Oakland Raiders - The Vertical Game - News Archive (July 1-Sept. 30, 2006)

News Archive
July 1 - Sept. 30, 2006

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Browns DT Nick Eason (ankle) and CB Gary Baxter (pectoral strain) have each been downgraded from questionable to out for Sunday's game at Oakland.

Meanwhile, going the other way, S Brian Russell has been upgraded from questionable to probable.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Make a note for when we play Arizona (Oct. 22): Cardinals WR Bryant Johnson is keeping defenses honest that believe they can concentrate on the intermediate routes of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. Johnson, the speedster of the three, leads the league with a 36.3-yard average per catch.

At 6-3 at 216 pounds, Johnson can match up favorably with the diminutive Fabian Washington. Tyrone Poole, anyone? (Poole, in Washington's absence, held his own against Clarence Moore, a Ravens receiver who held a commanding 10-inch height advantage.)

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Late update: OLB Grant Irons missed practice again Thursday and is now expected to miss Sunday's game.

Ira Miller maintains a blog on his web site, and there's an item in his Sept. 26 post titled "Unrest in Oakland." In pertinent part, he wrote:

Miller doesn't cite any source, but then, you wouldn't expect a source for that kind of information to be willing to be named. It sounds eminently plausible to this observer, unfortunately. In marked contrast to the Raiders' business side, which is a model under CEO Amy Trask—witness the success of the ticket operation despite the appallingly bad play of the team on the field—the football side of the organization has been disorganized for a long time now. And the dysfunctional nature of things is magnified right now with offensive coordinator Tom Walsh's seeming inability to adapt a game plan or make in-game and halftime adjustments.

In the teaser for an "Insider" (subscriber) blog feature, ESPN.com's John Clayton wrote yesterday that:

This observer still thinks the Raiders would do well to get something for Tuiasosopo while he has value. Almost any stiff the team signed could do what little Tom Walsh is asking—take deep drops and get sacked, over and over—until Aaron Brooks is ready to go again. Or am I being too cynical?

Make no mistake about it, when Jeff George quarterbacked the Raiders he was even more immobile than Kerry Collins. Indeed, George got hurt his second year with Oakland because opponents realized how badly he froze in the face of a blitz and started rushing full-bore on every passing down. So if the team were to re-sign George now, he would, if put on the field, simply get sacked over and over. But then, to date, so did even Brooks, who's reasonably mobile. The O-line has been a sieve, period.

Perhaps Oakland can stall the Bucs for the better part of another week, then swing a deal with Bruce Allen. By then, presumably, Brooks would be that much closer to healthy again.

As long-time Raiders fans are only too aware, this team loves to live in the past. And it loves a slogan, too. At times they get rather farcical, like the current "Team of the Decades" to describe a team that's basically been losing for 15 years save one brief flirtation (under Gruden-Callahan) with the heathen West Coast offense.

Not that this cynic is sneering at the Raiders, mind you. There's nothing wrong with taking pride in a great history such as the Raiders franchise has. But it's nice to see the current teams play at least .500 ball now and then, too.

Some of the Raiders' most cherished records used to be highest winning percentage on Monday Night Football, and best winning percentage of all professional sports teams since 1960. Those no longer hold true, and the Raiders have amended the latter to the best record in the NFL since 1963, the year Al Davis arrived. But even that could slip away Sunday. With an Oakland loss to the Browns and a Miami win at Houston, the Dolphins would pass the Raiders by a fraction of a percentage point, .00003.

The Raiders are also in danger of opening 0-3 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1961-62.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Where Are They Now Dept.: The Jests have signed ex-Raiders LB Ryan Riddle to their active roster.

I saw a report that Tampa Bay has worked out at least four quarterbacks, including Shaun King, with whom Gruden is quite familiar, and Tommy Maddox, whom the Raiders contacted last week, so it's probably fair to say that if a Tui trade hasn't happened by now it's not going to happen. At least two Tampa-area papers mentioned that the Bucs would like to trade for Tui, characterizing him as a Bruce Allen draft pick back in 2002 rather than a Gruden choice.

On a completely different note, it's good to read that the Raiders stressed having the offense hustle up to the line of scrimmage in their Monday practice. It's been killing sophomore QB Andrew Walter that he doesn't have more time at the line of scrimmage to look things over, audibilize, etc. Things are hard enough when you're basically a rookie as far as game experience without also taking away the time needed to check off plays at the line.

I believe it was ANG writer Jerry McDonald who noted that Rich Gannon used to insist on getting the team up to the line of scrimmage in as little time as possible. This corner was never a huge fan of Gannon's sidearm delivery or fusspot nitpicking, but he did at least make the fatsos double-time it out of the huddle and up to the LOS.

Whew . . . Call me an elitist if you like, but Ben needs to repeat Grammar 101.

OAKLAND: Out: QB Aaron Brooks (pectoral strain). Questionable: DE Kevin Huntley (foot); OLB Sam Williams (ankle); OLB Grant Irons (lower back). Probable: CB Fabian Washington (hamstring); T Robert Gallery (calf); CB Nnamdi Asomugha (foot).

CLEVELAND: Questionable: LB Willie McGinest (calf); RB Reuben Droughns (shoulder); DE Orpheus Roye (shoulder); S Brian Russell (elbow); DE Simon Fraser (shoulder); TE Kellen Winslow (knee); DE Nick Eason (ankle); CB Gary Baxter (pectoral); TE Darnell Dinkins (hamstring); WR Joe Jurevicius (ribs); G Cosey Coleman (hand).

Monday, September 25, 2006

Late update: KFFL.com had the following notes today on the status of Raiders on the mend:

OLB Grant Irons (lower back spasms), didn't practice today and is uncertain for Sunday. CB Fabian Washington (hamstring) did practice and is expected to be available against Cleveland. Likewise for CB Nnamdi Asomugha (foot sprain), DE Kevin Huntley (foot), OLB Sam Williams (ankle sprain), and—mild surprise—T Robert Gallery.

If Gallery reads the papers, this observer suspects he's feeling more than a little pressure not only to return to the field, but to pick up the caliber of his play. Over the past 10 days or so he's been labeled everything from the second coming of Tony Mandarich to a tall guy with arms too short for a tackle to an under-strength weakling. That criticism has got to rankle an overachiever . . . remember that this guy was an Eagle Scout and competed in track and field events as well as football through high school.

KFFL.com also (helpfully) regurgitates today the AP statistic that the Raiders have been blitzed on 33 of their 61 pass attempts so far this season.

The always astute Ira Miller points out today in a piece entitled "Random Thoughts" that Tampa Bay, without any serious quarterbacking now that Chris Simms is lost for two to three months minimum, might well be in the market for Raiders backup QB Marques Tuiasosopo. He was, after all, a Gruden draft pick, and has the sorts of skills which fit Gruden's offensive ideas.

The Raiders will get nothing in return if Tui walks at season's end when his rookie contract is up, but they could recoup some value now if Bucs GM Bruce Allen is willing to pull the trigger on a trade.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Late update: While catching up on some sites that I don't check every day, I came across a genuine anti-Davis diatribe.

Many Raiders fans exhibit a tiresome knee-jerk habit of dismissing any opinion critical in any way of anything about the Raiders as being solely propaganda from the media that "hate the Raiders." I use the word tiresome because (1) it's apropos, and (2) the automaton-like nature of the response aims to silence even well intentioned criticism of the Raiders, e.g., from fans such as this one who have been fiercely devoted to this team for decades. Stereotypes are inherently tiresome, and dismissing all who fail to blindly worship at the throne of a certain highly eccentric owner as enemies is the ultimate example of stereotyping behavior.

All that said, every now and then I see something that seems to ooze genuinely personalized dislike for Al Davis and/or his decisions, his philosophy of football, whatever . . . And this is one of those instances: a writer who calls for the league to somehow find a way to remove Al Davis from his position in order to "fix" the Raiders. With as many genuine jerks as there are among professional sports franchise owners—think Dan Snyder here, or George Steinbrenner (twice suspended following guilty pleas), egomaniac Jerry Jones, or (the biggest maggot of them all) Eddie DeBartolo—there are certainly more than enough targets to go around. And it's worth noting that the phenomenon of non-athlete owners who insist on meddling to one extent or another in football operations is a common one through the NFL. Just reflect on octogenarian Bills owner Ralph Wilson, for instance, firing respected GM Tom Donahue last year, or the clownish maneuvers of the Whiners organization prior to finally settling down in 2005 with the hiring of Dick Nolan.

Yours truly reported in this space on Sept. 14 that the practice squad's latest recruit, WR Leo Bookman, "played at Kansas." Actually Bookman hasn't played football since 2002. He dropped it at KU to concentrate on track.

Raiders fans with Internet access—or newsstand access to any of the Argus Newspaper Group papers— are in for a special treat today and tomorrow with the publication of a two-part series written by the ANG's Jerry McDonald.

Today's piece, linked in this site's Articles section, is a wonderful, well researched profile of WR Art Powell, who was a star with the Raiders during the franchise's early days (pre-1967, as I tend to think of the years). Powell and RB Clem Daniels of Prairie View A&M, an AFL star, were Oakland's two marquis players prior to the arrival of QB Daryle Lamonica, RB (later TE) Billy Cannon, G Gene Upshaw, RB Hewritt Dixon, DE Ike Lassiter, CB Willie Brown, WR Warren Wells, etc.—all of whom played a part in carrying the 1967 team to a 13-1 season and a berth in what was later dubbed Super Bowl II.

Powell was a veritable scoring machine, racking up 16 TDs in 1963's 14-game season. At 6-3 and 211 pounds, with sprinter's speed, he could do it all as a receiver. Just look at the size of his thigh in the accompanying photo and you'll get an idea of the power the man possessed.

He played for Oakland from 1963 through 1966, then was traded to Buffalo along with QB Tom Flores for strong-armed QB Lamonica, the "Mad Bomber." In his four seasons in Silver and Black, Powell caught 254 passes for 4,491 yards (average gain 17.7 yards/pass) and scored 50 touchdowns in 56 games.

Tomorrow's article will flesh out the legacy of principal owner Al Davis in creating opportunities for black players, especially from small land-grant schools in the South, to play in the NFL. McDonald wrote yesterday in an introductory blog post that Davis' commitment to fighting racial discrimination was arguably the greatest achievement among his many NFL accomplishments.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Ex-Raiders DT Chris Cooper—known as "Little Howie" when he wore Silver and Black because of his intensity—was cut by Seattle today to make way for high-priced newcomer WR Deion Branch. A two-week roster exemption which the Seahags had enjoyed from the NFL for Branch expired, making a permanent roster move necessary.

Cooper, now a five-year veteran out of Nebraska-Omaha, had 16 tackles and a sack in the preseason, playing at both end and tackle, and was described as having done well throughout the preseason. But his playing time disappeared when Rocky Bernard and Marcus Tubbs returned from injuries at the start of the season. (DT Rocky Bernard blew past Raiders G Paul McQuistan on one memorable play during the 30-7 pre-season thrashing the Raiders absorbed at Qwest Field; he's a 295-pound nose tackle who's said to be able to occupy two blockers to free up his linebackers.) Seattle is also expected to get DT Russell Davis back from a foot injury this week. All of which left Cooper at the bottom of the depth chart.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Where Are They Now Dept.: QB Kent Smith, who spent training camp with the Raiders after a record-setting career at Central Michigan, worked out for Tennessee yesterday along with two other rookie quarterbacks.

The Raiders players have a three-day weekend off. Head coach Art Shell said his coaching staff would work today but then have the weekend off. He himself expected to put in at least a part of both weekend days at his Alameda office, citing "lots of work to do."

In news from yesterday's practice, CB Nnamdi Asomugha was able to return to drills for the first time since incurring a foot sprain as a result of what he called a cheap hit by Dolt WR Eric Parker. Asomugha said he'll be ready to go for Cleveland. Fellow corner Fabian Washington, favoring a sore hamstring, is presumably a day-to-day proposition.

I came upon an interesting fan post from "smoothie" in the forum on the Contra Costa Times site:

Ah, if only it were that simple . . . If only Art Shell's mere presence could transform a well-below-average offensive line into a very good one . . . then Walsh, Brooks, everyone would be completely off the blame hook. This logic seems so sound on the surface but—sadly—is riddled with fallacies. I'll try to address some of them in an opinion piece or two during the bye weekend.

