THE OFFICIAL OAKLAND RAIDERS 2009 SEASON THREAD
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Seymour press conference, Part I
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 8:16 pm in Oakland Raiders.
Here’s the first part of the transcript of the press conference introducing defensive end Richard Seymour.
I’ll have some thoughts on some of the things said later, but wanted to pass the transcript along for those who didn’t see it on local television and give the Raiders their say after they sat back and listenened to what eveyrone else said for nearly a week:
Al Davis: Thank you for coming. Thank the networks. It’ll help your shows tomorrow, you’ll finally get some ratings Sunday morning. This is another great day in the history of the Oakland Raiders. Through the years, we have been able to, through trades, bring in several great players who performed in great games, performed in Super Bowls, were put in the hall of Fame after they had played for the Raiders for several years.
To bring you up to date, for example, in 1975 we traded for Ted Hendricks. We traded two first-round draft choices for Ted to the Green Bay Packers, and Ted played in three Super Bowls for us that we one, was instrumental and is in the hall of Fame. In 1977, we gave up a first round draft choice for Mike McCoy, because John Madden at that time felt that we needed a big defensive tackle, and gave it up to Green Bay. Once again we traded with Green Bay, and he was a great help to us. In 1983 we made a great trade with the New England Patriots for Mike Haynes. He was 30 years old, but we gave up a first and a second draft choice, with the idea that we were a great team; he could make us probably the greatest, or one of the greatest teams of all time, which he did. We have others. A few years ago, I gave up a first-round draft choice, a seventh-round draft choice and Napoleon Harris for the great Randy Moss. We have always made trades: Lyle Alzado, Kenny King, down through the years. You have to do that, in my way of thinking, to be a great organization, and to have great teams.
I’m not going to touch on exactly what happened – I will afterwards. But we’re proud now for the Raider fans, for the Raider team, for the Raider organization, to welcome Richard Seymour, a great player, from the New England Patriots. And I want to state this from the very beginning, and let him tell you, let Coach Cable tell you, there was never – and I can give you a little idea of the trade, but that we won’t do right now – but it was never any doubt that Richard wanted to play for the Raiders. He grew up being a Raider fan. There was never any doubt that he wanted to play for the Raiders. With that, I turn it over to Richard, let Richard go and talk to you, and then Coach Cable, and then we’ll certainly answer any questions.
Tom Cable: Well, let’s just add to that. The number-one issue here is to make this football team better, and I think you just heard historically how it’s been done here at the Oakland Raiders. And our whole focus as a coaching staff was to find a way to improve this football team, and our biggest need obviously was to help out on the defensive side, for many reasons. We’ve got a lot of good players on that side of the ball, but we needed a piece, we needed a piece that would cement the entire group. As this thing went, you know, you’ve all heard, and Richard will tell you in a second, this was a shock to him. This was something new for him, something unexpected to he and his family. So we chose to really kind of take the path of let this thing work itself out if it’s going to. And it did. There was never a question that we wanted him, and we’re glad to have Richard be a part of this football team.
Richard Seymour: Thanks, coach. Thanks, Mr. Davis. You know, I first thought about saying that since Sunday, since I got the call that I was being traded, my life’s really been a whirlwind. I’ve really been blindsided by the events that took place. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t understand what was going on. So it’s like when something happens, when you’re blindsided, you have to step back and realize what situation you’re in. And my thought within was, hold on, I can’t go anywhere at this point. I have four young kids. Well, actually five kids; I have guardianship over my young cousin. And just had a lot going on. With young kids in school – I’ve got a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, a 6-year-old, a 7-year-old, and had one just started football this year in the ninth grade.
So I really had a lot going on from that standpoint. I mean, it’s a week before the season. I’m locked in, getting ready to play Buffalo on Monday night, but as things happen I’m playing the Chargers here this Monday night. I had a lot of issues to resolve. I had a lot to think about with my wife, my family, my friends that are close to me, just a lot to think about as far as how do we make this work? How do we make it happen? I talked with Coach Cable, and I talked with Mr. Davis as soon as this happened, and I assured them I wanted to be an Oakland Raider. They saw something special inside of me, and I just hope that I can bring what they saw. And that’s my job to go out and do that, and I know that I will.
As I’ve said before, it was a lot of issues that I had to resolve, as far as my family is concerned, because from the way that I look at it, it’s my faith, my family and then football, and I try to handle things in that order. And football had to be on hold for a while, but I assured everyone that I wanted to play for the Raiders, and I just needed a minute to breathe, I needed to focus in on how would I make this work, how would I make this transition, when is it going to happen? I mean, just so many issues that I had to work out.
But one thing that I knew is that I was ready to play football. I mean, I trained my butt off this offseason. I had a great training camp and I said, well, one thing is for sure, there’s a lot going on at this point, but I talked my wife, I said one thing is for sure, we’ve got a lot to work out but I’m definitely ready to play some football. I’m a football player and that’s what I want to do. So as Coach said, I think with this team it’s a lot of great pieces, I mean it’s a lot of really, really good players, some players that I know from other teams and just from watching the Raiders from afar. And I wanted to be a part of that. And when I came to New England, New England was 5-11. They didn’t have the success that we built. And you have to build that. And it starts from the bottom. It starts from work. And that’s what I’m here to do, I’m here to work with my teammates. That’s how I got to the point where I am. It’s coming in with a workmanlike mentality and with a mystique.
