California Sports Fan Blog

In case you didn’t hear or forgot, there is only one Al Davis in the National Football League and he’s back up to his old tricks. No one person has ever been enamored like Al with physical specimens, and has never been afraid to pull the trigger on one. In the 1973 Draft, Al Davis selected punter Ray Guy out of the University of Southern Mississippi in the first round, the only punter to ever be selected in the first round. Two sport star Bo Jackson was another favorite of the Raiders owner and general manager. Unfortunately injuries derailed his career, but Jackson was a superstar during his short career. Guy’s booming punts  and Jackson’s electric runs made them great successes in the pros and one of the all-time greats, but not all of Davis’ pet projects turned out as pleasant.

There have been seemingly several busts for each gem that Davis has discovered. The signing of Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper failed miserably as they failed to rekindle the chemistry they shared in Minnesota. Receiver Darius Heyward-Bey was snagged at number 7 overall despite the consensus top receiver, Michael Crabtree, remaining on the board. Heyward-Bey has only totaled 35 catches and 2 touchdowns in his career thus far. Strong-armed quarterback Jamarcus Russell was another huge bust for Oakland. Taken with the number one overall pick,  Russell held out extensively before signing an extremely lucrative contract. He then showed up at training camp vastly overweight and behind the learning curve. Russell never got his act together and was eventually released.

On Monday Al Davis continued his trend of drafting athletic players with the selection of troubled Ohio State quarterback Terrell Pryor in the third round of the NFL’s supplemental draft. It was questionable whether or not Pryor would even be eligible for the draft after he was facing a 5 game suspension at Ohio State for receiving improper benefits. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also suspended Pryor for the first 5 games of the NFL season for whatever team decided to draft him, but a 4.36 40 yard dash time at a private work out was good enough for Mr. Davis to pull the trigger. Pryor, an excellent runner with questionable quarterback smarts and arm strength has the potential to switch to wide receiver or tight end at 6′6 and 230 pounds. The plan right now is to keep Pryor at quarterback, but as always with the Raiders, don’t rule out a position change down the road. Hate him or love him, Al Davis is as unique as they come and makes for some very interesting NFL conversation no matter what he’s doing.

The Oakland Raiders released former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell on Thursday, ending a three-year tenure marked by his high salary and unproductive play on the field.

Senior executive John Herrera told The Associated Press about the move and said that “we wish him well.”

The decision came less than two weeks after Oakland acquired Jason Campbell from Washington to take over at quarterback and signifies that owner Al Davis finally lost patience with the immensely talented but unproductive player he drafted first overall in 2007 against the wishes of former coach Lane Kiffin.

Russell will now likely be considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, joining Ryan Leaf, Ki-Jana Carter, Akili Smith and others on that list. He will have been paid more than $39 million by the Raiders, while producing only seven wins as a starter.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable met with owner Al Davis on Thursday to discuss his status with the team.

Raiders senior executive John Herrera said the two men could meet again Friday, and a team official confirmed they would. Cable has been spending the 10 days since the season ended evaluating the team with his assistant coaches.


Cable’s status is in question after he went 5-11 in his first full season as coach and failed to develop JaMarcus Russell into a legitimate NFL quarterback. Cable is 9-19 since replacing Lane Kiffin early in the 2008 season, leading the Raiders to their NFL-worst seventh straight season with at least 11 losses.

Cable has pointed to the team’s improvement after Russell’s midseason benching as proof that he deserves another year to get the Raiders back to the playoffs.

Cable provided some positives this season by beating playoff teams in Cincinnati and Philadelphia and knocking off contenders Denver and Pittsburgh on the road in December.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

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To a man, Raiders players and coaches say their inability to stop the run isn’t because of poor talent, coaching or a lack of effort. They blame it on execution.

Just keep your butt in that chair and everything will be fine,” said coach Tom Cable, referring to defenders not straying from the area for which they’re responsible. “It’s up to each man to do that, and we didn’t do a very good job of it.”

Cable was speaking mostly about the 316 yards rushing the New York Jets amassed on Sunday in a 38-0 shellacking of the Raiders at the Coliseum.

Cable could have been speaking about the first seven games in general.

The Raiders have allowed an average of 169.7 yards rushing and a league-high tying 11 rushing touchdowns. The franchise worst is 171.2 yards per game allowed in 1962. They are 30th against the run, one spot higher than they were each of the past two seasons.

“It is such a basic thing and, obviously, we need to do a better job in practice,” defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. “Maybe we make practice live (tackling).”