It is wonderful news to this fan that Ira Miller, late of the San Francisco Chronicle and a long-time elector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is still gracing us with his output twice a week courtesy of the MediaNews collaboration between several Bay Area newspapers. I hadn't been seeing most of his articles recently because they're not included in the RSS feeds from which I get my links for the paper hosting him, the Contra Costa Times. But I happened to peruse the CC Times site today with my trusty Firefox browser and there was Miller's mug prominently displayed, reminding me that his work is featured there twice weekly if memory serves.

His writing is a treat. And to those few Raiders fans who write him off as merely an Al Davis-hater because he's written less than complimentary things about the Raiders front office in the past, I challenge you to find me a decent sportswriter who hasn't. The team has been in disarray most of the seasons since its return to Oakland. Anyone who writes otherwise is likely smoking some wacky tobacky at the keyboard . . .

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this year's San Diego team is the first club since the 1977 Raiders to start a season with seven scoreless quarters on defense. And San Diego's streak of 60 unanswered points to start a season was the best since Detroit scored 78 straight to start the 1970 season.

G Barry Sims was able to make it through a light practice today despite a sore hip. Meanwhile, T Robert Gallery worked in individual drills as he rehabilitates from a torn calf muscle—in the words of ANG writer Jerry McDonald, "giving hope the Raiders may return following the bye week with their offensive [line] relatively intact."

"It's a big relief," said coach Art Shell about Sims. "We can't afford to lose any more guys." Not that any of the Raiders linemen is setting the world on fire, but Sims is the best of the bunch, and Oakland needs him out there. There had been fears that Sims had a hip flexor, which could mean an end to his season after only two games, so the Raiders dodged a bullet on this one with the news that Sims' injury was 'only' a deep bruise.

Gallery estimated his chances of being ready to face Cleveland on Oct. 1 at 50-50.

Monday, September 18, 2006

MRI results on QB Aaron Brooks show a strained pectoral muscle rather than the rotator cuff injury which the Raiders feared and initially announced yesterday after the game. Brooks is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

Coach Art Shell, no doubt looking to forestall a quarterback controversy before one can start, made a point to tell the press that although Andrew Walter will start at quarterback in Brooks' absence, Brooks remains the starter and will resume that role once he's healed. You can read Shell's comments in the AP report published on NFL.com—it's the first (bottom-most) link for today on the Articles page.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Late update: Gene Upshaw and Roger Goodell will hold what amounts to an NFL drug summit next week in New York. Upshaw, honcho of the NFLPA (Players Association), told the New York Daily News yesterday he will inform Goodell, the new NFL commissioner, that he's willing to increase the number of players randomly tested for steroids each week during the regular season as a means of strengthening the program. Currently seven players per team, chosen by computer, are randomly tested each week during the season.

Upshaw told the Daily News the meeting will take place next Thursday in Manhattan. The drug program, revenue sharing and—surprise!—the television contracts are the main items on the agenda. Upshaw also repeated his previously stated position that the union opposes blood testing for HGH as unreliable and overly invasive.

"That part is the one where my players resist," Upshaw said. "It is invasive and too many things can go wrong with this. You can call me back and tell me when you have a reliable test. A urine test. Then we'll have something to talk about. I'm not interested in turning my players into pin cushions."

Add one more Raven to the injury report below (which had been posted to the Internet about 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning): LB Gary Stills (hand) is a tenth Baltimore player designated as Probable.

Where Are They Now Dept.: Patsies coach Bill Belichick is quoted as saying that ex-Raiders WR Doug Gabriel has picked up the New England offense well.

There's an AP article today on Yahoo! Sports reporting that the NFL has made a "strong suggestion"—aka a league-wide edict—banning teams' use of some song which is entitled "Rock and Roll, Part II," but is apparently far more widely known as simply the "Hey" song. Seems its co-writer and performer, one Gary Glitter, is currently serving three years in prison in Vietnam after being convicted in March of child molestation. A 1999 conviction on possession of child pornography in Britain got him two months in jail there. Naturally this sort of stuff doesn't play too well with the NFL's desired "family" image.

This observer is so square he genuinely has no idea what song they're talking about. But, what he finds amusing is that the song in question is actually sorely missed in such cow pasture venues as Kansas City and Denver. According to the article, they have played it after touchdowns in Denver for "a good 20 years now," so it can't be much in the way of serious (good) music, right?

Oakland: Out: T Robert Gallery (calf). Questionable: CB Nnamdi Asomugha (foot); CB Chris Carr (calf); DE Kevin Huntley (foot); OLB Sam Williams (ankle). Probable: TE James Adkisson (knee); QB Aaron Brooks (knee); TE John Madsen (ankle).

Baltimore: Probable: RB P.J. Daniels (thigh); C Mike Flynn (ankle); DT Aubrayo Franklin (thigh); TE Todd Heap (back); RB Jamal Lewis (hip); S Ed Reed (thigh); PK Matt Stover (back); TE Daniel Wilcox (back); WR Demetrius Williams.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Yesterday's big news was the announcement that an MRI on one of T Robert Gallery's calves revealed "something there," as coach Art Shell put it—widely assumed to mean a partial muscle tear. The Raiders expect Gallery to be sidelined for a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks.

T Chad Slaughter will start in Gallery's place in the interim. While writers not particularly familiar with the Raiders are hoo-hahing over the fact that Slaughter has only one NFL start to his credit since entering the league in 2000, it bears noting that he essentially held sackster supreme Michael Strahan of the N.Y. Giants to a draw in last year's season finale after Gallery broke a bone in his leg.

Said coach Art Shell of Slaughter vis a vis Gallery, "Chad is a battler. He has long arms, which gives him an advantage. Robert's arms are not as long as Chad's. Chad is taller, too. He is a real big guy with real long arms. He can get to guys before they can get to him. He can punch pretty good."

Source(s): "Inside the Raiders" (ANG on-line blog), Associated Press, Sacramento Bee

The Raiders ain't your ordinary team: A certain writer for the RealFootball365.com site—who shall go unnamed here—betrays his youth when he preaches that the Raiders (read, Tom Walsh) should have defeated San Diego's defensive pressure last Monday night with, among other plays, slant passes. He repeated that seeming truism in a piece on Thursday, fiercely satirizing Walsh for not calling slants to the receivers.

The problem? Da Raidahs don't run slants, period. They never have, and never will, so long as a certain eccentric, strong-willed personage is their majority owner. Whether logical or not, he—the owner, not the writer—won't have the team running them while he's calling the shots, any more than they'll run the shotgun formation. (Yes, I know there actually were some shotgun plays put into the playbook during the Norv Turner regime, but that was strictly a temporary aberration; you can be sure those sheets of paper have long since been destroyed.)

Years ago, when Al LoCasale ("Little Al" to fans) helped out in the broadcast booth in pre-season, he used to explain that "the Raiders"—meaning, of course, Al Davis—thought slant patterns exposed receivers to too much risk of injury. Whether that remains the reasoning, this fan doesn't pretend to know; but I do know that anyone who seriously covers the team should be aware that Oakland does not utilize slant patterns by its receivers or the shotgun formation in its offensive backfield.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

The Raiders waived WR Burl Toler from the practice squad and in his place signed WR Leo Bookman, who played at Kansas. Bookman, a three-time NCAA champion in the 200 meters, was with the Packers in training camp this summer.

Source(s): San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Oakland: Questionable: CB Nnamdi Asomugha (foot); DE Kevin Huntley (foot). Probable: TE James Adkisson (knee); QB Aaron Brooks (knee); TE John Madsen (ankle); OLB Sam Williams (ankle).

Baltimore: Questionable: RB P.J. Daniels (thigh); C Mike Flynn (ankle); DT Aubrayo Franklin (thigh); TE Todd Heap (back); RB Jamal Lewis (hip); S Ed Reed (thigh); PK Matt Stover (back); TE Daniel Wilcox (back).

Interesting to see a fan piece by Blitzchick on Raidernews.com titled "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players?". Take a look at the opinion piece I wrote about the 1996 Raiders with an almost identical title: Not Ready for Prime Time. Talk about déjà vu!

Sad to say, our Raiders lend themselves to thoughts of parody more often than we fans would wish.

A Boston-area reporter, Jon Meterparel of WEEI, reported Tuesday that the Patriots are close to acquiring Raiders WR Jerry Porter. Other sources, however, including NFL.com's Pat Kirwan, have dismissed the claim.

FOXSports, which capsulized this tidbit, notes, "Don't call them the New England Raiders just yet. Meterparel hasn't been the most reliable reporter in the past, although the possible deal makes sense on the surface."

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Where Are They Now Dept.: MLB Danny Clark signed with New Orleans last week.

"This was another opportunity to improve our roster," general manager Mickey Loomis said. "Danny has been a productive player and has a wealth of starting experience. He won't need a lot of time to become a contributor for our team."

Monday, September 4, 2006

It's always interesting to look over a season's new 53-man roster for the number changes. The few fringe players who knew from their jersey numbers starting camp that they were longshots to make the team—those given single digits, for example, or numbers for some position group other than the one to which they belong—are generally so happy to get to pick a new, "standard" number . . . And they should be happy, and proud, because players in that position have almost always beaten really long odds to make the team.

There are two such number changes to report this year, both free agents undrafted out of college. TE John Madsen, who had to learn a new position on top of the normal learning curve facing rookies—he was a 6-5 wideout at Utah, a battery-mate of QB Alex Smith—turned in No. 10 for No. 85. And another tight end conversion, James Adkisson, who began the journey late last season on the practice squad, traded No. 47 for 88.

A third player has also changed numbers, but in a slightly different scenario. With Danny Clark released, OLB Robert Thomas will now wear Clark's old number, 55, instead of 58.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Interesting to notice that Yahoo! Sports contributor John Murphy is actually a scout by trade whose services the Raiders have utilized in years past. In fact, he was preparing a scouting report of the Saints for Oakland when Hurricane Katrina approached "my backyard," as he writes. His account appeared on the Yahoo! site Monday.

FB Joe Hall, OLB Timi Wusu and RB DeJuan Green, earlier reported as placed on the Raiders' injured reserve list, are actually on the waived/injured list, which means that they will rehab with the team until healthy, at which point they will be put on waivers. DT Michael Quarshie is on the injured reserve list, having already passed through waivers.

Where Are They Now Dept.: ex-second-round draft pick TE Doug Jolley was traded by the Jets to Tampa Bay, where he'll be re-united with Jon Gruden. Jolley caught only 29 balls last year for New York.

QB Rob Johnson, trying to make a comeback with the New York Giants, was among 13 players cut Tuesday. Johnson was a backup to Rich Mirer during a forgettable Raiders season (not worth looking up which one) . . .

Monday, August 28, 2006

Answers to my two earlier queries re tomorrow's first cutdown date came late last week. The magic number is indeed 75, up from 65 in years past, but those 75 can no longer include NFL Europe exemptions, which expire tomorrow. (In the past they remained in effect until the final cutdown.)

So, as of this writing, the roster still stands at 90 bodies. Fifteen players must be cut by 1:00 p.m. Pacific tomorrow, and another 22 by the same hour on Saturday.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Contra Costa Times writer Steve Corkran quoted head coach Art Shell to the effect that an MRI performed on QB Andrew Walter's right (throwing) shoulder showed no structural damage.

WR Doug Gabriel is celebrating his 26th birthday today. If you'd care to e-mail him birthday wishes, use this link.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

The Eagles, one of the teams that's not waiting until the last minute to make all its required roster cuts, released 11 players today. Among them: veteran DT Ed Jasper, who was a Raider last year but elected to leave in free agency.

This fan would love to see the Raiders re-acquire Jasper for depth, although it might come down to balancing Jasper against Anttaj Hawthorne. It's nice to have a balance of youth and veterans in the interior line. Currently Tommy Kelly and Terdell Sands on the one hand (youth), and Warren Sapp on the other (old-timer), seem certain to make the 53-man roster. Jasper would definitely be a substantial improvement over the other defensive tackles presently on the roster (Rashad Moore, Donnell Washington) with the possible exception of Hawthorne.

Then again, Hawthorne could go on the practice squad again this year, I believe. He was promoted to the active roster for only one game last season and was inactive for that contest.

One can sense the beat writers' apprehension over backup QB Andrew Walter's "tired arm," which coach Art Shell has now admitted is "tendinitis-bursitis" in Walter's shoulder. ANG writer Jerry McDonald didn't beat around the bush, noting rather bluntly in a blog post yesterday evening that it's an alarming sign for a player who had major shoulder surgery in college and still must ice his arm down after every practice. It doesn't seem that Walter's exactly been throwing one bomb after another . . . at least when we saw him, against San Francisco last week, he threw mostly short and medium stuff.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Whew!! It's a muscle strain and not a tear, and Jake Grove should be out 3-4 weeks instead of the twelve he'd feared had surgery been required. That's the good news today out of Alameda.