I mean, when I grew up, I always was a Raider fan. There was always something special about that silver and black. You know, my mom, my family, they all know that. And even when I was being drafted, when I came out of college I said I’d rather play somewhere down South or somewhere on the West Coast. I really don’t want to go up north, it’s too cold. Lo and behold, I go up north and had a lot of great success with the New England patriots. I’m thankful that they drafted me in the 2001 draft with the sixth draft pick overall, and to the Kraft family, I thank you for that. And to my teammates in New England, we’ve had a lot of great years together, won a lot of football games. We’ve been a part of four Super Bowls, played in four Super Bowls, won three of them. Won’t talk about the other one that we lost.”
Davis: Yeah, he played in the Tuck Game
Seymour: “Ha-ha-ha. Absolutely. I think that kicked it all off for us. But one thing I can assure Raider Nation is: I was 93. I’m 92 now, and 92 is ready to play some football. And I’m ready to kick things off on Monday night.
Q: How would you describe the phone call you got from coach Belichick and describe the tenor and your reaction?
Seymour: Coach Belichick called me and informed me that they made a trade with Oakland and I was a part of that trade, and he thanked me for the years there in New England, that thought they were doing what was best long-term for their football team, and I said, OK, you know, and from that point, I really didn’t know which way to go, didn’t know which way to turn. I told my wife, and she didn’t believe me. Things just kind of transpired, and I talked to a lot of different people that were influential in my life and I’m glad to be sitting on this stage here today.
Q: When you thanked Kraft and teammates, you didn’t thank Belichick. Anything to read into that?
Seymour: No. I wouldn’t read anything into that. Thank you coach Belichick.
Q: Are you working or talking about a longterm contract and did that have any effect on this arrangement?
Davis: No, we are not talking about a longterm contract. We are not talking about anything right now other than Richard playing professional football for the Raiders. He’s on a contract for one year, and we’ll do what’s right, when the time comes. We always have, for our great players and for those who help us. He knows that. Being real honest we recruited him a little bit because we knew what he was going through. We sensed that this would disrupt him mentally based on the fact that he is known to be someone who is interested in faith, family and football, and we had two of our ex-players go up to see him who are working for us on the East Coast. Zack Crockett was one, and William Thomas was the other, and reassure him that this was a great situation, and to my relief they called me back and the situation was not a problem at all. He liked the idea of the Raiders, and coach Cable got that from him very quickly on the telephone, that he liked the idea of the Raiders. He just wanted to get over the shock, and the blindside if that’s the right word, he had, based on them calling and telling him he’d been traded, but this is part of our lives. This is what goes on. We’ve done it to some people too, in the past, and it’s unfortunate. Our business is a great game, you know I think it’s the greatest game in the world, and we think he’ll make a great contribution along the lines of many of our great players.
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 8:16 pm in Oakland Raiders.
Here’s the first part of the transcript of the press conference introducing defensive end Richard Seymour.
I’ll have some thoughts on some of the things said later, but wanted to pass the transcript along for those who didn’t see it on local television and give the Raiders their say after they sat back and listenened to what eveyrone else said for nearly a week:
Al Davis: Thank you for coming. Thank the networks. It’ll help your shows tomorrow, you’ll finally get some ratings Sunday morning. This is another great day in the history of the Oakland Raiders. Through the years, we have been able to, through trades, bring in several great players who performed in great games, performed in Super Bowls, were put in the hall of Fame after they had played for the Raiders for several years.
To bring you up to date, for example, in 1975 we traded for Ted Hendricks. We traded two first-round draft choices for Ted to the Green Bay Packers, and Ted played in three Super Bowls for us that we one, was instrumental and is in the hall of Fame. In 1977, we gave up a first round draft choice for Mike McCoy, because John Madden at that time felt that we needed a big defensive tackle, and gave it up to Green Bay. Once again we traded with Green Bay, and he was a great help to us. In 1983 we made a great trade with the New England Patriots for Mike Haynes. He was 30 years old, but we gave up a first and a second draft choice, with the idea that we were a great team; he could make us probably the greatest, or one of the greatest teams of all time, which he did. We have others. A few years ago, I gave up a first-round draft choice, a seventh-round draft choice and Napoleon Harris for the great Randy Moss. We have always made trades: Lyle Alzado, Kenny King, down through the years. You have to do that, in my way of thinking, to be a great organization, and to have great teams.
I’m not going to touch on exactly what happened – I will afterwards. But we’re proud now for the Raider fans, for the Raider team, for the Raider organization, to welcome Richard Seymour, a great player, from the New England Patriots. And I want to state this from the very beginning, and let him tell you, let Coach Cable tell you, there was never – and I can give you a little idea of the trade, but that we won’t do right now – but it was never any doubt that Richard wanted to play for the Raiders. He grew up being a Raider fan. There was never any doubt that he wanted to play for the Raiders. With that, I turn it over to Richard, let Richard go and talk to you, and then Coach Cable, and then we’ll certainly answer any questions.
