THE OFFICIAL OAKLAND RAIDERS 2009 OFFSEASON THREAD
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Bears targeted S Mitchell before Raiders nabbed him
The Raiders created quite a stir Saturday when they drafted Ohio safety Michael Mitchell in the second round, drawing criticism from numerous television pundits and journalists alike. But there was a method to the Raiders’ perceived madness.
Outsiders might have been surprised by Mitchell’s selection, but he was rapidly moving up draft boards. Raiders coach Tom Cable said Mitchell had visited as many as 15 teams during the past three weeks.
The Bears told Mitchell to wait by the phone because they planned to take him with the No. 49 overall selection (the same pick that the Bears dangled to the Cardinals in a trade offer for WR Anquan Boldin.) Mitchell told the media he believed he would be a Bear (via the Raiders’ official Web site):
“I was thinking about going to Chicago, because they told me to stay close to my phone. Oakland was able to get to 47 and thought there was still a chance there. It’s just so amazing how this happened and worked out, I’m just pumped.”
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo told the Chicago Tribune that after Ohio State WR Brian Robiskie (another player whom the Bears had targeted) went to the Browns and Mitchell was taken by the Raiders, it was time to move out of the second round:
“Unfortunately the players we targeted at 49 did not fall to us and we weren’t in a position that we were able to move up we just didn’t have enough,” Angelo said.
The Raiders created quite a stir Saturday when they drafted Ohio safety Michael Mitchell in the second round, drawing criticism from numerous television pundits and journalists alike. But there was a method to the Raiders’ perceived madness.
Outsiders might have been surprised by Mitchell’s selection, but he was rapidly moving up draft boards. Raiders coach Tom Cable said Mitchell had visited as many as 15 teams during the past three weeks.
The Bears told Mitchell to wait by the phone because they planned to take him with the No. 49 overall selection (the same pick that the Bears dangled to the Cardinals in a trade offer for WR Anquan Boldin.) Mitchell told the media he believed he would be a Bear (via the Raiders’ official Web site):
“I was thinking about going to Chicago, because they told me to stay close to my phone. Oakland was able to get to 47 and thought there was still a chance there. It’s just so amazing how this happened and worked out, I’m just pumped.”
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo told the Chicago Tribune that after Ohio State WR Brian Robiskie (another player whom the Bears had targeted) went to the Browns and Mitchell was taken by the Raiders, it was time to move out of the second round:
“Unfortunately the players we targeted at 49 did not fall to us and we weren’t in a position that we were able to move up we just didn’t have enough,” Angelo said.
lendale has been more productive then any RB on the raiders roster.....OUCH :hurt::hurt::hurt::hurt::hurt::hurt::hurt:
and he was splitting carries last year OUCH :hurt::hurt::hurt::hurt:
titans management>raiders management.....
if you argue with that you can shoot yourself in the throat thanks :knockout:
and he was splitting carries last year OUCH :hurt::hurt::hurt::hurt:
titans management>raiders management.....
if you argue with that you can shoot yourself in the throat thanks :knockout:
SPEEDY RECEIVERS WILL BRING CHARACTER TO OAKLAND
By PHIL BARBER
Press Democrat Staff Writer
Published: Monday, April 27, 2009 at 5:27 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, April 27, 2009 at 5:27 p.m.
ALAMEDA — A minute before the Raiders were scheduled to make the 124th pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, coach Tom Cable phoned his intended target, Florida wide receiver Louis Murphy.
External Links:
Phil Barber's Instant Raiders blog
Murphy had two questions for Cable. Do I get my own private parking spot? Can you guarantee me eight passes a game? No.
Murphy asked, “What is the strength coach’s phone number, and can I get on special teams?”
“That’s a great thing,” Cable said. “We knew that about him.”
Remember how the people at Starkist don’t want tuna with good taste; they want tuna that tastes good?
Well, the Raiders apparently don’t want characters who play wide receiver; they want wide receivers with character. That’s a notable declaration at a position where players like Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Keyshawn Johnson and Chad Ochocinco have set the ego bar so high that Shane Lechler couldn’t touch it with one of his best punts.
Even Michael Crabtree, the Texas Tech star, was labeled as a “diva” by Browns coach Eric Mangini after making a pre-draft visit. Crabtree was the guy many felt the Raiders should have taken in the first round, at pick No.7. They took Maryland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey instead, and have been verbally tarred and feathered for it.
