I’ll say this: If the 1983 Raiders are the fourth best team in the 1982-1987 Bull Market Era, the other three must have been coached by Saint Peter with Moses as the offensive line.
But Raiders fans instead have Al Davis: owner; president; play caller; iconoclast; baby, just win, baby, because Al has an unparalleled commitment to excellence and, in the early '80s, was the scourge of Alameda County.
No matter how insufferably weird you think Al is—and I fall in the “Al is excruciating, like a howling domestic cat that insists on wailing through the early morning” Camp—the '80s Al knew the NFL ...
At 6'1", 212 pounds, Darren McFadden is the exact same size as OJ Simpson was as an NFL running back. Simpson could, and McFadden still can, run with the wind.
How can I compare McFadden to a Hall of Fame running back?
Because the Hall of Fame running back's NFL career started out the same way.
Simpson came out as the highly-touted Heisman Trophy winner. McFadden came out just as touted, but only with Doak Walker Award and as the Heisman runner-up.
Simpson showed flashes in his first couple of years, but didn't live up to his Heisman hype. Missing seven games in his first two ...
In 2009, the Raiders statistically ranked seventh against the pass, while Tyvon Branch led all defensive backs in tackles. Branch also consistently shut down many of the league's top tight-ends, including Todd Heap, Tony Schefter , and Antonio Gates.
Not too shabby—but the Raiders pass defense rankings may be a little skewed.
Last year, teams rarely passed on the Raiders because it was so easy to run; the Raiders defense actually saw more running plays than any other defense, as teams rushed against them a whopping 548 times.
Opponents were able to average 4.5 yards per carry against the Raiders—that's enough to tie ...
Ah yes...the accolades come in again, and again.
For those who missed it, the people at Forbes released a list highlighting the bad guys in sports. It include players and owners who are hated pretty regularly.
Number one didn't come as a surprise...Michael Vick took top honors on this one.
However, it was shocking that number two was our very own Al Davis.
Really.
Let's think about this a moment. Has Al Davis killed anyone?
Has he committed rape? Fooled around on his wife?
How about shooting a bottle of water at a ref?
Al Davis, for all of the things he's done, has made a pretty good ...
Last week, I wrote an article about four trades that the Oakland Raiders should consider. Because the article was very popular, I decided to make a sequel with four more trades the Raiders should consider.
Albert Haynesworth: I know this isn't original, but it is a very heated subject that seems to have Raider Nation split. One idea is that the Raiders and Redskins could swap Haynesworth for Richard Seymour. Now that Seymour has signed his tender, I think that trade is dead. To me, Seymour didn't want to be at OTA's because to a guy like him, those are nothing. ...
Everyone can finally breathe easy, because DE/DT Richard Seymour signed his tender —which if you didn't know is a very good thing.
Some worried that after trading our first round pick of 2011 to the Patriots we would only have him for one year, which would of been a bad deal on our part.
But with this signing we have him for at least one more season. It is still possible for him to sign a long term deal which would be nice.
This year he will make $12.398 million. Hopefully we work out a long term deal though.
He is not only a ...
For the past several years, Oakland has loaded its roster full of players with so much potential yet have no work ethic or willingness to be great players.
These players were known for dragging their feet and really kept the team down because they didn't commit themselves to the team, therefore when they failed it negatively affected others around them both in practice and in games.
When your $30 million quarterback is sleeping in team meetings, your two defensive tackles are preferring to get fat rather than work out and have some form of stamina to play more than one ...
The Oakland Raiders receivers have a significantly better quarterback throwing them the ball in 2010. I don’t think anyone would argue that, with the acquisition of Jason Campbell and having jettisoned JaMarcus Russell. However, are there actually receivers worth owning on the team (outside of tight end Zach Miller)?
Let’s take a look at the receiving corps and find out.
Darius Heyward-Bey
We all know the Raiders reached for him when they used the seventh overall pick in 2009 to draft him out of the University of Maryland. That type of position brought huge expectations that he never had a chance to live ...
Another billboard should soon to be posted. Jared Gaither is a wanted man in Raider Nation. If you see him, bring him in.
Al Davis has already dramatically improved the Raiders but Gaither is the one player that can put us over the top. There are too many reasons why it makes sense.
The main reason is that we need a left tackle period. Mario Henderson had a horrible year after playing well in 2008.
However, we have two running backs and a quarterback that are poised to break out this coming season. We can't afford to wait and see what Henderson will become.
We have weapons now! Let's get someone who is ...
Now my day starts by watering my garden and then sitting in the backyard and thinking about what will be my next article about the Oakland Raiders. Well, this day is special so I have decided to plant a tree in memory of the great fathers of the Oakland Raiders and for the fathers who are Oakland Raiders. It will be a palm tree.
Now, let's get something straight up front. A great father may not be a perfect father. But, he is a father who was chosen to give a player the genes that he has. He is the father that ...