Tom Cable: Well, let’s just add to that. The number-one issue here is to make this football team better, and I think you just heard historically how it’s been done here at the Oakland Raiders. And our whole focus as a coaching staff was to find a way to improve this football team, and our biggest need obviously was to help out on the defensive side, for many reasons. We’ve got a lot of good players on that side of the ball, but we needed a piece, we needed a piece that would cement the entire group. As this thing went, you know, you’ve all heard, and Richard will tell you in a second, this was a shock to him. This was something new for him, something unexpected to he and his family. So we chose to really kind of take the path of let this thing work itself out if it’s going to. And it did. There was never a question that we wanted him, and we’re glad to have Richard be a part of this football team.
Richard Seymour: Thanks, coach. Thanks, Mr. Davis. You know, I first thought about saying that since Sunday, since I got the call that I was being traded, my life’s really been a whirlwind. I’ve really been blindsided by the events that took place. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t understand what was going on. So it’s like when something happens, when you’re blindsided, you have to step back and realize what situation you’re in. And my thought within was, hold on, I can’t go anywhere at this point. I have four young kids. Well, actually five kids; I have guardianship over my young cousin. And just had a lot going on. With young kids in school – I’ve got a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, a 6-year-old, a 7-year-old, and had one just started football this year in the ninth grade.
So I really had a lot going on from that standpoint. I mean, it’s a week before the season. I’m locked in, getting ready to play Buffalo on Monday night, but as things happen I’m playing the Chargers here this Monday night. I had a lot of issues to resolve. I had a lot to think about with my wife, my family, my friends that are close to me, just a lot to think about as far as how do we make this work? How do we make it happen? I talked with Coach Cable, and I talked with Mr. Davis as soon as this happened, and I assured them I wanted to be an Oakland Raider. They saw something special inside of me, and I just hope that I can bring what they saw. And that’s my job to go out and do that, and I know that I will.
As I’ve said before, it was a lot of issues that I had to resolve, as far as my family is concerned, because from the way that I look at it, it’s my faith, my family and then football, and I try to handle things in that order. And football had to be on hold for a while, but I assured everyone that I wanted to play for the Raiders, and I just needed a minute to breathe, I needed to focus in on how would I make this work, how would I make this transition, when is it going to happen? I mean, just so many issues that I had to work out.
But one thing that I knew is that I was ready to play football. I mean, I trained my butt off this offseason. I had a great training camp and I said, well, one thing is for sure, there’s a lot going on at this point, but I talked my wife, I said one thing is for sure, we’ve got a lot to work out but I’m definitely ready to play some football. I’m a football player and that’s what I want to do. So as Coach said, I think with this team it’s a lot of great pieces, I mean it’s a lot of really, really good players, some players that I know from other teams and just from watching the Raiders from afar. And I wanted to be a part of that. And when I came to New England, New England was 5-11. They didn’t have the success that we built. And you have to build that. And it starts from the bottom. It starts from work. And that’s what I’m here to do, I’m here to work with my teammates. That’s how I got to the point where I am. It’s coming in with a workmanlike mentality and with a mystique.
I mean, when I grew up, I always was a Raider fan. There was always something special about that silver and black. You know, my mom, my family, they all know that. And even when I was being drafted, when I came out of college I said I’d rather play somewhere down South or somewhere on the West Coast. I really don’t want to go up north, it’s too cold. Lo and behold, I go up north and had a lot of great success with the New England patriots. I’m thankful that they drafted me in the 2001 draft with the sixth draft pick overall, and to the Kraft family, I thank you for that. And to my teammates in New England, we’ve had a lot of great years together, won a lot of football games. We’ve been a part of four Super Bowls, played in four Super Bowls, won three of them. Won’t talk about the other one that we lost.”
Davis: Yeah, he played in the Tuck Game
Seymour: “Ha-ha-ha. Absolutely. I think that kicked it all off for us. But one thing I can assure Raider Nation is: I was 93. I’m 92 now, and 92 is ready to play some football. And I’m ready to kick things off on Monday night.
Q: How would you describe the phone call you got from coach Belichick and describe the tenor and your reaction?
Seymour: Coach Belichick called me and informed me that they made a trade with Oakland and I was a part of that trade, and he thanked me for the years there in New England, that thought they were doing what was best long-term for their football team, and I said, OK, you know, and from that point, I really didn’t know which way to go, didn’t know which way to turn. I told my wife, and she didn’t believe me. Things just kind of transpired, and I talked to a lot of different people that were influential in my life and I’m glad to be sitting on this stage here today.
Q: When you thanked Kraft and teammates, you didn’t thank Belichick. Anything to read into that?
Seymour: No. I wouldn’t read anything into that. Thank you coach Belichick.
Q: Are you working or talking about a longterm contract and did that have any effect on this arrangement?
Davis: No, we are not talking about a longterm contract. We are not talking about anything right now other than Richard playing professional football for the Raiders. He’s on a contract for one year, and we’ll do what’s right, when the time comes. We always have, for our great players and for those who help us. He knows that. Being real honest we recruited him a little bit because we knew what he was going through. We sensed that this would disrupt him mentally based on the fact that he is known to be someone who is interested in faith, family and football, and we had two of our ex-players go up to see him who are working for us on the East Coast. Zack Crockett was one, and William Thomas was the other, and reassure him that this was a great situation, and to my relief they called me back and the situation was not a problem at all. He liked the idea of the Raiders, and coach Cable got that from him very quickly on the telephone, that he liked the idea of the Raiders. He just wanted to get over the shock, and the blindside if that’s the right word, he had, based on them calling and telling him he’d been traded, but this is part of our lives. This is what goes on. We’ve done it to some people too, in the past, and it’s unfortunate. Our business is a great game, you know I think it’s the greatest game in the world, and we think he’ll make a great contribution along the lines of many of our great players.