Cable said the disastrous results against the run come from players trying to do too much and abandoning their responsibilities too often.

By his count, the Raiders


Click here to read the full article – By Steve Corkran of Contracostatimes.com

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Coach Tom Cable has been pointing to the Raiders getting healthy as a reason for optimism of late but the only long-shelved players who have a chance to play Sunday are left guard Robert Gallery, who suffered a broken left fibula in Week 2 at Kansas City, and receiver Chaz Schilens, who broke his left foot in a non-contact training camp drill on Aug. 18.

According to Cable, Gallery participated in warm-ups and drills on Wednesda and got in a “few reps in team periods” while Schilens did not practice. Strange, considering the team announced his return last Tuesday and he was actually inactive Sunday due to soreness in the foot.

A more likely return game for the duo would be Nov. 15, after the bye, when the Raiders play host to the Kansas City Chiefs.


Click here to read the full article – By Paul Gutierrez of The Sacramento Bee

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The Raiders have lost bigger than they did Sunday. Apologies if you’re still trying to forget that 51-3 AFC Championship game nightmare in Buffalo.

They’ve lost harder than they did to the New York Giants. Enough said about the Immaculate Reception.

They’ve had tougher moments than any they faced in a 44-7 unconditional surrender to the Giants at the Meadowlands. Watching the unsinkable Bo Jackson unable to walk off the field under his own power leaps to mind. Maybe you have your own personal favorite.

But what happened in the Raiders’ latest disaster was so dreadfully familiar, so dispiriting with a side of over-the-top, that it cries out for impassioned overstatement. So here you go:

This was the bleakest day in the history of the Raiders franchise.


Click here to read the full article – By Gary Peterson of OAKLAND TRIBUNE

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It was no surprise that Tommy Kelly’s best game in more than two years turned out to be little more than an afterthought.

Whatever positives the Oakland Raiders have managed to make this season tend to get obscured by the team’s 1-3 record.

So while Kelly was drawing praise from his teammates and coaches after making a career-high 13 tackles against Houston last Sunday, the 300-pound defensive lineman shrugged his shoulders.

“I think I probably played all right,” Kelly said. “You always have about three or four real, real good games, when you’re all the way on top of your game. Hopefully I can continue.”

The problem has been that neither Kelly nor the Raiders have been very consistent this year.

Prior to his big game against the Texans, Kelly had only seven tackles through Oakland’s first three games and just one quarterback hurry.

As a defense, the Raiders had been on a steady decline since a solid performance in a Week 1 loss to San Diego and fell into a big hole against the Texans before holding Houston to 47 yards of offense in the second half.

“It gets frustrating but at the same time, you just have to keep chipping away at it, try to get everybody to execute the way (defensive coordinator John Marshall) wants the defense to look,” Kelly said. “Just execute the defense. Whatever he calls, just execute.”


Click here to read the full article – By The Associated Press of Sacbee.com

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Through 21 games in the NFL, JaMarcus Russell has struggled.
In particular, the Oakland Raiders quarterback has had a rough start this season.

As the Denver Broncos prepare to face Russell and the Raiders on Sunday, however, they are preparing for him as a dangerous weapon.

“He’s a gifted quarterback,” Broncos linebacker Andra Davis said. “It’s no secret why he was the No. 1 pick in the draft (in 2007).”

To this point, Russell hasn’t lived up to his status as the No. 1 overall pick. The Raiders are 6-12 in his starts, and he’s got a mediocre 70.5 career passer rating.

This season, Russell has led the Raiders to a 1-1 record, but he’s completed just 35.2 percent of his passes (19-of-54) and has a dreadful 46.6 rating. He was 7-for-24 against Kansas City last Sunday.

Click here to read the full article – By Brian Howell of timescall.com

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Below are links to memorabilia available for JaMarcus Russell.

Five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour did not report to the Oakland Raiders on Monday, a day after being acquired in a trade with the New England Patriots.

Raiders coach Tom Cable said after practice that Seymour had to resolve some things with the Patriots before the deal for a first-round pick in 2011 could be finalized.

“We have attempted to make a deal,” Cable said Monday. “There are some issues still between him and the Patriots that are being worked out. I’m hoping that that will get resolved as quickly as possible. We know that the player wants to be here, but we have really no control over those issues.”

Patriots spokesman Stacey James said he was unaware of any difficulties surrounding the trade, which was announced by New England on Sunday and confirmed by Cable.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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