"It's not as bad as what they thought it would be," said Grove. "I'm not going to have to have surgery. Hopefully it will be 3-to-4 weeks at the most. It looks like I dodged a bullet this time."

More on injuries: C Jake Grove's injury is clearly serious. The purpose of the second MRI, we're now told, is to assist in the decision whether surgery is required. The prognosis after the initial MRI was that it would be needed.

Once again loyal soldier Adam Treu gets passed over for the starting job . . . At least Art Shell isn't resorting to the double talk we heard from both Jon Gruden and Bill Callahan that they needed to "save" Treu—keep him fresh, somehow—for long snapping duties. Hulsey will take over the starting center duties and big Kelvin Garmon (~ 350 lbs.) will fill it at left guard until Barry Sims' elbow improves.

(Phil Barber has some interesting background on Garmon today. Check the Press Democrat article.)

There was another injury Tuesday, a season-ender that's gotten almost no attention because the player who suffered it, DT Michael Quarshie, was listed on the fourth string on the depth chart. Quarshie may have torn the ACL in his left knee, which would mean going under the knife. Usually in such cases surgeons have to wait a few days until initial swelling subsides before performing the surgery.

Actually, let me backtrack. No one seems to have said definitively that Quarshie tore the ligament, only that he's injured it. So let's hope for the best.

Turk time Tuesday: The ANG chain, which includes the Oakland Tribune, reported today that roster cuts come Sunday, but this observer has double-checked three sites, including the authoritative NFL.com, and all show the deadline as being Aug. 29, which is next Tuesday. Aug. 29 is the date we've had on this site's NFL calendar since the majority of this year's league calendar was released last winter.

What is at issue, however, and may have changed in the wake of the CBA extension, is the size of the cut—whether to 65, as in past years, or 75 as shown on NFL.com—and also when the NFLEL exemptions expire. With the latter group one is talking about 10 players, so it's not a minimal question. In past years the exemptions were valid until the final cutdown to 53, but is that still the case? We'll soon see . . .

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Injury blues: C Jake Grove suffered an unspecified but apparently serious injury to his left shoulder in practice yesterday—serious enough that coach Art Shell said Grove would be having a "second" MRI done on it and would be out of Friday's game against Detroit.

In an interesting move, Shell is replacing Grove not with either of his other centers, Adam Treu or Chris Morris, but with backup G Corey Hulsey, who played left guard against the Whiners last Sunday with the first unit in lieu of the injured Barry Sims. Sims is still out, and his place on Friday is expected to be taken by off-season free agent pickup G Kelvin Garmon.

(As a sideline, Hulsey is the kind of lineman Shell probably loves . . . no finesse, but rather a mauler. What Raiders.com euphemistically calls a "physical" player.

)

Other than the uncertainty with Grove, the Raiders have come out of camp relatively healthy. Backup defensive tackle Michael Quarshie is sidelined with an ACL injury to his left knee, and backup receiver Carlos Francis has been out since the beginning of camp with a partially torn left hamstring.

"We were healthy up until today when I got the news on Jake," Shell said. "That really, that shook me. That really shook me. He'll be back and we'll move on until he gets back."

The eagerly awaited <muffled yawn> "camp tour" visit by Yahoo! Sports to the Raiders, originally scheduled to appear today, is now designated to appear tomorrow. Perhaps as the Yahoo muck-a-mucks made their way toward Napa they saw the players' rides and the team vans passing them headed back in the opposite direction, toward Alameda . . .

Ex-Raider DT Grady Jackson came to terms with Atlanta today on a three-year deal, with approval and announcement on hold pending Jackson's physical.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Late update: Yahoo! Sports has been doing team-by-team profiles and divisional predictions. Oakland's turn comes tomorrow (Aug. 23), the same day the Raiders break camp in Napa. Don't expect any glowing compliments; the site has already predicted the Raiders will finish in the AFC West cellar again.

KC's perennial Pro Bowl guard Will Shields (11 trips to Honolulu) has a high ankle sprain and is wearing a protective boot, according to the Kansas City Star. RotoWire, which duly passed on the report in capsule form, notes that although coach Herm Edwards is optimistic that Shields will be ready for the regular season opener, high ankle sprains can linger.

Following on the heels of Willie Roaf's surprise retirement, this is good news for Raiders fans. Not to mention that the "other guard"—two-time Pro Bowl left guard Brian Waters—just returned to practice Saturday, his first since sustaining a foot injury on day 2 of training camp. Larry Johnson is tough enough to bring down without a great offensive line helping to pave his way.

Donkey holdout WR Ashley Lelie got his wish this afternoon—he was traded to Atlanta as part of a three-way deal involving RB T.J. Duckett. The Falcons, recall, needed to replace their No. 3 receiver, Brian Finneran, who in many ways was their most important wideout. And Atlanta had been prominently mentioned as a possible suitor in the Jerry Porter sweepstakes.

This leaves Porter as the remaining starting-quality receiver league-wide who's on the block. (We're not counting Detroit's Charles Rogers or Mike Williams here, each of whom may be cut before the season opens; they've already been demoted to third string.)

Let's hope that the whispers aren't true, that the Raiders "source" who says the team is demanding much too much for Porter is wrong, because he (Porter) is just wasting a roster spot right now that could go to a Will Buchanon or a John Madsen—guys who won't be safe if they're put on the practice squad. (Any NFL team can sign players off any other's team's practice squad if it's to its active roster. The Raiders lost G C.J. Brooks and WR Cedric Bonner last year off the "taxi squad.")

Excellent analysis: in yesterday's Santa Rosa Press Democrat "Instant Raiders" blog, beat writer Phil Barber noted that Tom Walsh's play calling against SF made his offensive players look good, quite possibly better than they are . . . Check it out here: Why Tom Walsh must approximate Bill Walsh.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

[The following will be posted as an opinion piece once I have the time to polish it just a little bit more. For now, it goes here . . .]

Kudos to ANG writer Jerry McDonald for pointing out that Randy Moss' comments about being pulled out of Monday night's game were anything but a "tantrum" (Napa Valley Register) or "rip" job (Twin Cities local press).

"Moss throws tantrum, but Raiders win" was the headline the two-bit Napa rag put on the AP story. The Saint Paul Pioneer Press described how Moss "ripped" both the Tykes' organization (true) and coach Art Shell (not true).

Let me say clearly that I am not a Randy Moss fan. I find him tasteless, boorish, highly overrated, childish, and self-centered. I was sorry to see Al Davis spend millions to take on Moss' salary and I still wish the money had been spent instead on a couple of Steve Hutchinson-grade offensive linemen. But—all that said—as McDonald points out with 100 percent accuracy, Moss said what he did without any sign of malice or anger or rancor toward Shell. He was, rather, frustrated, at coming out of the game. It is a mark of his immaturity that he fails to grasp (or else, doesn't care) that whatever he says will be magnified out of proportion by the media because of his reputation.

I don't think I could have foreseen that I'd ever be defending Randy Moss for stamping around on the sideline and throwing his helmet . . . Unquestionably it was asinine, childish, and self-centered behavior, and my initial reaction at reading Moss' comments as reported in the initial AP story was one of smug annoyance and irritation—call it an "I knew it!" reaction. But McDonald is right that Moss, childish as he may be, was expressing his frustration, not launching a "rip" at his own team.

The Raiders announced before the game yesterday that Wednesday, which was originally due to be one of the two remaining double-day sessions, has been changed to a single afternoon practice.

This means that Thursday will be the last double-day session before camp breaks on Aug. 23.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Number change: The mystery of the identity of the player wearing No. 33—incorrectly identified by Yahoo! Sports in a caption several weeks back as Omar Easy—has been solved courtesy of the Raiders.com photo gallery feature. That number is being worn by FB Joe Hall, whom the team roster lists as No. 48. Now it makes sense . . .

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Late update: Rumor Mill editor Mike Florio entered some extended impressions about, inter alia, the Raiders organization, in summing up the Hall of Fame weekend—both the ceremony on Saturday, and the game on Sunday evening. And he is surprisingly complimentary. Check it out. Click on the link, then search with your browser for PFT TEN-PACK: HALL OF FAME WEEKEND.

It's a quiet day as the Raiders travel . . . This observer's burning wrists can use whatever rest is available.

Raider great QB-PK George Blanda has been in the news lately by indirection courtesy of Dr. Z (Paul Zimmerman) of Sports Illustrated, a Hall of Fame selector for the past thirteen years. Dr. Z, aiming to make a point about Brett Favre's declining skills, noted in a recent column that if Favre matches last season's pick total (29) in 2006, he will break the all-time NFL career interception record held by <gulp> Mr. Blanda. Of course Blanda played for about a century, and this is one instance in which his longevity worked against him.

Zimmerman's point wasn't to knock Favre, but rather to say that he could play himself out of sure first-ballot status with another lousy season or two. "You don't know how quickly a great old star can fall from grace," said the Doc succinctly. Nevertheless, Favre fans are up in arms at a perceived slight, which keeps poor George's name and record from being able to settle back quietly into the dust, almost forgotten.

(Incidentally, how bad was Favre's 2005 performance? Aaron Brooks' 70.0 passer rating cost him his starting job in New Orleans, then his roster spot, period. Which is how he came to be in Oaktown. Favre's rating was an almost equally dismal 70.9.)

Another instance of longevity backfiring comes to mind: QB Dave Krieg, who had a very long career, very small hands, and consequently holds the career record for fumbles.

Rumor Mill editor Mike Florio aptly characterizes WR Jerry Porter's injury today as "(calf/stick up the ass)".

In Viking-land, where quarterback Brad Johnson is undeniably underpaid, quarterback salaries are a big issue. And so a local paper researched the issue and printed a table yesterday showing the per-year average pay of the NFL's 43 highest-paid QBs. (Our own Aaron Brooks ranks No. 18.)

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Add WR Jerry Porter to the list of players who missed the first exhibition but are expected to play Monday (see next item).

And Contra Costa Times reporter Cam Inman says SS Michael Huff lined up at left cornerback during practice today. While his priority is learning strong safety, where he is the de facto starter, head coach Art Shell has repeatedly said he can line up at different positions in different packages.

It appears coach Art Shell is expecting a major transformation of his offensive line. In comments carried in a Steve Corkran piece today, Shell said his quarterbacks have no internal time frame for completing plays—a play takes however long it takes. And the linemen will be expected to hold their blocks for that long.

Shell pointed out that the Raiders teams he played on nearly always employed a seven-step quarterback drop on passing plays even when other teams favored three- and five-step schemes.

Shell may have to come to grips, sooner or later, with the sobering reality that talent-wise, this O-line is not the equal—or close to it—of the Raiders of the late '60s and 1970s. Those teams fielded arguably the best offensive line ever. It will be wonderful if Shell can somehow work an epiphany with the present cast, but that is what it would take, and this observer doesn't see it happening, at least not this year.

(Parenthetically, what Shell says about the old Raiders teams is absolutely correct, and is a mark of how great they were even in an era of other great franchises [Pittsburgh, Miami, Baltimore]. It wasn't unusual for Stabler or Plunkett to have five, sometimes even six seconds in which to find an open receiver.)

Friday, August 11, 2006

If you're someone who likes to keep up with rules changes, there's a summary of 2006 NFL changes out on Scout.com. It's linked (for now) in the Articles Archive. The Scout.com site tends to keep articles around for quite a while, long after this site will have discarded a given item.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on ESPN last Saturday were the most viewed in the 11 years the network has carried the event. The broadcast was seen in an average of 1.216 households (whatever that means).

Joining TE James Adkisson (sprained MCL) in the "out indefinitely" category: FB ReShard Lee, who dislocated his thumb yesterday.

Minnesota, Oakland's next exhibition opponent, lost starting S Tank Williams for the season when he broke his kneecap last Saturday while backpedaling in a 7-on-7 passing drill. Luckily for Minnesota, however, they also signed UFA free safety Dwight Smith—a top-quality performer—after New Orleans released him last month, so at most the Tykes will shift some bodies around a little bit in their secondary. Smith is expected to step in at strong safety opposite veteran FS Darren Sharper.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

After writing the several masterful paragraphs which follow this one, (naturally) I came upon a New York Daily News article which provides more and better info than what I so belabored an hour or two ago. It's included in the Articles section, but here's a duplicate link: With Roger, in Good hands.

