in their careers.
2. Game Tying Field Goal In 2014 NFC Championship vs. Seahawks
While many Packers fans may choose to not think about the outcome of this game, Crosby was part of the reason Green Bay was able to see overtime in the 2014 NFC Championship game. After the Packers blew their two-score lead in the fourth quarter, an immaculate drive led by Aaron Rodgers put Crosby in a position to save their season and he delivered.
1. Game Winning Field Goal In 2016 NFC Divisional Round vs. Cowboys
It took some willpower to not put Crosby’s NFL Fantasy File at number one, but this is undoubtedly the most memorable moment of Crosby’s career. After Rodgers hit tight end Jared Cook down the sideline to get the Packers within field goal range, Crosby was called upon to make the biggest kick of his career. The kick swayed right and left and then right again before the ball sneaked past the left upright to defeat the Cowboys.
Main Image: Jeff Hanisch – USA Today Sports
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