In baseball, Krause played outfield, and in track he participated in the broad jump and ran the 220 yard low hurdles.

Reporter Abe Kemp described sophomore Krause in his first varsity year at Gonzaga during a game on October 12, 1930, against St. Ignatius (now the University of San Francisco).

"[6] In the buildup to the 1932 cross-state matchup between Gonzaga and the University of Washington, Clarence Dirks wrote that "A coach couldn’t ask for a better back than stocky Max Krause.

Babe Hollingbery, famed Washington State coach and co-coach of the victorious West squad, described Krause as the "hardest-hitting back on the field" in the Shrine game.

Coach Ray Flaherty of the Redskins, former Gonzaga star himself, invited Krause along with other former Zags to Washington, including Ed Justice and George Karamatic.

After Battles retired in 1938 over a salary dispute, Krause started in the season opener in Philadelphia's Municipal Stadium, as described by Shirley Povich of the Washington Post: "But the hero of the Redskins’ victory was not Sammy Baugh.

It was short, stocky, swarthy chap who was given the fullback job in the absence of Cliff Battles, and his name is Max Krause.

Krause provided perhaps the only bright spot for Redskins fans on that dismal day when he ran a kickoff back for a 62-yard return (albeit not for a touchdown.)

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Krause joined the United States Navy and fought in World War II.