This fan has been frustrated in trying to find, anywhere on the Internet, some serious details about the owners' vote for Tagliabue's successor since yesterday's carefully massaged AP report. Yes, we know it was supposedly unanimous <muffled guffaws>—when have the 32 mostly old men who own (or mostly own) NFL teams ever agreed unanimously on anything? We know it took only three hours and five ballots. Three hours is a long time to me . . . And five ballots—well, who else was getting votes on the first four ballots? Roger Goodell had such a huge running start over the others—all of them very impressive candidates—that whoever put up a fight, so to speak, is all the more impressive. I mean, this wasn't supposed to be like electing a Pope, with puffs of white smoke emanating from a Chicago Airport hotel ballroom to signify a successful choice by the College of Codgers . . .

Finally, from the new king of the rumormongers himself, Ben Maller, posted just today, comes the skinny:

By the way, for the uninitiated, Raiders principal owner Al Davis frequently abstains, or has the Raiders representative (e.g., Amy Trask) abstain, at votes taken at owners' meetings. It's curious behavior for a man who is otherwise so opinionated and not at all shy about offering those opinions on almost anything, and a man who in the past was nearly always engaged in litigation with the league at any given point in time. But it's his many paradoxes and eccentricities that make Davis such a fascinating and colorful character.

A team preview of the Raiders which I missed when it first hit the 'Net came out on Monday. It's by Steve Corkran, who writes for the Contra Costa Times and also does the "Raiders Team Report" feature on The Sporting News site. I found the preview on the Yahoo! Sports site, which has such a volume of articles that it's sometimes to easy to miss things.

If you're a big time fantasy football fan and also read this section of the site regularly, you'll probably recall the warning from several weeks back that a major court case involving MLB and a free baseball fantasy site might drastically impact all free fantasy sports sites.

It's good to be able to report that yesterday a federal court issued a summary judgment in favor of the fantasy site and against Major League Baseball, which has announced it will appeal. You can read the details here.

This means that the fantasy site has won the first round, but only the first round at this point . . . Strange things can happen on appeals. One thing which can be stated with some certainty is that because of the nature of the judgment—a summary judgment is a verdict entered by a court normally without a full trial of the factual issues involved—the appeal will tend to be decided more rapidly than if it involved a higher court reviewing such things as lengthy testimony after a trial. But strange things can happen on appeals. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

Major news from Donkeytown: An unknown, undrafted rookie, 23-year-old Mike Bell, has been named to start at running back for Denver ahead of Ron Dayne, Tatum Bell, and Cedric Cobb, all three! This is a shocker, even from Shanahan, who is notorious for finding running talent in the later rounds of the draft.

San Jose Murky News columnist Tim Kawakami suggested today in a potpourri piece that the Raiders may have privately dropped their signing bonus-giveback demand of malcontent WR Jerry Porter from $4 million to $2M. Whether or not Kawakami has inside information to support that, this observer thinks the last thing the Raiders want is to have to tie up a roster spot with a guy who's not going to go all out every chance he gets. Was the team foolish to give him that huge contract last year just to forestall his becoming a free agent? You bet! Would it be continuing foolishness to hold on to him unless every single penny of that money can be recouped? Yup! Hopefully the Raiders will try to cut their losses and move him for a minimal loss.

The fly in the ointment is duly noted by Kawakami—many of the teams who might be interested in a receiver of Porter's talent won't trade with the Raiders. Unlike the columnist, I wouldn't rule out the Dolts because of the ongoing Smith-Sh*thammer struggle; General Manager A.J. might deal for Porter just to force Marty to have to cope with the discipline issues, as a way of undermining the coach. Many pundits think this is Marty's last year in San Diego unless (at a minimum) he wins the division and takes the team deep into the playoffs.

This site's Articles section normally omits blogs written by Raiders fans. At the risk of sounding elitist, they're biased, and they tend to say what we'd all like to read, whether or not it's justified. The working press, on the other hand—always vilified by Raiders fans and never treated with much more than minimal respect by the Raiders organization itself—is unbiased, in my view. That is to say, it's a job to them, as Jerry McDonald of ANG likes to say frequently, and it's rare that beat reporters are serious fans of the teams they cover. I know that the concept of reporting neutrality is met with hostility by many (most?) Raiders fans, including perhaps most of you who will read this, but I believe in it. So I link the work of reporters, but generally, not bloggers.

Aside to blog fans: if you want to read Raiders fans' blogs, use technorati.com to find them. It's a service which searches weblogs by keyword and for links. There are a number of entertaining Raiders blogs.

Having said all that, I came across a blog post linked on Raidernews.com, quoting an "unnamed source" for a number of 'behind-the-scenes'-type comments about the team's current state of development. Normally I am incredibly suspicious of unnamed sources . . . anybody can simply invent statements and attribute them to Mr. Unnamed . . . but in this case, I happen to agree with some of the conclusions in the blog post based on isolated comments I've seen here and there over the past several weeks in a number of different places. For example, I read that rookie Paul McQuistan has "struggled" at times—and that was the exact word used—in learning to play guard. Let me add the obvious disclaimer: what you'll see at this link is entirely anonymous and thus incapable of verification.

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Former Raiders tackle Lincoln Kennedy, 35, tried out for the Dallas team but failed his physical. You can find some details about it in an Inside Bay Area article that's linked in the Articles section.

This corner has campaigned in the past for the Raiders to try acquiring LB Donnie Edwards from San Diego. It's probably not in the cards, for a number of reasons. Intra-divisional trades are uncommon; Edwards has a fair-sized cap number, although it's not what he wants (or arguably deserves, after leading the Dolts in tackles four straight years). Finally, the Raiders have youth and speed among their linebackers, and there's much to be said for that, although the starting threesome as of now has a collective sum total of one season and 10 games of NFL experience between its members.

All the same, some of the strengths of Edwards are summed up in a nice article today by the Sporting News' Dan Pompei: I'd want Donnie Edwards on my team. And this fan doesn't think it would hurt to have one genuinely experienced linebacker around, who can play either outside or in.

Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Coach Art Shell said that TE James Adkisson sustained a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) Monday and is out indefinitely. Ouch! Adkisson, a conversion project, had leapfrogged two considerably beefier tight ends, Marcellus Rivers and O.J. Santiago, on the Raiders depth chart.

With starter Courtney Anderson nursing a sprained shoulder, this means that two of the team's top three tight ends will presumably be unavailable for Sunday's game. This should give Randal Williams, Rivers, Santiago, conversion project John Madsen, and maybe even unheralded (but very large) rookie Derek Miller, more reps than they'd see otherwise.

(On the subject of MCL injuries—OL Brad Badger, now backing up Langston Walker at right tackle, played most of the 2005 season with a sprained MCL, something for which he ought to get more credit. Many writers have dismissed him this season as a mere "journeyman," but he's a guy who was willing to play through considerable pain week after week even during a rotten season for the team as a whole.)

The hated Squaws wasted no time in signing backup insurance for RB Larry Johnson—tailback Michael Bennett. Even with a featured back considerably stronger than our LaMont Jordan, they recognize that no NFL team dares risk an entire season on the shoulders of one running back. Why can't the Raiders grasp the same simple principle?

The odds are that Jordan will get hurt at some point during the 16-game grind, and even if it's not a major injury, but just the routine "nicks" that are inevitable as the season wears on, without a quality tailback to replace him, Shell will be in a position where he can't afford to give Jordan the amount of rest he needs. Justin Fargas may flash every now and then, but he is not the answer in this fan's view. ANG writer Jerry McDonald observed that Fargas has already begun fumbling in camp after an otherwise impressive good start. That doesn't bode well.

The Raiders have a full, three-deep depth chart up on Raiders.com! This observer cannot remember such an occurrence this early in a season—even before the first exhibition—since the Raiders first put up their web site. And similarly, this fan can't remember one that went a full three layers deep at virtually every offensive and defensive position. Glasnost has finally come to the Raiders, and it's very nice to see!

One wonders if this seemingly random and/or trivial change isn't just another piece of the mosaic in the changed environment due to the Raiders selling their own tickets this year. Media writers have wondered out loud if Al Davis' cordial mood at an extended press conference on Tuesday, for instance, wasn't due at least in part to a desire to sell the team's mystique. (I often disagree with the views of Mercury News columnist Ann Killion, but she hit the nail on the head when she wrote that no one can sell the Raiders like Al Davis.) Likewise, I would throw in Shell announcing tentative starters days before training camp started as an absolutely new development from a team legendary for its secrecy.

Monday, July 31, 2006

Hard to Believe: Scout.com claims in a teaser for a subscriber-only feature, that an unnamed ex-Pro Bowl (offensive) lineman—a tackle—is going to try out for the Redskins. It has a photo of the player, who's wearing No. 72 . . . Recognize this mug?

Yeah, I'm disbelieving, too. He retired because his body hurt too much to keep playing. Remember the plantar fascia injury, for instance? That's known to be a very painful injury for which the only cure is rest . . . Well, here's the link; judge for yourself:

Offensive coordinator Tom Walsh was finally allowed to talk to the media yesterday, and as a result there's lots of good copy available today.

Not only are there several AP articles, but there's a video clip featuring Walsh (linked in the Articles section) posted on Raiders.com.

This observer was heartened to read his comments, promising smash-mouth, "downhill power" running and a passing game in which, as QB Aaron Brooks pointed out, every receiver is a primary target. Walsh left out play-action fakes, which are a critical link between the two phases, but opponents will see enough of those soon enough when they face the Raiders.

Walsh also made pointed reference to the Raiders history of featuring tight ends prominently in the passing game. And he gave credit where credit is due—it's not Walsh's or Shell's offensive system, but the great Sid Gillman's, later tweaked by Al Davis, who worked as an assistant to Gillman for three seasons before coming to Oakland.

Peter King made a point today about how the ostensible value of NFL contracts gets all blown up by agents, using as an example a provision from top Oakland pick Michael Huff's contract. The contract has been reported to be worth a "maximum" of anywhere from $42 to $43.2 million. It seems Huff will earn $200,000 for any year in which he's named Super Bowl MVP. So $1.2 million of that value would require the Raiders to win the next six consecutive Super Bowls, and none other than Michael Huff to be named the game's MVP each time.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

A high-profile case now in the courts could have a disastrous effect on free fantasy football sites. Major league baseball is suing a baseball fantasy site, demanding licensing fees for the use of baseball players' names and statistics. If baseball wins, well . . .

(To this observer—a former practicing attorney—it borders on the obscene to say that the names of such public figures as professional athletes are somehow the "property" of the league in which they play. Just as fans are free to express virtually any opinion as to the relative skill (or lack thereof) of a given athlete without being subject to liability for slander or libel [defamation of character], because the athletes are public figures, so too the names of the athletes would seem to be equally in the public domain. And yet organizations such as NFL Properties are fiercely aggressive about suing at the drop of a hat to protect what they assert is their proprietary interest in such things as media photos of NFL stars taken during games. [See this site's opinion piece, "Arrogance Run Amok," which deals with this very subject.] Often the mere threat of a lawsuit is sufficient to intimidate people engaged in perfectly lawful activities into shutting down for fear of having to spend many thousands of dollars to defend a costly lawsuit.)

The pending case is discussed on the CollegeFootballTalk.com web site, the "little sister" of ProFootballTalk.com, whose Rumor Mill column is oft-cited by yours truly. When you get there, search for the string "Court Case To Shut Down Fantasy Leagues?" (without the quotes).

No Easy answer: It might be gone now, because it's taken me a few days to report it, but recently the Raiders section of Yahoo! Sports ran a photo for a number of days of a player wearing a white Raiders jersey with No. 33 on the front. He was identified in the caption as "runningback [sic] Omar Easy," stretching at camp on Tuesday, July 25, 2006. Neither Raiders.com nor any other web site I've checked that maintains a Raiders roster shows Easy, who was an unrestricted free agent after the 2005 season ended. Nor would the numbers seem to work, that is, the Raiders already have the maximum permitted number of players without counting Easy. All that said, I mention it here in case he turns out to have been lurking somehow in those closed practices. You read it here first.

Veteran columnist Paul Zimmerman, aka Dr. Z, included a list in a recent article of the starting quarterbacks for the then-28 teams of the NFL going back 25 years—to 1981. The names make great reading and bring back some memories! Check it out: The kid is all right.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Late update: KFFL.com ran this item—"ANG's NFL Editor, Jerry MacDonald [sic], reported that WR Jerry Porter, while at a charity basketball event on July 7, had this to say about the offense under Art Shell and Tom Walsh: 'I'm furious. They might as well trade me. I wanted Mike Martz as my coach and a real offense that's proven in today's NFL. Not something dusted off from a bed and breakfast in God knows where'."