Seymour press conference, Part II
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 9:34 pm in Oakland Raiders.
Note: I posted these out of order, sort of my own “Posting too fast” problem, I suppose . . . this was meant to be posted between Parts I and III, obviously.
Part II of the press conference announcing the acquisition of defensive end Richard Seymour from the New England Patriots:
Q: Having come out, not practicing, how much do you think you’ll play Monday night?
Seymour: Well, it’s going into my ninth season now, it was Sunday and today is Saturday. During that week I wasn’t just sitting around. I always pride myself in being in condition, being a well-conditioned athlete, and I had my helmet, my pads, my cleats, and actually I was in the backyard, I did a lot of running, conditioning, kind of simulating a practice, simulating going through what it would be like. I understand what it takes. And from that standpoint, I’ve got a couple of oak trees in the back, and, I’m being serious, I was hitting a couple of oak trees in the back, doing some rip moves, and I was going to a practice where I didn’t win a battle. So I don’t plan on that happening on Monday night.
Q: Did you talk to Randy Moss or Derrick Burgess and were you concerned because they were here through coaching changes?
Seymour: Well, actually, I got a lot of calls, hey, we’re with you brother, and we’re going to miss you, etcetera, but there was nothing ever about the organization, or anything, it was like, we lost one of our brothers through training camp and being in the trenches with us. From that standpoint, I had so many calls about how we’re going to make this all work, I had a lot of issues to sort through, we didn’t talk about anything.
Davis: Listen, Derrick has never been negative. Derrick wanted more money that we couldn’t give him. Randy Moss was great here for us. We couldn’t satisfy Randy, that was our fault. He’s a truly great player. The idea when you get a great player is to make him happy and satisfy him. But I’ll tell you this. For example, there’s one player that I remember that keeps attacking us. In the year 2003, he sat in my office and begged for a contract, and wouldn’t give it to him because of rumors. That guy attacked us on the television shows, and it’s only because I wouldn’t give him a contract and I wouldn’t let him play here. I can go through the litany.
We’ve got a couple of guys locally, and I really feel bad that a lot of you doubted, doubted the tradition and history of the Raider organization because most players want to play here. And one ‘em said he wouldn’t want to come here because it’s a bad place to play, and a Black Hole (inaudible) and until you get the facts, and you talk to the person, you really shouldn’t open up and start talking. We have one guy on our own network that we own, the NFL Network, who’s worked for five teams in this league, he’s been fired by all five teams and he comes on as an expert and says that Richard doesn’t want to play for the Raiders, he doesn’t want to go out there. Which was totally untrue, because I would have backed away if he didn’t want to come out here. And I say to you, it isn’t what you think it is. Andrew Walter, left here, he was disappointed, he didn’t play. He played for four different coaches. He goes up to New England, they tell him they’re going to play him in the last preseason game for a half. He doesn’t get to play a down and they cut him the next day. So at least here he played some downs. I just think you’ve got the wrong picture. The minute something the East Coast, you all jump, the minute it comes from those two blogs, you jump and expect it as if its gospel. That isn’t the way it is. It isn’t true. Look, we want to win, we’re going to get great players, we’re going to win. We’re pretty good. We got a bad break at training camp at Schilens, that hurt us, but coach Cable’s got this thing, we’ve got a chance. This guy gives us another one of those guys who I hope is in Canton, Ohio, and has played for the Raiders from several years.
Q: Richard, ever a moment you thought you wouldn’t come?
Seymour: I went through a lot of issues in my head. It was several things that obviously me and my wife and our close friends and family discussed. When you have a 2 year old who is not in school and we definitely have full-time help … my kids just got in school. I have guardianship of my young cousin. He just started 9th grade which was a big transition for any kid going to high school playing football for the first time. From that standpoint, I’ve been one place in my career, nine years. And a week before the season to be traded. This is an initial shock. Football wasn’t my focus at that point. It was my family was my main concern and how we going to make this work and my responsibilities as a husband and a father. I wasn’t going to leave my wife with all them responsibilities.
Sometimes I come home from practice and the house is a riot. You can imagine how the Seymour household could be. We thought about bringing everyone out here but I said is that going to be the bets situation for the kids short-term? I don’t know. We made the decision that they going back in South Carolina and keep them in a comfortable environment. I said if anyone could move and be uncomfortable, let it be Dad. I want to keep my family in a comfortable environment. Obviously they’ll probably take some long weekends and come out to play. Because I was always the player who said ‘Wherever I go that’s where my kids are going to go.’ I don’t want to come home from work from my job and my family and my kids not be there. I did that as a rookie but going into my 9th season, my life is involved in more than that. It was so many issues that we thought about. Keep in mind, boom it all happened so quickly, so fast until I just didn’t, I had to gather all my thoughts.
Q: Richard, you’re leaving a constant winner to a struggling team, do you understand this is not a team that’s guaranteed a playoff spot?
Davis: That’s your opinion.
Q: But you’re not guaranteed a spot.
Davis: OK.