You can question Heyward-Bey’s hands and his college production, which paled next to Crabtree’s. But you can’t question his personality. Coaches and teammates have almost universally praised the ultra-fast receiver.
Though always close to his mother, Vivian, Heyward-Bey moved out of his home in Silver Spring, Md., to attend McDonogh, a small private school in Owings Mills with an 800-acre campus, aquatic center, performing-arts center and price tag of nearly $30,000 per year, including board. There they felt he would get a better education as well as a better opportunity to pursue his athletic dreams.
“His work ethic was incredible,” McDonogh football coach Dom Damico told Baltimore radio station WJZ. “He worked hard, he was easy to coach, he took coaching well, he took criticism well and was just willing to outwork a lot of people.”
Murphy, while not quite as imposing physically as Heyward-Bey, may be off the charts on the character scale.
He will certainly be a peripheral character in his first NFL offseason, as most of the attention flows to Heyward-Bey and their veteran teammates. But he’s used to that. Playing for a Florida team that won two national championships, Murphy always took a backseat to quarterback Tim Tebow and flanker-halfback Percy Harvin.
“Oh, man, it’s my whole life,” Murphy said. “That’s my life story and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m cool with that. That’s just the type of person I am. And the more the Oakland fans will get to know me, I’m real laid back, man, and I go hard on the field.”
Murphy has been working on his game with former NFL star Cris Carter, and wants to learn from Jerry Rice, too.
If you sense a trend here, it’s no accident. Oakland once was known as the halfway house of the NFL, a place where players who wore out their welcomes elsewhere could get a loose rein and a new start in life. Cable doesn’t want any part of the renegade tradition.
In Week 9 or Week 10 of last season, Cable called all of his players to a meeting – no assistant coaches, no front-office executives, just a coach and his players. He told them that if they wanted to start winning, if they really wanted to change the negative culture that had come to pervade the Raiders’ locker room, then the BS would have to stop. They had to start living and playing with honor, showing greater discipline and less selfishness. This is Cable’s recollection.
“Men are men, boys are boys and they do their things,” he said Sunday after the Raiders’ draft was complete. “But I didn’t want to bring someone in here that I thought was crazy, that couldn’t fit, that was about him. He had to be about the team. He had to ask me on the phone after we picked him if he could play on special teams.”
Louis Murphy might begin his term in Oakland as No.3 on the depth chart. But he’s already setting the tone, two weeks before he actually steps on the field.
By PHIL BARBER
Press Democrat Staff Writer
Published: Monday, April 27, 2009 at 5:27 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, April 27, 2009 at 5:27 p.m.
ALAMEDA — A minute before the Raiders were scheduled to make the 124th pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, coach Tom Cable phoned his intended target, Florida wide receiver Louis Murphy.
External Links:
Phil Barber's Instant Raiders blog
Murphy had two questions for Cable. Do I get my own private parking spot? Can you guarantee me eight passes a game? No.
Murphy asked, “What is the strength coach’s phone number, and can I get on special teams?”
“That’s a great thing,” Cable said. “We knew that about him.”
Remember how the people at Starkist don’t want tuna with good taste; they want tuna that tastes good?
Well, the Raiders apparently don’t want characters who play wide receiver; they want wide receivers with character. That’s a notable declaration at a position where players like Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Keyshawn Johnson and Chad Ochocinco have set the ego bar so high that Shane Lechler couldn’t touch it with one of his best punts.
Even Michael Crabtree, the Texas Tech star, was labeled as a “diva” by Browns coach Eric Mangini after making a pre-draft visit. Crabtree was the guy many felt the Raiders should have taken in the first round, at pick No.7. They took Maryland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey instead, and have been verbally tarred and feathered for it.
You can question Heyward-Bey’s hands and his college production, which paled next to Crabtree’s. But you can’t question his personality. Coaches and teammates have almost universally praised the ultra-fast receiver.
Though always close to his mother, Vivian, Heyward-Bey moved out of his home in Silver Spring, Md., to attend McDonogh, a small private school in Owings Mills with an 800-acre campus, aquatic center, performing-arts center and price tag of nearly $30,000 per year, including board. There they felt he would get a better education as well as a better opportunity to pursue his athletic dreams.