Uhhh, Jerry [Porter], there's one slight flaw in your reasoning there, partner . . . the offense wasn't dusted off by Tom Walsh. It comes from the principal owner—that's Mister Davis to you, son—and I'd love to see you say that to his face. What a weasel Porter is!

I saw mention of a Dallas practice today in which DE Kenyon Coleman took over for injured Marcus Spears. Coleman was a fifth-round Raiders pick in 2002. Oakland traded him to Dallas in May, 2003, so he's still with the Cowgirls . . .

Coach Art Shell says T Robert Gallery should be back at practice tomorrow, which means he will come off the PUP list. The Raiders are practicing just once daily over this weekend, so it will be tomorrow afternoon before the black ponytail is in evidence on the field with the rest of the team.

Said Shell of Gallery, "I know him. He's anxious to get out there. He's like a wild horse. It's killing him that he's not out here working. We're looking forward to getting him back."

If you follow this news section you'll have seen my wondering out loud (so to speak) about comments of Rumor Mill editor Mike Florio concerning the signing bonus and the fact that it's being used very little in the case of the contracts of 2006 first-round draft choices. I've queried why that is and how the other sorts of bonuses would differ from a signing bonus.

Well, ask, and keep your eyes peeled, and oftentimes ye shall be apprised. A highly informative article from Thursday (July 27) on the USA Today web site explains how roster and option bonuses differ from the time-honored signing bonus, and why they're considered advantageous in the post-CBA extension environment. If you have any interest at all in how NFL contracts work, this article is 'must' reading! Here's the link: Rookies starting to shy away from signing bonuses; 2nd-rounders flow in.

The AP reported several days ago that the Boston Herald had published a report that the Raiders were shopping disgruntled WR Jerry Porter. Alleged asking price? Two first-rounders! Which explains Porter's quoted comment that this made no sense since he hadn't even been a first-round draft pick himself.

There would be a good deal of irony in all this if it were true. As a rookie Porter hit it off badly with then-coach Jon Gruden by showing up to his first training camp wearing clothing with No. 1 on it. Porter let it be known that this referred to the fact that he was rankled that Oakland had taken kicker Sebastian Janikowski in the first round in that year's draft, ahead of Porter, who was the Raiders' second-round pick. If the Herald's report is accurate, it would mean that the Raiders are effectively telling Porter he can't have his wish—a trade out of Dodge—by asking for what he had the gall to think he was worth in the first place (but twice as much of it).

As rich as it seems irony-wise, this observer doubts any of the report is true. Porter has never put together a thousand-yard season, and no club would pay the price of two first-rounders for an underachieving malcontent. I would hope the Raiders would ask for something along the lines of Porter's original draft "slotting," meaning a second-round pick from another club. Oakland doesn't lack depth in its receiving corps, and the divisive element that Porter could turn out to be this year isn't needed in the locker room. Receivers Doug Gabriel and/or Ronald Curry could more than take up the slack with Porter shipped out.

We did drills as rough and rougher than the pit drill when I played high school football at a small private school back in the early 1960s. And as a 145-pound defensive tackle I had to go one-on-one up against offensive players weighing close to 200. I was astounded to read that many of the Raiders hadn't done that sort of drill since high school or college . . .

I missed it: Yesterday (July 28) was OLB Sam Williams' 26th birthday. If you'd care to e-mail him good wishes, here's the link to his page on the players union site.

Yesterday the Sporting News web site ran a great column by Michael Bradley on the screen pass. Bradley chose to give it a cutesy title, "The Screen Actors Guide," referring to the acting that's required of offensive players to properly 'sell' the play so that it's effective, but it could equally well have been called "All You Ever Wanted to Know about the Screen Pass." The article is lengthy, detailed, well thought out, and has direct relevance for Raiders fans, inasmuch as Al Saunders—until this season the KC offensive coordinator—explains how he recently called five screens in a game's first twelve plays to run fatsos Ted Washington and Warren Sapp ragged in the first quarter.

(This observer has always been a fan of the John Randall-type of defensive tackle—under 300 pounds, with a serious motor. The Raiders, however, seem committed to blubber. ["Hey, Donnell, please pass the fried chicken!"}Let's hope Tommy Kelly plays well enough at his current size to demonstrate to D-line coach Keith Millard [and his bosses] that bigger isn't always better.)

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Late update: ESPN reported this evening that free agent QB Kerry Collins was expected to be in Nashville tonight and tomorrow, and to take a physical for the Titans tomorrow. If he passes, he is "expected" to sign a contract with the team, said the site. This supplants the earlier NFL.com column by Adam Schefter referred to farther down.

Also, I see that Art Shell said the injury to WR Carlos Francis (also mentioned below) is a partial tear of the hamstring. Strangely, Francis said it hurts more than last year's injury, which sidelined him much of the year, but then said, "It's . . . something we can work with." Shell said Francis would be out (only) one to two weeks. For a partial tear? No way, José . . .

It's instructive that, as reported by ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli, Ratface Shanahan had Donk minions approach Chicago about the possible availability of RB Thomas Jones. The Donks can throw the ball as well as they do because teams have to load up on defense to try to stop the Denver running game. Ratface really has a commitment to run the ball, and everything else flows from that. Shanahan could dig up Grandma Moses from the grave and she'd rush for a thou with that team. It's the system . . . (and the occasional cut block—a Donk specialty—has something to do with it too.)

The Raiders say similar things, but during this past off-season they did nothing serious to secure high-level backup to starter LaMont Jordan. An injury to Jordan and the season could go into the tank right there. And despite Jordan's 1025 yards last season, 3.8 yards per tote isn't enough to keep defenses honest, either.

All of which is why personnel exec Michael Lombardi should be trying to negotiate with Tennessee right now for the services of Chris Brown.

I wrote in this space just two days ago—on Tuesday—that the Chronicle's former Raiders beat reporter, Nancy Gay, would be writing that paper's "NFL Today" column once games began. Oops . . . she's already started. It was none other than the aforesaid Ms. Gay who got Porter to sound off and go public with his version of how the Raiders are persecuting him. Whereupon he then clammed up and has since refused to speak to reporters. Quite a debut! For her, not him . . .

It's not an oversight that this site hasn't addressed the latest Jerry Porter whining. Frankly, it's old news, in a way. Porter has been underproducing and overvocalizing since he first arrived in Oakland.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Raiders could unload him? I mean, then Gabriel could get on the field, and Ronald Curry if his Achilles holds up. Not to mention Whitted, Morant, and (here's hoping, see below) young Carlos Francis. Sadly, the folly of giving Porter that fat contract just before the team signed Moss is that Porter is now too expensive to cut, and motormouth losers aren't easy to trade, either . . .

WR Ronald Curry was taken off the PUP list yesterday and is free to practice with the team again.

Let's hope WR Carlos Francis hasn't torn that hamstring. From the obvious pain he experienced when the injury occurred yesterday, it does sound like a tear and not just a pull.

Adam Schefter reports that ex-Raider Kerry Collins is on his farm in Carolina and may well not play again. Schefter says Collins, 33, would only seriously consider playing for Tennessee.

There's a rookie free agent WR from Maryland named Derrick Fenner whom Philly claimed off waivers today from Washington. I did a double-take when I saw the name, and actually checked my 1996 Raiders roster to make sure I remembered correctly. That is indeed the exact same name as the fullback for the Mike White/Joe Bugel editions of the Raiders. This fellow is considerably smaller than the first Fenner, though—he's listed at 5-11 and 189 pounds, born on Christmas Day in 1982. I wonder if this could be the son of the ex-Raider? Or just coincidence? What are the odds of that name coming up twice?

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Oft-injured WR Carlos Francis had to be helped off the field Wednesday with a left hamstring injury and was to undergo an MRI. Francis injured the same hamstring on the first day of practice last year and missed most of camp. The season prior he tore an ACL.

"It was an unfortunate thing because Carlos has been working good in the offseason and the last couple of days," said coach Art Shell. "Hopefully it's not too serious."

It's looking as though Patsy WR Deion Branch might beat out Donk wideout Ashley Lelie for the honor of being the first player to get hit with the new $14,000 daily fine for holding out . . . . New England's camp opens Friday.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

The San Francisco Chronicle used its blog today to introduce its new Raiders beat writer, David White, to readers. His predecessor, Nancy Gay, was booted upstairs—at least in part—to help fill the shoes of the retired Ira Miller. When games are upon us Gay will author the weekly (Friday) NFL column that Miller handled for quite a few years.

White took today's occasion to report, among other things, a minor scoop: that G Paul McQuistan, the team's third-round draft pick, signed a four-year deal worth about $800,000 a year just before he boarded a team bus headed to Napa. McQuistan also had the good sense to have his mullet hairdo removed by a barber/hair stylist. It was absolutely certain to have been the target of a rookie "scalping" at some point during training camp . . .

It turns out that being designated on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list is a relatively simple and largely procedural action when it's done during the pre-season, as in the cases of WR Ronald Curry and T Robert Gallery. While designated, a player cannot practice with the team; but once he becomes well enough to practice, he can be removed from PUP at any time prior to the end of the exhibition season. If a player is still on PUP by the final cut, the team has four weeks to either reinstate him or give him his release.

As the Oakland Trib's Bill Soliday pointed out today, "Neither Gallery nor Curry appear to be in any danger of having their injuries keep them sidelined that long."

Moving right along, the Napa Valley Register—a handy info source each year during training camp—reported today that SIRIUS NFL Radio, channel 124, "the official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL," will be broadcasting live on location from 26 NFL training camp sites leading up to the start of the 2006 season. They will kick off tomorrow when SIRIUS hosts Jerry Rice and Tim Ryan broadcast live from the Raiders training camp in Napa, followed by hosts Pat Kirwan and Adam Schein live from the Philadelphia Eagles camp at Lehigh University. "The on-site hosts will interview players, coaches and executives and provide an inside look at the progress of each team as they prepare for the 2006 season."

Also tomorrow (Thursday, July 26), ESPN.com starts its annual tour of training camps, beginning with John Clayton's report from . . . Napa! So it'll be a big day for Raiders coverage media-wise.

We have two Raiders birthdays today! <<trumpet fanfare>> In alphabetical order, T Robert Gallery is 26, and G Corey Hulsey is 29. A pair of Leos.

If you'd care to send birthday wishes, Gallery rates a page with an e-mail link at the players union web site. But www.nflplayers.com doesn't even have a page for Corey Hulsey, which I think stinks, since a player is a player is a player when it comes to a union. Presumably each guy pays the same dues . . .

Lastly, let's hope FS Stuart Schweigert finally finishes learning how to tackle, because Dwight Smith, the guy this observer would have tried to land to play free safety for the Silver and Black, has come to terms with the Minnesota Tykes.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Late, late update: Michael Huff's agent, Ben Dogra, who did a nifty piece of work for his client (see below), is about to join Creative Artists Agency (CAA), a Hollywood-based group of agents that includes big names Tom Condon and Ken Kremer. CAA represents Matt Leinart, and Dogra represents four first-rounders this year.

Mike Florio of the Rumor Mill quotes a "league source" to the effect that the contract (which Huff was due to sign tonight in Napa) "has a 'real' base value of $26.5 million over five years, with escalators and other incentives that could push the deal to more than $42 million." This confirms Adam Schefter's initial report earlier today that, as the ANG chain's Jerry McDonald blogged today, "Huff's deal [for potentially big money] sounds a lot like the contract Charles Woodson desperately wanted but never received."

Florio adds this, not reported earlier: that although it's a five-year deal, there's an option bonus that picks up the sixth year, with a term that can void the deal back to five based on performance.

Florio goes on to discuss the ramifications of Huff's contract on all the other first-round draft picks who have not yet signed. Bear in mind that only three (so far as I know) have yet signed: Mario Williams (No. 1), Huff (7), and Cleveland's Wimbley (13).

Under the new CBA, picks No. 1 through No. 16 may sign a rookie deal with a maximum length of six years. For picks No. 17 through 32, however, the longest possible duration is five years. Teams invariably favor longer contracts for rookies, preventing them from reaching free agency for as long as possible. So Dogra, Huff's agent, pulled off a coup of sorts in getting his client a five-year deal, and the issue for other first-rounders becomes what effect Huff's deal may have on other negotiations. There's a fascinating discussion about all this in Florio's column today. Search for the string "HUFF DEAL KILLS SIX-YEAR PACKAGES?".