Seymour: Yeah, and that’s my opinion. All teams are even right now. All teams are even. Everyone’s zero and zero. It’s all about the team that’s going to win on Monday night is the team that plays the best on Monday night. It isn’t ‘We got this guy, we got that guy.’ The team’s that plays the best on Monday night, that’s the team that’s going to win. I don’t buy into ‘Well how many pro Bowlers do they have? How many All Pro guys do they have? When we faced the Rams in the Super Bowl in ‘01, how many teams gave us a chance? How many people gave us a chance to win that game? Not a lot. But we knew within that locker room and that’s where it more or less matters. I want to come out here with these guys and build that chemistry and like I said, it comes from work. It doesn’t come from sitting in this press conference talking about it. That isn’t going to get us a win. I went to New England, we were 5-11, we just put in the work. We built what we’ve been able to accomplish over the years. This is a new chapter in my life. I’m coming to help build whatever we need here. I’m coming to help out in any way possible. Whatever they need for me, whatever they ask of me to do, then that’s what I’m going to do.
Q: What of the NFLPA grievance regarding the five-day letter to Seymour?
Davis: I thought that was minimal, it was nothing. I’m sure that they won’t even go through with it. They had nothing. They just wanted to let you know that the Players Association is still available. Whatever we did, we were entitled to do. I wouldn’t doubt that they would not file the grievance or pull it off the thing. They can’t do anything. I don’t even know what your question is other than they filed a grievance. Anybody can file anything. That grievance meant nothing. The rules state that I could do it. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.
Q: Tom, how much do you expect Richard to play Monday night and does this change what you do defensively or game plan?
Cable: I think it doesn’t disrupt. First of all, there are 10 other guys on that defense, a group of coaches, a number of other guys who play a significant role in that game Monday night and the rest of the year. As he mentioned, he’s played a lot of football. He’s been in a very diverse system. He’s been well-schooled at this game. What he can do on Monday night is what he is capable of doing. We will get him prepared to go out there Monday night and win a football game. That’s what we do. As he mentioned to you and our conversation last night, he told me what he’d been doing all week. He fits what we’re trying to do. He and I have kind of, as we talk about, we really have something in common: you just go to work, and you go out there Monday night and if you’re the best on the field that night, then you’re going to win. That’s the way we approach it and this adds another piece of that type of mentality to what we’re doing.
Q: Why make the move now after a quiet offseason in free agency?
Davis: Well we couldn’t do it in February and March because if we could have done it, we’d have done it. That’s the point. Ever since they were talking to me about Burgess, I’ve been talking to them about a defensive lineman but I never dreamt, and both Tom Cable and I knew that the one we wanted. You shouldn’t tell them this, it’s the guy wearing No. 92. They were offering me some other things and it was at the end that I had an idea what happened. One day he said to me about two days before we made the trade, ‘Would you be interested in Seymour?’ I didn’t put the phone down or anything, I said ‘Yeah I’d be interested in Seymour.’ I said ‘What do you want’ and he told me what he wanted for him. And I said I would do that. Can we do that now?
Bill said to me he has to check with Kraft. I laughed because I thought all coaches had complete ability to do what they wanted. It’s only this place where they have to go to the owner if they want to do something. So he said he had to go to Kraft and he came back to me. They changed the deal a little bit and then they gave me the opportunity to make my choice on draft choices what I wanted to do. As you well now in 2010 we have a 1st, 2nd, two 3rds a 4th and two 5ths. We have a lot of choices. I said I’ll go with the 1 in 2011. I’ll stick with that. That’s what you can have. I just wanted to get it done. He said we’d get it done but certain things had to be worked out because he was blindsided. He was hit and I understand that. We’ve had players that we have done it to unfortunately in the past but we were willing to wait a period of time but while we were waiting for him to sort this out, and while we were assuring him of our severe interest, the whole country — the eastern press and even our own — local press said he didn’t want to be here.
That hurt because we wanted to come out publicly and say, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about because he does want to be here.’ But this guy really had a problem mentally and so finally it reached a point where we had to say one way or the other, let’s get it done or we won’t get it done, knowing even if he had come in here after the first game that wouldn’t have disturbed us because Matuszak came to us after the first game in ’76, we won the Super Bowl. Hendricks came to us in the middle of the season. We’re interested in this for the long run, this marathon that starts Monday night. A lot of thigns can happen to a lot of teams that you all think are set. We think we’re pretty well set in some issues and we have to perform in others, but we think, as Tom Cable said to you, he’s a piece to the puzzle.
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 9:34 pm in Oakland Raiders.
Note: I posted these out of order, sort of my own “Posting too fast” problem, I suppose . . . this was meant to be posted between Parts I and III, obviously.
Part II of the press conference announcing the acquisition of defensive end Richard Seymour from the New England Patriots:
Q: Having come out, not practicing, how much do you think you’ll play Monday night?
Seymour: Well, it’s going into my ninth season now, it was Sunday and today is Saturday. During that week I wasn’t just sitting around. I always pride myself in being in condition, being a well-conditioned athlete, and I had my helmet, my pads, my cleats, and actually I was in the backyard, I did a lot of running, conditioning, kind of simulating a practice, simulating going through what it would be like. I understand what it takes. And from that standpoint, I’ve got a couple of oak trees in the back, and, I’m being serious, I was hitting a couple of oak trees in the back, doing some rip moves, and I was going to a practice where I didn’t win a battle. So I don’t plan on that happening on Monday night.
Q: Did you talk to Randy Moss or Derrick Burgess and were you concerned because they were here through coaching changes?
