....it's more like how to handle a mass exodus.
I am speaking, of course, about The Raider Nation. Just a few years back, the Oakland Raiders won the AFC Championship and headed to Super Bowl XXXVII. Early on in the game, John Madden (who coached the Raiders to their first Super Bowl at Super Bowl XI), noted how uninspired the Raiders looked. "They're playing for the world championship of professional football", he said, but he was right. They just weren't there.
It didn't help that former coach Jon Gruden was the opposing coach (Tampa Bay), thus he was wise to pretty much know what the Raider game plan would be. The final? 48-21. Our second Super Bowl loss, after three wins in a row. Since then:
2003: 4-12
2004: 5-11
2005: 4-12
2006: 2-14.
Now you know why memberships to the Raider Nation, once auctioned off for thousands, can now be found at your neighborhood yard sale.
So, Art Shell is out as coach after one, ah, dismal season. The last time they finished that bad, I wasn't even alive (1962). Where do they go from here?
There's no quarterback.
There's no running back.
There are loser wide receivers who don't deserve the honor of wearing an NFL uniform.
There's no offensive line.
Now, the defense was rated #3 in the league in 2006, so we have good talent there; a mixture of young guys and vets.
Heck, I can still live with Sebastian Janikowski.....who had to be one of the more frustrated Raiders in 2006, because he doesn't get on the field until the Raiders, like, get in field goal position, or, even more unbelievably, score a touchdown (they only scored 12 the WHOLE season!) Otherwise, he gets to kickoff once at the start of either the first or third quarter, then, that's it. Hey.....maybe I can get a job like that!!
So, we have the top pick in the April NFL Draft. Some thoughts.....
1) FOR THE LOVE OF KEN STABLER, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT DRAFT BRADY QUINN!!!
---notice how, when Notre Dame played tough competition, they not only lost, they were trounced (see Michigan, USC, and LSU the other night). He ain't got it. Period. And to think Matt Leinart was still available in round one last year, but, nnnnooooo, we couldn't pick him!!
2) SAY GOODBYE TO ANDREW WALTER AND JUSTIN FARGAS.
---Fargas isn't that impressive, and certainly is not a #1 tailback. (Now that Ladell Betts signed a five-year deal with Washington, could we trade for Clinton Portis??)
---Walter is not the QB answer. Sorry. Nice guy and hard worker, I'm sure, but I doubt anything he brought to the table this season made the remaining Raider Nation salivate for 2007 and beyond.
3) GET BACK TO THE RAIDER WAY----FIND PLAYERS WHO PLAY RAIDER FOOTBALL!!!
---People have been mistaking this for the past 15 years as "players who play Raider Football equal hoodlums". For those of us who remember the true Raider Way, we know what this REALLY means. May I present.....
---Jim Plunkett, Kenny King, Lyle Alzado, Chris Bahr, Bob Chandler, Raymond Chester, Rich Gannon, Ted Hendricks, Jerry Rice, Bill Romanowski......heck, the best current receiver on the team, Ronald Curry, fits this category.
Real Raider fans know where I'm going. We go get the guys other people think are either washed up, have hit the apex of their career, or just plain old "won't make it in the NFL".
Jim Plunkett......very disappointing years in New England and San Francisco. Injuries, interceptions, etc. San Francisco cut him before the 1978 season. He caught on with Oakland, and rode the bench as insurance for Dan Pastorini.
Dan breaks his leg in the fifth game of the 1980 season, Plunkett takes over, and his last game that year was a victory in Super Bowl XV. Three years later, he wins the Super Bowl again. Jim Plunkett defines a "real Raider".
Add these to some deft draft choices over the years (though except for the past few years), mainly in the AFL days thru the 1980's, and you see why the Raiders were always near the top.
Oh, and Ronald Curry. I know a thing or two about him. Comes from Virginia. Played college football as a quarterback for North Carolina. When Curry was coming out of high school in Southeast Virginia, he got ALL the press. This other quarterback coming out around the same time from the same area, a guy named Michael Vick, got little attention.
Curry's stock plummeted; the Raiders picked him in round seven in 2002. He moves from return man, to wide receiver, thru an injury, and now, arguably, the best receiver on the team.
WHAT??? WHAT ABOUT RANDY MOSS??? Randy Moss doesn't play football. He is a guy filling an NFL uniform who doesn't deserve to. You play 24/7 as an NFL player, or you go to work at the local plant. Bravo to Ronald Curry for NOT giving up, especially after having so much attention fawned upon him so young.
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In closing.....
1) If you can't pry Russ Grimm from Pittsburgh, promote Rob Ryan, the defensive coordinator, who has crafted that side of the ball to near the top of NFL statistics. They say Al Davis loves to hire "offensive-minded" head coaches. His last choice from the defensive side? Some guy named John Madden.
2) Take JaMarcus Russell as your QB of the future (LSU), coming from the same mold of Steve McNair and, now, Vince Young.
3) If you trade the number one pick, you better get three great picks in return, plus a quality offensive lineman and a third-down back.
4) Memorize the waiver wire and free agent lists post-draft, and FIND SOME RAIDER PLAYERS!! First priority------offensive linemen.
Otherwise, who's gonna protect JaMarcus Russell?
I'm not leaving the Raider Nation---after 32 years as a member, I have tenure. :)
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