Late update: Two players who won't be on the field for the first practice tomorrow are T Robert Gallery and WR Ronald Curry, both of whom were placed on the physically unable to perform list. Curry's condition has been duly noted in this space, but the news about Gallery comes as a surprise. Coach Art Shell said he pulled a quadricep muscle last week while lifting weights. Shell said the condition is not expected to keep Gallery out for any great length of time.

The news that two players are on the PUP list affects my discussion a little further down about the number of players on the roster. PUP players, like those on injured reserve, are not counted against roster limits. That still leaves an apparent discrepancy of one too many on the roster, but I am probably mistaken about something to do with the NFLEL exemptions.

Shell said that one further player would miss practice tomorrow: RB LaMont Jordan has been excused to attend a funeral.

Finally, Shell was going to address the team en masse tonight about his expectations. He was also scheduled to talk with Bay Area media. So, there may be something on Raiders.com later this evening.

By my admittedly unsophisticated arithmetic, today's Raiders personnel moves, waiving four players, left them still three over the limit. That is, assuming that nine is the correct number of NFLEL exemptions, and assuming also that all seven draft picks will have signed before tomorrow's 8:45 a.m. practice kicks off—the Raiders haven't announced one word, not even their usual banal generalities—the club would have 92 players on the roster, when it is permitted a maximum of 89. So don't be surprised if three more longshots to make the team fall by the wayside tonight or tomorrow, whenever it's announced.

Also, this time of year, and especially the league-wide roster cutdown dates, are times when NFL fringe players tend to develop sudden and vague 'injuries'—we use that term very advisedly—requiring their services to be terminated for that reason. E.g., WR John Stone was dropped from the roster in 2005 with no official announcement whatever. There were rumors of a shoulder injury, but they were the guesses of media types, not based on anything said by the team. You have to wonder why an injury like that only became serious enough to warrant action when a deadline arrived.

KFFL.com has this entry today: "Steve Cockran, of the Contra Costa Times, reports the Oakland Raiders are setting their expectations high. Oakland Raiders head coach Art Shell has a 'Why not us?' attitude going into training camp. The Raiders must determine if QB Aaron Brooks is the real deal, receive good offensive line play, figure out the starting linebackers, turn special teams into a strength and get WR Randy Moss more involved."

Actually, it wasn't Steve Corkran who said that at all. This is a fair summary of the AP article carried on a number of sites, including the CC Times. It was in fact written by Josh Dubow and first appeared last evening on the San Jose Mercury News site.

The Raiders waived four lesser known players today, one of whom, T Shaun Rose, has been on the team's practice squad in the past as well as played in NFL Europe.

They were T Rose, peripatetic RB Walter Williams, rookie RB J.R. Lemon of Stanford, and undersized rookie pass rusher DE Javon Nanton of Miami (FL).

The NFL Network's Adam Schefter has broken the story that Ben Dogra, the agent for top draft pick Michael Huff, and the Raiders have reached an agreement on a five-year deal that will be worth between $22.5 to $26.5 million dollars, including $15 million in guarantees.

Dogra also represented No. 1 draft pick Mario Williams and has several other first-rounders among his clients.

Schefter wrote, "The Raiders think taking a chance on Michael Huff at No. 7 in this year's draft will pay off. Should Huff go on to become the superstar that the Raiders envision, the contract contains enough language that the former University of Texas standout could earn up to $43 million, making it an even more lucrative contract than the one that Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed recently signed with Baltimore. But Huff would have to become a premier safety to achieve such levels of pay."

Now that the top dog has gotten taken care of, the remaining draft choices should get signed fairly rapidly.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Late update: It's sad to see Kansas City making some serious strides in terms of upgrading its defense . . . although one supposes it was bound to happen with a defensive-minded new coach like Herm Edwards at the helm. KC has had next to no defense for a number of seasons now, yet they've still had our number. It'll be that much harder to beat them if they add some defense to their prodigious offensive weapons.

I'm referring, of course, to CB Ty Law, with whom the Squaws came to terms today. Law, a relatively old man as corners go, had 10 picks last year. That's twice as many as the entire Oakland team.

To be brutally frank about it, KC's front office spends its money more wisely than Oakland's. Law cost them a lot of money, but there's no question he'll play hard and produce. The Raiders paid loser Charles Woodson $18.5 million over his last two seasons so that he could pout, stir up team dissension, rehab from injury in a totally halfhearted way, and generally insult the fans who ultimately pay all the players' salaries. Granted, his broken fibula couldn't be foreseen, but the lack of production could have been and should have been. As one of the writers noted today (don't recall which one), Woodson's first four years, when he went to the Pro Bowl, were very different from his last four years, when he stopped trying.

Remember the millions thrown at loser Larry Brown? There's another instance . . .

In his latest installment of the "Raiders Team Report," Steve Corkran dutifully notes the frustration of backup QB Marques Tuiasosopo with his lack of playing time. In fact, it's been painfully clear to most observers for several years now that the Raiders have little confidence in him. He was a Gruden-inspired draft choice, an anomaly considering the well-known "last word" that Al Davis exercises in all personnel matters and especially the college draft.

But Corkran actually suggests that Tui might try to force a trade as an alternative to simply waiting until his contract ends at the end of this season, an idea which is laughable. Tuiasosopo has utterly no leverage with the team, and, this observer suggests, little or no trade value, because he's played so very little, even in pre-season time. And when he has played, he's never shown a lot. So he'll definitely leave after this year, and be happy to go, but he has no way to exit any sooner than that. Moreover, although the Raiders clearly don't consider him starter material, he is thoroughly versed in the system, so he has value to the Raiders as a fallback should injury strike Brooks and/or Walter. So the Raiders are unlikely to encourage him to leave sooner than season's end, even though he may not play, either.

This is just a long-winded way of yours truly saying that Tui has no way of forcing anything to happen. At least he's getting an adequate wage in his sixth year . . . it could be worse. Remember Chester McGlockton?

Correction re Pasha Jackson: I noted below in today's news that Jackson doesn't appear on the Hamburg roster, the team to which NFL.com reported he had been allocated. Nosing around the NFL Europe site, however, I found him . . . he was allocated by the Raiders to Amsterdam, not Hamburg, and is shown as being on IR on the Admirals roster.

Safety Dwight Smith, whose unemployed status we've noted the last several days, is the subject of a post today on the Rumor Mill site. Search for the string, "SPIELMAN WANTED SMITH IN MIAMI".

Without a lot of cap room to spare—what else is new?—the Raiders probably aren't a serious suitor for Smith's services, but this observer will point out that we've had mediocre safety play, by and large, for a number of years now. Just because safeties tend to get paid less than other defensive backs doesn't make them unimportant.

And while we're talking Rumor Mill, no less a Raiders star than Gene Upshaw is the subject of another post today. Check out "UPSHAW SLAMS PATS".

By the way, if you detect a pronounced anti-union slant in editor Mike Florio's remarks, you're not imagining it. It's hard to believe that a bright but abrasive gossip (sh*t-stirrer) like Florio would take up the cause for owner Robert Kraft, but that's exactly what he's doing. Kraft, you may recall, is the guy who wants only "wholesome" types on his team's roster, pursuant to which end the missus gets a veto.

Roster trivia: Several sites, including no less than NFL.com and Ourlads (Scouting Services, normally quite accurate), showed rookie LB Pasha Jackson of Oklahoma on their Raiders rosters. But Jackson wasn't a Raider, actually, although he might have been allocated to NFL Europe by Oakland; that's unclear to me. Here's what I was able to learn about Jackson, who turns out to be a Bay Area product.

Jackson attended high school in Hayward, in the East Bay, then played for the City College of San Francisco Rams before transferring to Oklahoma. CCSF is a perennial 2-year college powerhouse, which wins the national championship about seven or eight out of every ten seasons. (You may have heard of one of their alumni, a fellow named O.J. Simpson.) Here's a photo of Jackson in the red CCSF uni.

Jackson was allocated to the Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europe on 1/27/06, per NFL Europe's web site, but did not appear on Hamburg's roster, so he was evidently cut, injured or traded. Jackson failed his NFLEL exit physical, so he was placed on the NFL Europe injured list. That means that even if he was the contractual property of Oakland at some past point, he ceased to be when he failed that physical. End of story.

By the way, here's the math on the current Raiders roster. 96 players total. Subtract seven draft choices who remain unsigned and you have 89 remaining. The Raiders have nine exemptions remaining for players who went to NFL Europe. That leaves the maximum allowed for this time of year, 80 players under contract.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Late update: Almost forgot! (Not the date which follows, but to mention it here for the benefit of readers.

) Tomorrow (July 23) is CB Stanford Routt's 23rd birthday. If you'd care to send him birthday wishes, you can do so here.

Mike Florio, editor of the Rumor Mill, has just posted details of Cleveland's agreement in principle with Kamerion Wimbley, who was the No. 13 player chosen in the draft. The discussion is instructive because the very knowledgeable Florio gives readers an idea of what this year's first-round negotiations may look like.

So, then, still plenty of guaranteed money, but not in the traditional form of a signing bonus with which we're familiar. I suppose—but admit I don't know for certain—that the other types of bonuses are still pro-rated in some fashion, but presumably it differs somehow from the past practice or else there'd be no reason to dump the time-honored signing bonus, which was simply pro-rated evenly over the life of the contract. Hopefully one of the wunderkinds at ESPN—Clayton or Pasquarelli—will explain all this in plain English at some point.

There's a highly instructive and beautifully crafted discussion on the Rumor Mill site of a coming change in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as the owners try to eliminate a CBA provision which allowed, first, the G Steve Hutchinson heist by Minnesota and, then, Seattle's retaliatory signing of WR Nate Burleson. If the owners were to act unilaterally it would constitute collusion, so they'll have to bargain with the union—i.e., give something up—to close a loophole which they (the owners) regret they used in the first place. Great reading!

Here's the link, and the string to search for is: "POISON PILLS GOING BYE-BYE?".

Holdout fines for training camp under the "new" (extended) CBA have risen from $6,000 to a hefty $14,000 per day. Note that these apply only to players under contract, so unsigned draft choices are excluded. Donk Ashley Lelie is the most conspicuous example at present of someone who's likely to be a holdout.

It's odd that not one draft signing has been announced by the Raiders with a little more than 48 hours to go before dorm check-in on Monday. Typically at least one or two of the lowest picks would have signed . . . WR Kevin McMahan, for example, Mr. Irrelevant, is going to get the rookie minimum and maybe a grand or two in signing bonus, no more. That won't change regardless of what the top dogs get paid.

As both Len Pasquarelli and Jason Cole have pointed out in discussing this year's rookie contracts, 2006 is an odd situation in that the cap rose nearly 20% and the rookie pool a little less, about 5%. That's still considerably more than the annual increase the league had seen the past three years or so, when the rookie pool went up roughly 2% per year. So probably agents are all trying to get a little bigger piece of that pie for that clients . . .

We'll keep checking both Raiders.com and the AP wires throughout the weekend to keep you updated.

The latest "Notes, Quotes" from Sports Xchange, which appeared late last evening, discusses the health status of the two Raiders who were rehabbing during the spring, DT Warren Sapp (coming off rotator cuff surgery) and WR Ronald Curry (torn Achilles tendon). Sapp, says the article, has the go-ahead for full-speed, unlimited contact work. With Curry, however, the Raiders will be more cautious.

Sports Xchange said Curry will be brought along slowly in training camp. "We're still looking at Curry to see where he is and make sure he's capable of doing it," said coach Art Shell. "We'll listen to the trainers. They'll give us direction on that."

WR Randy Moss' former agent, Dante DiTrapano, intends to plead guilty to a single drug/gun related charge on Wednesday, July 26, in U.S. District Court in Bluefield, WV. He is prepared to enter a guilty plea to being a drug addict in possession of firearms, and will forfeit to the government seven firearms found inside his Charleston residence during an April search, according to federal court filings. DiTrapano's attorney has asked the judge to consider giving DiTrapano home confinement, although federal prosecutors have yet to agree to that.

Friday, July 21, 2006

When John Madden is enshrined into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 5, Reggie White's widow, Sara, won't be in attendance, although her late husband is also a member of the class of 2006. It seems the heavy-handed lugs from NFL Properties managed to stomp on her feelings by suing over a Green Bay memorabilia store that her late husband had run . . . You can read the details on the Rumor Mill site (proper name, www.ProFootballTalk.com). The site is one humongous, single-column running narrative, so when you get there, use your browser's search key to search for this string: "WHITE'S WIDOW WON'T SHOW FOR PACKERS HALL INDUCTION".