Seymour: Well, actually, I got a lot of calls, hey, we’re with you brother, and we’re going to miss you, etcetera, but there was nothing ever about the organization, or anything, it was like, we lost one of our brothers through training camp and being in the trenches with us. From that standpoint, I had so many calls about how we’re going to make this all work, I had a lot of issues to sort through, we didn’t talk about anything.
Davis: Listen, Derrick has never been negative. Derrick wanted more money that we couldn’t give him. Randy Moss was great here for us. We couldn’t satisfy Randy, that was our fault. He’s a truly great player. The idea when you get a great player is to make him happy and satisfy him. But I’ll tell you this. For example, there’s one player that I remember that keeps attacking us. In the year 2003, he sat in my office and begged for a contract, and wouldn’t give it to him because of rumors. That guy attacked us on the television shows, and it’s only because I wouldn’t give him a contract and I wouldn’t let him play here. I can go through the litany.
We’ve got a couple of guys locally, and I really feel bad that a lot of you doubted, doubted the tradition and history of the Raider organization because most players want to play here. And one ‘em said he wouldn’t want to come here because it’s a bad place to play, and a Black Hole (inaudible) and until you get the facts, and you talk to the person, you really shouldn’t open up and start talking. We have one guy on our own network that we own, the NFL Network, who’s worked for five teams in this league, he’s been fired by all five teams and he comes on as an expert and says that Richard doesn’t want to play for the Raiders, he doesn’t want to go out there. Which was totally untrue, because I would have backed away if he didn’t want to come out here. And I say to you, it isn’t what you think it is. Andrew Walter, left here, he was disappointed, he didn’t play. He played for four different coaches. He goes up to New England, they tell him they’re going to play him in the last preseason game for a half. He doesn’t get to play a down and they cut him the next day. So at least here he played some downs. I just think you’ve got the wrong picture. The minute something the East Coast, you all jump, the minute it comes from those two blogs, you jump and expect it as if its gospel. That isn’t the way it is. It isn’t true. Look, we want to win, we’re going to get great players, we’re going to win. We’re pretty good. We got a bad break at training camp at Schilens, that hurt us, but coach Cable’s got this thing, we’ve got a chance. This guy gives us another one of those guys who I hope is in Canton, Ohio, and has played for the Raiders from several years.
Q: Richard, ever a moment you thought you wouldn’t come?
Seymour: I went through a lot of issues in my head. It was several things that obviously me and my wife and our close friends and family discussed. When you have a 2 year old who is not in school and we definitely have full-time help … my kids just got in school. I have guardianship of my young cousin. He just started 9th grade which was a big transition for any kid going to high school playing football for the first time. From that standpoint, I’ve been one place in my career, nine years. And a week before the season to be traded. This is an initial shock. Football wasn’t my focus at that point. It was my family was my main concern and how we going to make this work and my responsibilities as a husband and a father. I wasn’t going to leave my wife with all them responsibilities.
Sometimes I come home from practice and the house is a riot. You can imagine how the Seymour household could be. We thought about bringing everyone out here but I said is that going to be the bets situation for the kids short-term? I don’t know. We made the decision that they going back in South Carolina and keep them in a comfortable environment. I said if anyone could move and be uncomfortable, let it be Dad. I want to keep my family in a comfortable environment. Obviously they’ll probably take some long weekends and come out to play. Because I was always the player who said ‘Wherever I go that’s where my kids are going to go.’ I don’t want to come home from work from my job and my family and my kids not be there. I did that as a rookie but going into my 9th season, my life is involved in more than that. It was so many issues that we thought about. Keep in mind, boom it all happened so quickly, so fast until I just didn’t, I had to gather all my thoughts.
Q: Richard, you’re leaving a constant winner to a struggling team, do you understand this is not a team that’s guaranteed a playoff spot?
Davis: That’s your opinion.
Q: But you’re not guaranteed a spot.
Davis: OK.
Seymour: Yeah, and that’s my opinion. All teams are even right now. All teams are even. Everyone’s zero and zero. It’s all about the team that’s going to win on Monday night is the team that plays the best on Monday night. It isn’t ‘We got this guy, we got that guy.’ The team’s that plays the best on Monday night, that’s the team that’s going to win. I don’t buy into ‘Well how many pro Bowlers do they have? How many All Pro guys do they have? When we faced the Rams in the Super Bowl in ‘01, how many teams gave us a chance? How many people gave us a chance to win that game? Not a lot. But we knew within that locker room and that’s where it more or less matters. I want to come out here with these guys and build that chemistry and like I said, it comes from work. It doesn’t come from sitting in this press conference talking about it. That isn’t going to get us a win. I went to New England, we were 5-11, we just put in the work. We built what we’ve been able to accomplish over the years. This is a new chapter in my life. I’m coming to help build whatever we need here. I’m coming to help out in any way possible. Whatever they need for me, whatever they ask of me to do, then that’s what I’m going to do.
Q: What of the NFLPA grievance regarding the five-day letter to Seymour?
Davis: I thought that was minimal, it was nothing. I’m sure that they won’t even go through with it. They had nothing. They just wanted to let you know that the Players Association is still available. Whatever we did, we were entitled to do. I wouldn’t doubt that they would not file the grievance or pull it off the thing. They can’t do anything. I don’t even know what your question is other than they filed a grievance. Anybody can file anything. That grievance meant nothing. The rules state that I could do it. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.
