Hold the motorcade
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 8:56 pm in Oakland Raiders.
The last time the Raiders made a splash this big, Randy Moss was ushered to a press conference in his honor with a police escort.
Moss came to Oakland in exchange for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the No. 7 overall pick in the first round, which Minnesota used to select wide receiver Troy Williamson.
It was ultimately one of those trades which benefitted neither team. Moss was gone after the two least-productive seasons of his career, Harris eventually departed to Kansas City and Williamson never came close to filling the void created by Moss’ absence.
Which brings us to Oakland’s acquisition of Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall, the latest in a free-spending offseason by the Raiders which has the NFL abuzz with equal parts wonder and disdain. The Raiders confirmed the signing on their Web site and with a press release Thursday evening.
Considering the skills of the players involved, the acquisition of Hall is much like dealing for Moss. It is virtually impossible to pass on acquiring a proven talent when you are giving up nothing but potential in return.
Like Moss, however, Hall needs a skycap to handle all his baggage.
Dubbed “MeAngelo” by the Atlanta media, Hall took a torch to every bridge between himself and Atlanta to get himself traded before ultimately succeeding.
As Hall told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last December, “I will not be part of a losing season for another year. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. No matter who hates me.”
That was for a Falcons team that has won 35 games over the past five years and once made it a conference championship game. The Raiders, during the same span, are 19-61 with five straight seasons of double-digit losses.
Hall had an on-field meltdown against Carolina in which he committed three personal fouls and had to be restrained on the bench, drawing a $100,000 fine. He came out for a late-season Monday night game carrying a Michael Vick poster and wearing “MV7” under his eyes, supporting a player who let down everyone in the organization through his contemptable dog-fighting activities.
The Raiders are banking on the possibility that Hall’s frustration had mostly to do with Bobby Petrino’s insincere one-year tenure as head coach, which ended with even above-reproach veterans such as Warrick Dunn trashing Petrino’s character. They’re also assuming that their offseason moves will result in a resurrection of the franchise, and that winning will cure all ills.
While both are viable theories, like the Moss trade, this one comes with some risk.
Not everyone is on board with Hall as a so-called lockdown corner. It isn’t difficult to find a Falcons fan who can point to dozens of times he was victimized for every sensational play he makes, making him little more than a glorified Phillip Buchanon. The Houston Texans took a look at Buchanon’s occasional interceptions and multiple touchdowns, gave up two draft picks for him and discovered that, as Tim Brown said, “Phillip giveth and Phillip taketh away.”
It was only until Buchanon found a safety net in the form of a Tampa 2 zone that he began to reduce the repeated errors as a member of the Buccaneers.
Hall will be on an island as never before with the Raiders, who play predominantly man coverage. Oakland’s pass rush, to be kind, was spotty. End Derrick Burgess has seen his sack totals dwindle form 16 to 11 to 8 over the three years, and last year’s count was padded by a few cheap ones which came when a quarterback lost a yard on a scramble.
Unlike Moss, Hall will be playing under a new, lucrative contract which will pay him up to $25 million in guaranteed money and $30 million over three years, and ostensibly have some appreciation for it. Moss came in playing under an existing contract.
For all his flash, Hall is also considered to be a pretty good teammate who loves the give-and-take of the locker room and is an extremely hard worker who loves playing the game.
He is also only 24 years old. If Hall is as good as the Raiders think he is, it gives them the best cornerback tandem in the league, with only Champ Bailey and Dre’ Bly in Denver and Charles Woodson and Al Harris in Green Bay in the same ballpark.
Still, as the Raiders learned with Moss, it’s worth holding off on the police escort until there is something to celebrate beyond the acquisition of a major talent.
As of Thursday night, the Raiders were headed in the opposite direction, although they did manage to remove coach Lane Kiffin from the side of a milk carton long enough to say a few words.
“We’re very pleased about the acquisition of DeAngelo Hall to the Raiders,” Kiffin said in a statement. “This, following the offseason signings of Tommy Kelly and Gibril Wilson, we feel have one of the most talented defenses in the league.”
(No truth to the rumor defensive coordinator Rob Ryan issued a statement which said, “With the acquisitions of Javon Walker and Drew Carter, plus the signing of Justin Fargas and a full offseason for JaMarcus Russell, we feel we have one of the most talented offenses in the league.”
The Raiders had not yet made plans to allow the local media to speak to Hall, limiting his comments to a well-cleansed quote and an in-house interview conducted by Raiders.com which is scheduled to be posted Friday.
“I met with Mr. Davis, Lane Kiffin and the defensive coaches and I’m excited to be joining the Raiders,” Hall said in the release. “To come out here and see all of the Hall of Famers walking around, their photos posted on the wall, the championships, it’s an amazing feeling to be a part of that history and be a part of making history. I’m also looking forward to playing with the talented players already there, Nnamdi (Asomugha), Stanford (Routt) who started at cornerback last year and also coming in with Gibril (Wilson). I look forward to making a contribution to the success of the Raiders.”
Also, there was this: “I’m in a Class A organization. I’m in love right now. Victory will take a lot of sorrow and weight off a person. As long as we’re winning, I’ll be happy.”
Oops. Sorry, that last quote was actually from Randy Moss at his “police escort” press conference a little more than three years ago.
So as is always the case with the Raiders, please stay tuned.