I mention this because the same creeps—or, more accurately, attorneys representing the same creeps—forced a friend of mine to shut down a great, fan-friendly web site, Goldstar Graphics, back in the '90s with one of their lawsuits. See my opinion piece, "Arrogance Run Amok" (4/17/96), if you want to know why I have an axe to grind.

Here's a funny line from Rumor Mill editor Mike Florio: "From the 'Autumn Wind is a Lawyer' file, John Facenda's son is suing the NFL for violating the agreement regarding the use of his father's legendary voice."

Florio floats a not-funny scenario in a July 9 entry—sorry, I'm just getting caught up after finishing the roster database project—in which he suggests, plausibly to this observer, that Randy Moss's comments about wanting to go to Atlanta back in 2005 are the opening gambit in a campaign to leave Oakland, at least if the Raiders have another lousy season. Read for yourself. Search for "RANDY, RAIDERS DESTINED FOR DIVORCE."

This observer was able to dig up the 2006 rookie salary pool allocation figures on the ESPN.com web site, and the site's rookie salary pool page has been updated accordingly.

The Raiders, with seven draft choices, came out ok, getting the twelfth largest allocation, and one slightly higher than average. The big prizes this year went to Green Bay (12 draft picks) and the Jests (10, with two first-round selections).

"Bill Soliday, of the Oakland Tribune, reports Oakland Raiders rookie S/CB Michael Huff is not listed as a starter as the team gets ready to start training camp." Or so says KFFL.com. The value of KFFL is that it dutifully summarizes things I might otherwise miss. The flip side is that its writers have absolutely no creativity or imagination.

If Michael Huff isn't listed on the depth chart yet, you can bet the store it's not because he won't start. It's because Art Shell is trying to be coy about how the team will use Huff and whether its base defense will really revert to a 4-3 this season or continue as more of a 4-2-5.

Shell's description of his starting linebackers referred to a traditional 4-3 alignment, with a Will (weak-side), Sam (strong-side), and Mike (middle) linebacker. Time will tell . . .

That segues perfectly into the day's major news, which is Shell's conference call yesterday with Bay Area media. There were three surprises, in this observer's view.

A mild surprise is that rookie Paul McQuistan will start camp as the right guard with the first unit offense. It had been rumored that McQuistan was getting reps at that position during OTAs, so this isn't a huge shock. And Brad Badger's best value, actually, is his versatility on the line. Never a Pro Bowl-level player, he can nonetheless play either guard or tackle, and can even long snap in an emergency. So if McQuistan holds up—and I say if because he has yet to put on pads—the O-line will have great depth with the likes of Badger, Chad Slaughter, and Corey Hulsey in reserve.

The bigger surprises for me are coming in the linebacking assignments, where Kirk Morrison is moving from Will to Mike, his place at Will to be filled by rookie (gulp!) Thomas Howard. This requires a bigger leap of faith, because the pre-draft scouting reports on Howard tended to say that he was extremely athletic but hadn't dominated the way one might expect given the level of competition he had faced in college. Opposing teams will waste no time probing the flanks to test our outside backers in coverage . . .

Lastly, Sam Williams, reported to be finally healthy, is pencilled in as the starter at the Sam slot. Again, a work in progress, as he'll have to learn pass coverage to avoid ending up a statue like the ill-fated Gerald Irons and Tyler Brayton experiments. But starting Morrison, Howard and Williams leaves an odd man out, and this to me was the biggest surprise of all—Danny Clark is, at least for now, no longer a starter.

Shell danced around the issue when reporters asked about it. "Danny is an integral part of this football team," he said. "We are looking at players. Nothing is etched in stone. We don't know where we'll end up for sure. We have a long ways to go through training camp."

Full-time rumormonger Ben Maller has this item today (among hundreds of others) on his web site:

"Released Saints safety Dwight Smith said he appreciated the chance to hook on with another team before training camp but said he wishes the move had been made even sooner. Smith said several teams already have shown interest, including Tampa Bay, where he played four seasons. He also mentioned Minnesota, Oakland and Dallas."

Notice that this isn't even an agent talking, only the player himself, so don't hold your breath . . . But, if the name sounds vaguely familiar, well, Dwight Smith played four years in Tampa Bay. And Rich Gannon would certainly remember him, methinks, because Smith returned two picks for touchdowns during the Buccaneers' victory over Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Steve Wyche, of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reports that Atlanta Falcons vice president/chief administrative officer Ray Anderson is a finalist, along with former Houston Texans general manager Charley Casserly, to become senior vice president of football operations and development for the NFL, according to a person familiar with the situation. This is the position which Art Shell held before leaving to become head coach of the Raiders.

Leave it to Randy Moss to stick his nose into a dispute that has nothing to do with him . . . to wit, the T.O.-Donovan McNabb mess.

KFFL.com reports that the Centre Daily Times—whatever that is—says Moss put his two cents into the ongoing Owens-McNabb feud during an ESPN radio interview Wednesday, July 19. Moss said Owens was too worried about the money Moss made and said the Eagles quarterback was too worried about losing the spotlight. "McNabb in a certain sense didn't want to share the fame," said Moss on the "Dan Patrick Show." "And I really believe that. And by T.O. putting in his book and coming out of his mouth and saying it, I think it's believable." Moss was puzzled that anyone would want to break up the great Eagles connection of McNabb to Owens. "Any person worrying about the other man's money means you're not focusing on what you need to be focusing on," said Moss.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

It's fascinating how re-writing (ever so slightly) another writer's opinion can change the emphasis of that opinion. Case in point: ANG NFL Editor Jerry McDonald's "10 Raiders" article that ran yesterday.

As noted in this space yesterday, FOXSports predicts that Moss and Seabass will be run out of town if they don't have great seasons in 2006. KFFL.com, a fantasy site, goes even further today in packaging McDonald's sentiments. Their capsule for WR Jerry Porter is illustrative:

But here's one where the change is downright amusing. Speaking of QB Aaron Brooks, McDonald observed that if backup QB Andrew Walter enters the starting quarterback mix, "the season has gone south."

Evidently that wasn't clear enough to KFFL's ghostwriter, who re-wrote that last explanation thusly: "If QB Andrew Walter starts a game, that could signal the Raiders season is in trouble or that Brooks was injured." Or that The Big One (earthquake) finally struck the San Andreas Fault and the House of Thrills cracked down the middle. Knock on wood!!

Monday, July 17, 2006

Mystery writer Mickey Spillane died today at his home in a small South Carolina town. He was 88.

Spillane was the creator of legendary private eye-gumshoe Mike Hammer. If you're still at a loss, but curious, here's a link to the online obituary.

What's the connection to the Raiders? None, unless—like the webmaster—you happen to be a diehard fan of the Silver and Black who (perhaps decades back) cut his or her adult reading teeth on hardboiled fictional characters found in detective novels by writers such as Erle Stanley Gardner, John D. MacDonald, and the late Mickey Spillane.

Readers are probably aware that FOXSports runs a "Rumors" byline each day on its main web site, under which it lists up to five headlines each for football, basketball, and baseball. Readers may also be aware that the FOX writers take some liberties in writing those headlines, that is to say, they may differ from what the actual linked articles say.

Case in point: The headline on a Jerry McDonald article for the Argus Newspaper Group chain this morning reads, "Ten Raiders who need to make big impact this season." But after Fox finished its tampering this morning, the headline proclaimed the infinitely more dramatic "Moss and Janikowski wearing out welcome with Raiders!"

Sunday, July 16, 2006

After ESPN.com published John Clayton's dream team this past week—constructed using the 2006 salary cap—the site ran a feature which I didn't catch right off, asking readers to rank which position groups should be paid more or less, relatively speaking. It's a rudimentary poll when you see that Clayton's allocations frequently included a mix of very highly paid players starting, with low-paid (but highly touted) rookies and sophomores as backups (e.g., QB Andrew Walter). Voters can only assign a number from one to 10 to each of ten position groups, period.

What's interesting to this observer, however, is that even the fans, who for all their noise can at times hold some awfully ignorant opinions, rated the offensive line No. 2, right after QBs. A wise decision, recognizing that it's the horses up front that generally make or break a running game and drastically impact a passing offense as well. Last off-season, when Mr. "No. 1 for All Time" spent quite a few millions for a wideout and zero for new O-linemen, my stomach churned, because Randy Moss-type skill players may sell tickets (the real reason for many personnel moves), but they don't win divisions.

This year, after signing the draft class, the Raiders will at least have spent a little bit on OL depth. I doubt McQuistan, for all the cult popularity that he seems to have engendered, can crack the starting lineup as a rookie, but we shall see . . . . Nevertheless, one doesn't get the field plowed without the horses (or the tractor, if you prefer a more modern analogy). It's a step in the right direction.

A thoughtful and thought-provoking article—indeed, a disturbing article—on the dilemma of older NFL veterans, who receive almost nothing in benefits despite the staggering riches being collectively earned by today's players, begins with a profile of legendary CB Dick "Night Train" Lane, who for many years was universally considered the greatest corner ever to have played the game. In Lester Hayes' greatest season (1977? 1978?) he made a strong run at Lane's all-time record of 16 picks in a season, but tailed off somewhat at the end to finish with 13 for the regular season. Hayes added another three in playoff action to total 16 for the extended season—still a phenomenal year and a fitting credential for Hall of Fame membership. The league's Rules Committee banned the use of Stickum during the following off-season, and Lester, who had hands of stone without the aid of the gooey stuff, never approached such a figure again. Just another instance of an anti-Raiders rule . . .

At any rate, getting to the meat of the article on the Black Athlete Sports Network, it focuses on what is a shocking inequity in the "pensions"—if one can call them that, since in some cases they are mere pittances—paid to NFL veterans who retired before 1993, and particularly those who left the game pre-1959. An example who was very much in the news several years ago was Hall of Fame C Mike Webster, the pivot on so many of the great Steeler teams that had such a great and fierce rivalry with the Raiders. Webster died an alcoholic in utter, squalid poverty. Webster insisted, and his advocates argued unsuccessfully, that he'd suffered brain damage during his football career even before his battle with the bottle began. Webster had fruitlessly sought an increase in his meager NFL pension before his death based on his claim of brain damage.

Most Raiders fans will remember the case of C Dave Dalby, who followed Hall of Famer Jim Otto in Oakland's storied line of great centers. Dalby ended up poverty-stricken as well as Webster, as he, too, battled the ravages of alcoholism. Principal owner Al Davis reportedly tried to help Dalby on many occasions, but Dalby—perhaps too proud for his own good—is said to have refused much of the aid that was offered. This observer recalls reading during the team's first year or two back in Oakland that Dalby was working as a bartender in the North Bay somewhere. That is the worst conceivable job for anyone with an alcohol problem to have. (I say that from firsthand experience; I have been in recovery now for almost 25 years and know whereof I speak when it comes to alcoholism.) Other former teammates (including Gene Upshaw in his private capacity) are also said to have tried to aid Dalby.

Former Raider Mike Siani is used as an example in the article, and it just brings home rather forcefully how the older veterans get only pennies in pension money from the union. Siani, much younger than the pre-'59 'worst case' veterans, nonetheless works two jobs and still can't afford the premiums for medical, dental or life insurance. Like a good many people he's critical to some extent of union leader Upshaw.

These comments of mine shouldn't be construed as a knock on Gene Upshaw, whose hands are largely tied legally because labor law forbids him from representing former players so long as he represents active ones. One of these days hopefully I can tackle this complex problem with an opinion piece.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Late update: Friday is normally when the Sporting News site updates its "Raiders Team Report" by Steve Corkran. There isn't a new one up this evening, however. We'll flag it for readers here in the News section if and when a new report appears.

CB-return man Chris Carr will, as the report puts it, "hand out autographs at The Blue and Orange Store, next to Pro Image in the Boise Towne Square." That's Boise, Idaho, of course. Carr's actually from Reno but played his college ball at small-time powerhouse Boise State.

The text article on the Web doesn't give time details, only says Saturday. There's a link to a video clip, which I tried in hopes it provided more detail. (Be warned—you can only access the clip with the (ugh) Internet Explorer browser. Apparently Firefox hasn't made it to Boise yet.) But despite the presence of a most attractive lass introducing the clip, it adds no details as to when Carr will appear. If you live that way, you should probably try calling the store.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Much ado about nothing: Of the seven players eligible in today's supplemental draft, only Virginia LB Ahmad Brooks was chosen. The Bungles, adding to their already league-leading Rogues' Gallery, took Brooks in the third round.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat beat writer for SF laments—with some justification—the Whiners' failure to land Brooks in a blog post today. Not many NFL franchises have as bare a cupboard as San Francisco.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Late update: ESPN.com's John Clayton was asked to put together a 53-man team using the 2006 salary cap of $102 million. It's amazing what he was able to come up with. Unlike real life, where teams typically have dead money and a certain number of overpaid players, Clayton was able to start "fresh" using his choices' 2006 cap costs. The article, and a second one on the dicier problem of keeping such a team together, is linked in the Articles section. And on the ESPN site itself you can see an interactive display of the roster.