Q: Tom, how much do you expect Richard to play Monday night and does this change what you do defensively or game plan?
Cable: I think it doesn’t disrupt. First of all, there are 10 other guys on that defense, a group of coaches, a number of other guys who play a significant role in that game Monday night and the rest of the year. As he mentioned, he’s played a lot of football. He’s been in a very diverse system. He’s been well-schooled at this game. What he can do on Monday night is what he is capable of doing. We will get him prepared to go out there Monday night and win a football game. That’s what we do. As he mentioned to you and our conversation last night, he told me what he’d been doing all week. He fits what we’re trying to do. He and I have kind of, as we talk about, we really have something in common: you just go to work, and you go out there Monday night and if you’re the best on the field that night, then you’re going to win. That’s the way we approach it and this adds another piece of that type of mentality to what we’re doing.
Q: Why make the move now after a quiet offseason in free agency?
Davis: Well we couldn’t do it in February and March because if we could have done it, we’d have done it. That’s the point. Ever since they were talking to me about Burgess, I’ve been talking to them about a defensive lineman but I never dreamt, and both Tom Cable and I knew that the one we wanted. You shouldn’t tell them this, it’s the guy wearing No. 92. They were offering me some other things and it was at the end that I had an idea what happened. One day he said to me about two days before we made the trade, ‘Would you be interested in Seymour?’ I didn’t put the phone down or anything, I said ‘Yeah I’d be interested in Seymour.’ I said ‘What do you want’ and he told me what he wanted for him. And I said I would do that. Can we do that now?
Bill said to me he has to check with Kraft. I laughed because I thought all coaches had complete ability to do what they wanted. It’s only this place where they have to go to the owner if they want to do something. So he said he had to go to Kraft and he came back to me. They changed the deal a little bit and then they gave me the opportunity to make my choice on draft choices what I wanted to do. As you well now in 2010 we have a 1st, 2nd, two 3rds a 4th and two 5ths. We have a lot of choices. I said I’ll go with the 1 in 2011. I’ll stick with that. That’s what you can have. I just wanted to get it done. He said we’d get it done but certain things had to be worked out because he was blindsided. He was hit and I understand that. We’ve had players that we have done it to unfortunately in the past but we were willing to wait a period of time but while we were waiting for him to sort this out, and while we were assuring him of our severe interest, the whole country — the eastern press and even our own — local press said he didn’t want to be here.
That hurt because we wanted to come out publicly and say, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about because he does want to be here.’ But this guy really had a problem mentally and so finally it reached a point where we had to say one way or the other, let’s get it done or we won’t get it done, knowing even if he had come in here after the first game that wouldn’t have disturbed us because Matuszak came to us after the first game in ’76, we won the Super Bowl. Hendricks came to us in the middle of the season. We’re interested in this for the long run, this marathon that starts Monday night. A lot of thigns can happen to a lot of teams that you all think are set. We think we’re pretty well set in some issues and we have to perform in others, but we think, as Tom Cable said to you, he’s a piece to the puzzle.
Seymour press conference, Part III
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 8:31 pm in Oakland Raiders.
The final part of the press conference announcing the trade for defensive lineman Richard Seymour:
Q: Was this to address run defense?
Davis: No he’s a great player. Don’t look at it that way. It’ll help the run defense, definitely. He’s been a great run player but he fits where we are. We’ve got Greg over there on the left. We’ve got Trevor Scott who we think is going to be brilliant as a pass-rusher … but we didn’t want to put Trevor up there every down where he can get beat up like Burgess got beat up. Look, we made a trade and we think we know what we’re doing.
Q: How do you think you fit in to the Raiders’ run defense?
Seymour: I hadn’t watched any film, I hadn’t watched any tape of everything that we have going on.. Obviously I understand what they want me to do. I did a little light warmup outside earlier. I’m looking to come to add the guys that we already have in the trenches wth Tommy Kelly and Greg and Gerard and those guys. I just want to be a piece to the puzzle. Whatever they need me to do, I’m willing to do that.
Q: You’ve been on teams that defend the run well, what goes into being good against the run?
Seymour: Well it isn’t just one guy. That’s my issue. It’s not one guy that’s going to stop the run. It’s a team effort to stop the run. It’s all 11 guys out there on the field coming together. To me, stopping the run is saying ‘Hey we got a tough team.’ If you want to be a tough football team you have to stop the run and you have to be able to run the football. You can’t be a tough football team if you can’t stop the run and run the football, period. And I like to rush the passer, too, now, let’s understand that as well. But I understand in order to rush the passer you have to stop the run. It all works together.
Q: Some have suggested you’re best years are behind you. Can you be as good as you ever were?
Seymour: Absolutely. I feel like I’m midway though. I’m 29 years old and last time I checked 29 isn’t old. I’m not going to say what I’m going to do out on the field. I know I’m going to come make this commitment to the Oakland Raiders, the Raider Nation, that they’re going to get everything that I have. That’s all you can ask from anybody, is to give 100 percent while you’re out on the football field and I’m making that commitment.
Q: What was it that drew you to the Raiders?
Davis: It was the owner.
Seymour: Obviously I knew Mr. Davis. I think it’s just the history. Obviously when you look at Raider Nation you look at when they pack the stadium and just the mystique of being a Raider, putting on the silver and black and the tradition that comes along with that. I had Raider hats, Raider sweatshirts, you name it. It’s something special to be a part of, wearing this, wearing that logo, I’m happy to do that.