“His work ethic was incredible,” McDonogh football coach Dom Damico told Baltimore radio station WJZ. “He worked hard, he was easy to coach, he took coaching well, he took criticism well and was just willing to outwork a lot of people.”
Murphy, while not quite as imposing physically as Heyward-Bey, may be off the charts on the character scale.
He will certainly be a peripheral character in his first NFL offseason, as most of the attention flows to Heyward-Bey and their veteran teammates. But he’s used to that. Playing for a Florida team that won two national championships, Murphy always took a backseat to quarterback Tim Tebow and flanker-halfback Percy Harvin.
“Oh, man, it’s my whole life,” Murphy said. “That’s my life story and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m cool with that. That’s just the type of person I am. And the more the Oakland fans will get to know me, I’m real laid back, man, and I go hard on the field.”
Murphy has been working on his game with former NFL star Cris Carter, and wants to learn from Jerry Rice, too.
If you sense a trend here, it’s no accident. Oakland once was known as the halfway house of the NFL, a place where players who wore out their welcomes elsewhere could get a loose rein and a new start in life. Cable doesn’t want any part of the renegade tradition.
In Week 9 or Week 10 of last season, Cable called all of his players to a meeting – no assistant coaches, no front-office executives, just a coach and his players. He told them that if they wanted to start winning, if they really wanted to change the negative culture that had come to pervade the Raiders’ locker room, then the BS would have to stop. They had to start living and playing with honor, showing greater discipline and less selfishness. This is Cable’s recollection.
“Men are men, boys are boys and they do their things,” he said Sunday after the Raiders’ draft was complete. “But I didn’t want to bring someone in here that I thought was crazy, that couldn’t fit, that was about him. He had to be about the team. He had to ask me on the phone after we picked him if he could play on special teams.”
Louis Murphy might begin his term in Oakland as No.3 on the depth chart. But he’s already setting the tone, two weeks before he actually steps on the field.
Filling out the roster
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 1:30 pm in Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders typically don’t announce undrafted free agents until they show up at the first minicamp (unless they’re on the Chris Johnson secret-signing plan and they don’t announce it at all).
Various reports have the Raiders signing Florida Atlantic linebacker Frantz joseph, Kent State wide receiver Shawn Bayes and linebacker David Nixon so far.
The San Francisco Chronicle is also reporting the signing of Harvard defensive end Desmond Bryant.
You’ll find many of the reports before I do, and the players will probably end up coming to camp with the Raiders.
Chances of any of them making on the Week 1 53-man roster are slim, however, although you get the occasional John Madsen and Chris Carr.
Others, like Louis Rankin and Marcel Reece last year, make the pracitce squad and eventually get called to the 53-man roster.
But beware _ they’re not Raiders until they show up on May 8. There have been write-ups in local papers in past years which have players signing with the Raiders only to find out they had not, and instances when local reporters are checking in with players they’re sure have signed with the Raiders, only to find out otherwise.
It happened with a linebacker a couple of years ago, I want to say it was Cal Poly-SLO linebacker Jordan Beck, who later did come in for a tryout, but never did sign a contract.
You really don’t know for sure until they arrive at minicamp.
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 1:30 pm in Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders typically don’t announce undrafted free agents until they show up at the first minicamp (unless they’re on the Chris Johnson secret-signing plan and they don’t announce it at all).
Various reports have the Raiders signing Florida Atlantic linebacker Frantz joseph, Kent State wide receiver Shawn Bayes and linebacker David Nixon so far.
The San Francisco Chronicle is also reporting the signing of Harvard defensive end Desmond Bryant.
You’ll find many of the reports before I do, and the players will probably end up coming to camp with the Raiders.
Chances of any of them making on the Week 1 53-man roster are slim, however, although you get the occasional John Madsen and Chris Carr.
Others, like Louis Rankin and Marcel Reece last year, make the pracitce squad and eventually get called to the 53-man roster.
But beware _ they’re not Raiders until they show up on May 8. There have been write-ups in local papers in past years which have players signing with the Raiders only to find out they had not, and instances when local reporters are checking in with players they’re sure have signed with the Raiders, only to find out otherwise.
It happened with a linebacker a couple of years ago, I want to say it was Cal Poly-SLO linebacker Jordan Beck, who later did come in for a tryout, but never did sign a contract.
You really don’t know for sure until they arrive at minicamp.