Interestingly, Clayton selected Raider Andrew Walter as a backup, as well as punter Shane Lechler for his special teams. That's high praise for Walter, who has yet to take an NFL regular-season snap.

Jim Armstrong, of the Denver Post, writing about Seattle superstar RB Shaun Alexander, quotes him as saying he doesn't miss the AFC West. Alexander played in the AFC West his first two years in the NFL, 2000 and 2001, following which the NFL realignment moved Seattle to the NFC West. "Not at all," Alexander said. "I had two years in that thing. Get us outta there! It was like, you get geared up to play the Broncos, and then the next week it was the Raiders. And then the next week it was the Chargers, and then the Chiefs. These boys hit every week. Now you look at the makeup of our conference, all the teams are designed around their offenses. Us, Arizona, the 49ers, the Rams. The first thing you hear about those teams is how great their offenses are. That's good for a running back."

With twelve days remaining until players report in at Napa, you can bet personnel exec Michael Lombardi is busy these days. Typically Oakland signs all its picks before camp opens, but typically, not very many days before. Right about now the team is probably asking some vets with substantial cap numbers to renegotiate their contracts, e.g., converting salary to signing bonuses which can be prorated. That occurred at least twice last season with WR Randy Moss alone. (For an instructive example, see his base salary vis a vis his signing bonus in the 2005 salary section.

Yours truly has not seen any figures for this year's rookie salary pool, which dictates the maximum each team can spend in signing its draft picks. Rest assured I'll update that page on this site if and when I can dig up the numbers. They come from the NFL but typically aren't announced by the league; rather, a newspaper or media site will publish them.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Give Shell an A+ for enthusiasm and optimism. Now if someone can just coach these speedsters to create some turnovers now and then . . . that brief fact yesterday summed up a lot about the 2005 defense, notwithstanding the fact that it was statistically somewhat improved over 2004. We need takeaways, guys!

Sophomore CB Fabian Washington has been effusive in his praise of the mentoring he's receiving from veteran acquisition Duane Starks—hopefully tips from vets Starks and Tyrone Poole will result in more picks for the young starters.

Sunday, July 9, 2006

Yesterday in the Articles section I asked a rhetorical question: why do so many players appeal drug test findings, when you'd think they have little chance of success.

ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli spelled it out in his piece reporting Sauerbrun's announced decision to appeal: "Because the NFL does not officially announce suspensions until after an appeal has been decided—league officials have, citing confidentiality guidelines, steadfastly declined to comment on the Sauerbrun case—there is no way of knowing how many appeals have been successful. The consensus around the league, however, is that successful appeals are rare in such cases."

Sportswriter Bob Matthews of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle—a paper that used to get cited a lot when TE Roland Williams was with the Raiders—provided a fast factoid today which isn't exactly encouraging to fans of the Silver and Black. Matthews wrote that the Raiders managed to score only 19 points off 19 takeaways last season and have finished last in their division in consecutive years for the first time since 1961-62.

Saturday, July 8, 2006

In his latest installment of the "Raiders Team Report" which he writes for The Sporting News, Raiders beat writer Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times writes that Sam Williams is healthy and expected to start at an outside linebacker spot opposite Kirk Morrison. Corkran adds that Williams will face competition from rookies Thomas Howard and Darnell Bing.

While it's doubtless true that the Raiders would love to see Howard, especially, step into a starting role as Morrison was able to last year, or at least compete for one, the chances of this happening are probably fairly slim. It's rare for Oakland to start a rookie anywhere, and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan may very well still feel most comfortable with the 4-2-5 base defense that was used so much last year. That would allow rookie Michael Huff to stay on the field as an every-down back while utilizing Derrick Gibson in a role largely limited (one hopes) to run support. The other rookie mentioned, Bing, is probably a year or two farther away than Howard because he's having to learn a new position, and to bulk up weight- and strength-wise. Linebacker-size athletes who can run are always in demand for special teams, though, and Howard and Bing will be expected to contribute to Ted Daisher's units.

Getting back to Williams—this observer thinks his sternest competition will come from the injury bug. If he can simply make it through training camp in one piece he will already have surpassed his 2005. When he was first drafted the Raiders raved about how fast Williams was as an edge rusher, that first step. That initial burst may or may not still be there after the ligament tears. The jury's out on Sam Williams. If he stays healthy this year and plays like what was initially expected of him, he could be a major boost to an otherwise shaky linebacking corps.

Denver punter Todd Sauerbrun has announced his intention to appeal the pending four-game suspension he would have to serve for allegedly testing positive for the banned stimulant ephedra. Ephedra was added to the no-no list in the wake of the 2001 training camp death of Minnesota tackle Korey Stringer, who had a history of having to struggle to get his weight under control.

The ESPN.com article reporting this news sets out the rules framework for the appeals process if you're interested. ESPN concurs with this observer that losing Sauerbrun's services for four games would handicap the Donkeys.

Ex-Dallas QB Troy Aikman, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 5, has picked former Raiders head coach Norv Turner to present him. Turner was Aikman's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator from 1991-1993.

The same article reports that former coaching great and now-announcer John Madden has chosen Al Davis as his presenter, but this latter decision was made public several months ago. Davis has previously presented eight of Hall of Fame enshrinees.

Also, despite an earlier report that the enshrinement ceremony was expected to sell out, a limited number of tickets for the enshrinement (at $50 and $25) remain available at www.profootballhof.com or by calling 800-913-9788.

Friday, July 7, 2006

Here's a seemingly odd piece of news: "Street free agent QB Gino Guidugli (Titans) recently participated in one of the Oakland Raiders offseason minicamps. Despite positive feedback, he has yet to be signed."

Why odd? Well, for one thing, Tennessee is—as has been widely reported—short of quarterbacks. Enough so that they're reportedly considering signing Kerry Collins to compete with Billy Volek. And odd also because Oakland has five QBs on its roster at present.

Maybe not so odd, huh? You've got to tip your hat to a guy with that kind of attitude.

By the way, for the youngsters among readers out there, Jerry Rhome is a former NFL backup quarterback who came out of an offense at Tulsa where it was normal to throw 40 to 50 times a game. Absolutely pass-happy. So he may be a very good teacher when it comes to tutoring quarterbacks.

Jake the Snake Plummer was offered a deal by the prosecutor yesterday, and at last word his attorney was presumably huddling with (or preparing to huddle with) his client to discuss a response.

This humble observer, a former lawyer himself who at one time served as an intern in a public defender's office, was surprised to read that a prosecutor had offered a plea bargain so quickly. Prosecutors typically are in no rush to offer anything . . . why not let the defendant sweat a little first, to soften him up? It's most often the defendant's attorney who makes the opening move so far as proposing a deal of some sort. But then I saw that the offer was made in the course of a regularly scheduled pretrial conference.

This case will be interesting to watch. Of course, when you're someone earning the kind of money that Plummer makes, money's no object when it comes to hiring legal representation. I'm reminded of when Jon Gruden coached the Raiders and got arrested for drunk driving. The attorney he hired, Christina Arguedas, does murder trials—she is that good, and (no doubt) also that expensive. Plummer undoubtedly has a Colorado equivalent of Perry Mason handling his case, too.

It's sad, but oh so true, that in criminal cases, at least, whether justice prevails is very often a function of how much money the accused has available.

None of my foregoing comments should be construed in any way, shape or form as bearing on opinions as to the guilt or innocence of any of the parties. I just want to be very clear about that.

Donkey punter Todd Sauerbrun appears to have gotten nailed for the use of ephedra, a banned "supplement." And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy . . . . If you detect a pound or three of sarcasm there, it's because this was one of the group of former Panthers who allegedly used the services of a Carolina doctor to write them scripts for steroids. The state threw the book at the doctor, but I do believe the jocks all escaped without penalty—until now, that is.

Sauerbrun was also due to handle kickoff duties for the Donks, so now, assuming that Jason Elam doesn't have the desired leg strength, Denver will have to use another roster spot for someone to kick off during the first month of the regular season.

Koren Robinson, a recovering alcoholic now with the Minnesota Tykes, raised many eyebrows by reportedly checking himself into a rehab facility this week while there's still some quiet time before training camp, but it shows he's learning . . . . And yours truly, who will (through the grace of God) pass the 25th anniversary of his own sobering up late this month, knows a little something about this subject from firsthand experience

. The time to deal with the beast is before the pressure becomes too much, not afterward. You go, Koren!

In a phone interview with the AP from South Carolina, Robinson clarified things. He said he did not check himself into a rehab facility and did not have a relapse. Rather, he said, he is merely attending some relapse prevention classes in preparation for the start of the grueling NFL season, which affords the Pro Bowl kick returner little time to work on maintaining his recovery. Not to mention that in addition to kick return duties, he is penciled in as Minnesota's #1 receiver.

Son of Gerald: DE Grant Irons is 27 today. Send him birthday wishes here, if you like.

Thursday, July 6, 2006

The teaser for a subscriber-only piece today on the Browns version of the Scout.com network begins, "GARY'S 15 GREATEST ATHLETES

Munster Times, IN ... Gerald Irons, Roosevelt (1966) ... Starred at outside linebacker and on special teams in seven NFL seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns. ..."

KSFO-AM, the Raiders radio station, is giving away 2006 Raiders schedule magnets! Go here for details.

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

KC's new head coach, Herm Edwards, says he plans to run the ball between 500 and 550 times this season. He made the comment in the context of a discussion of the need for a second back to help share the load with Larry Johnson. Edwards is correct in recognizing that any featured back, even a bruiser as strong as Johnson, wears down as a season goes along.

Now if the Raiders would only recognize the same need for serious support behind RB LaMont Jordan . . . .

A Raiders.com feature today on Oakland FS Stuart Schweigert reports that he has spent extra time this offseason studying film and working on strengthening his legs. "You have to take advantage of every day you have because the career doesn't last long," Schweigert said. "Every day is a day you need to get better because if you don't someone else is and they could take your position really fast."

ESPN.com's John Clayton has a column today on 10 truths for 2006, in which he leads off by stating that of all the new NFL coaches this season, the Jets' Eric Mangini has the toughest job. Now that's a breath of fresh air! Because virtually every pundit I've seen tackle the ten new NFL head coaches heretofore, has predicted that our own Art Shell will fare the worst.

The Miami Herald reports today that ILB Junior Seau told a friend he has spoken to the Raiders, but that he might also just retire.

Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Raiders managing general partner Al Davis celebrated his 77th birthday today.

Writer Anthony Carroll of RealFootball365.com has written a piece for today which comes as close to cult worship of Davis as anything this cynic has seen in quite some time. For those who think the Raiders have no identity apart from Davis, I'll commend Carroll's article to them. If that's your view of the Raiders, you'll lap it up. You can find it linked in the Articles section.

How dare I preach such heresy? Well, for starters I came aboard as a fan in 1967, when the team went 13-1. The coach was John Rauch, not Al Davis. And it just so happens that the winningest coach in Raiders history (measured by percentage, not simply sheer numbers) isn't Al Davis (54.76%), or Tom Flores (61.02%), or even John Madden (72.02%) . . . it's John Rauch (78.57%), whose record from 1966-68 was a gaudy 33-8-1.

I saw Rauch quoted about two years back. He's long since retired, and has settled (if memory serves) in Florida. He's a modest sort, and was when he coached in Oakland too. When he was interviewed he wasn't outright bitter about the lack of recognition he's been given in the Raiders' revisionist team history, but he wasn't thrilled either. He feels—quite rightly, in my opinion—that he deserves part of the credit for what the organization accomplished during the seasons when he served as head coach. The Raiders were an offensive juggernaut in the late '60s. Daryle Lamonica to Warren Wells was the most dangerous passing combination in the league, and halfbacks Clem Daniels and Hewritt Dixon could run around people or over them as the situation dictated. After Rauch left the Raiders he coached the Buffalo Bills and won there, too.

Saturday, July 1, 2006

In a column today, the SacBee suggests that free agent DT Grady Jackson might not visit Alameda after all. The reasoning is that, with the exception of Warren Sapp, the Raiders are going with youth at the defensive tackle position. Witness the signing of Donnell Washington. Although this cynic will point out that it would be foolish to depend too much on Washington after his performance in Green Bay.