Q: How many of new teammates you talked with?
Seymour: I met several coaches. I met two or three players downstairs, spending time in the cold tub taking care of their body before the game on Monday night. I haven’t met a lot of the guys. I’ve talked to several guys. They understand where I’m coming from and the just said, ‘Hey, when you make up your mind and you take care of your issues with your family, we’d love to have you come on out.’ What really pushed this on through is I knew we had a game on Monday night and I wanted to be a part of it. I definitely wanted to be a part of this game and come and get a win on Monday night.
Q: Some of the negative comments were made by most unattributed sources who said they were close to you . . .
Seymour: I talked with my family and my friends. A lot of people made a lot of different statements coming from the Seymour camp. Ain’t nobody in my camp but my wife and my kids. I never said anything throughout this whole process other than to my family, to my friends and also to the Raiders. That was it. Coming from the Seymour camp, obviously I talked with a few of my friends and it’s just a lot going on right now. Do I want to go all the way out to the West Coast and leave my family? How do I make this all work? Just a lot of issues from that standpoint. I can’t say what someone else is thinking but when you don’t speak on a situation a lot of things are made up, because you have to report something, right? The situation is what it is. I’m happy to be what it is.
Q: Want a long-term deal or content to play it out?
Davis: He has an agent, I can assure you. Everyone knows his agent . . . don’t worry about things that don’t concern you.
Seymour: That’s my answer.
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 8:31 pm in Oakland Raiders.
The final part of the press conference announcing the trade for defensive lineman Richard Seymour:
Q: Was this to address run defense?
Davis: No he’s a great player. Don’t look at it that way. It’ll help the run defense, definitely. He’s been a great run player but he fits where we are. We’ve got Greg over there on the left. We’ve got Trevor Scott who we think is going to be brilliant as a pass-rusher … but we didn’t want to put Trevor up there every down where he can get beat up like Burgess got beat up. Look, we made a trade and we think we know what we’re doing.
Q: How do you think you fit in to the Raiders’ run defense?
Seymour: I hadn’t watched any film, I hadn’t watched any tape of everything that we have going on.. Obviously I understand what they want me to do. I did a little light warmup outside earlier. I’m looking to come to add the guys that we already have in the trenches wth Tommy Kelly and Greg and Gerard and those guys. I just want to be a piece to the puzzle. Whatever they need me to do, I’m willing to do that.
Q: You’ve been on teams that defend the run well, what goes into being good against the run?
Seymour: Well it isn’t just one guy. That’s my issue. It’s not one guy that’s going to stop the run. It’s a team effort to stop the run. It’s all 11 guys out there on the field coming together. To me, stopping the run is saying ‘Hey we got a tough team.’ If you want to be a tough football team you have to stop the run and you have to be able to run the football. You can’t be a tough football team if you can’t stop the run and run the football, period. And I like to rush the passer, too, now, let’s understand that as well. But I understand in order to rush the passer you have to stop the run. It all works together.
Q: Some have suggested you’re best years are behind you. Can you be as good as you ever were?
Seymour: Absolutely. I feel like I’m midway though. I’m 29 years old and last time I checked 29 isn’t old. I’m not going to say what I’m going to do out on the field. I know I’m going to come make this commitment to the Oakland Raiders, the Raider Nation, that they’re going to get everything that I have. That’s all you can ask from anybody, is to give 100 percent while you’re out on the football field and I’m making that commitment.
Q: What was it that drew you to the Raiders?
Davis: It was the owner.
Seymour: Obviously I knew Mr. Davis. I think it’s just the history. Obviously when you look at Raider Nation you look at when they pack the stadium and just the mystique of being a Raider, putting on the silver and black and the tradition that comes along with that. I had Raider hats, Raider sweatshirts, you name it. It’s something special to be a part of, wearing this, wearing that logo, I’m happy to do that.
Q: How many of new teammates you talked with?
Seymour: I met several coaches. I met two or three players downstairs, spending time in the cold tub taking care of their body before the game on Monday night. I haven’t met a lot of the guys. I’ve talked to several guys. They understand where I’m coming from and the just said, ‘Hey, when you make up your mind and you take care of your issues with your family, we’d love to have you come on out.’ What really pushed this on through is I knew we had a game on Monday night and I wanted to be a part of it. I definitely wanted to be a part of this game and come and get a win on Monday night.
Q: Some of the negative comments were made by most unattributed sources who said they were close to you . . .
Seymour: I talked with my family and my friends. A lot of people made a lot of different statements coming from the Seymour camp. Ain’t nobody in my camp but my wife and my kids. I never said anything throughout this whole process other than to my family, to my friends and also to the Raiders. That was it. Coming from the Seymour camp, obviously I talked with a few of my friends and it’s just a lot going on right now. Do I want to go all the way out to the West Coast and leave my family? How do I make this all work? Just a lot of issues from that standpoint. I can’t say what someone else is thinking but when you don’t speak on a situation a lot of things are made up, because you have to report something, right? The situation is what it is. I’m happy to be what it is.
Q: Want a long-term deal or content to play it out?
Davis: He has an agent, I can assure you. Everyone knows his agent . . . don’t worry about things that don’t concern you.
Seymour: That’s my answer.
