THE OFFICIAL OAKLAND RAIDERS 2009 OFFSEASON THREAD
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- Start date
Frantz Joseph took less money,rejected broncos to be a Raider
http://www.examiner.com/x-514-Oakla...-win-Oakland-Raiders-linebacker-Frantz-Joseph
I recently interviewed Oakland Raiders undrafted free agent signee linebacker Frantz Joseph. I left the interview with the distinct impression that he will do whatever it takes to win at the NFL level.
Frantz Joseph took the long road to the NFL. He waited through both days of the draft with the anxiety building before his phone rang with a team telling him they wanted to secure his services. Taking the long road is nothing new for Joseph.
His story is one that is the essence of the American Dream. He is from a family that immigrated from Haiti, and growing up he lived through poverty. This experience helped mold his character into one of a hard worker who will take nothing for granted, nor will he leave an opportunity on the table without making the absolute most of it.
“Everything I have been through as far as financially, emotionally, just being there for my mother, my family whatever the case may be, the things I have been through in life. I just really feel like it’s molded me as a person molded my character just made me learn to appreciate everything in life as everything many take for granted.”
His dream of playing in the NFL took an early detour when he had to make the decision to transfer from Boston College to Florida Atlantic University so that he could be closer to home and help support his mother. This moved him from a sports program that has sent numerous players into the NFL including a top ten pick this year, to a school that has never produced a single NFL player. As he made the decision, he had people telling him that he was making a wrong decision, and that he was sabotaging any chance he had at getting into the NFL. However, Joseph persevered doing what he felt was the right thing.
“At the beginning of the process [the transfer] really affected me mentally, because people were putting me down. Saying I was leaving a higher institution to go to a lower institution, ‘you’re not going to have a shot at the NFL anymore.’ Just saying I was making a poor decision”
He now sees this transition as a blessing in disguise, as it forced him to have to work harder than anyone else. He had to push himself to take everything more seriously, because nothing would be handed to him, as it was at Boston College. Whilst completing his double major in business and management and playing division one football at Florida Atlantic, he also found himself working odd jobs so that he could help to support his mother, which only made him further realize what was at stake.
“In reality it was a blessing in disguise because just going through that transformation and sitting out that transfer year and realizing what I have at stake and how hard I have to work. I really think it made me feel like I had to take everything much more seriously as far as learning the playbook and getting better individually. I really feel like God blessed me with better coaching at Florida-Atlantic, so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”
For some people this can be an embittering experience, but for Joseph it solidified his ‘underdog’ mentality, which he uses as his motivation to be the hardest worker on the team. He knows that noting will be given to him, so he is not going to miss any opportunity that presents itself for him to prove himself, as well as improve his game.
“It really gave me that underdog mentality that I have had all my life. If I were to be at BC I feel like I would have shied away from that. When you are at a high institution a lot of things are given to you. You are pampered as a high institution division one athlete and you don’t have to work hard for things.”
This lack of pampering solidified Joseph’s work ethic. He knows that coming from Florida-Atlantic, he will have to work even harder to prove himself. This attitude is a product of coming from one of the “lower” division one schools, which don’t garner the same respect. He is going to use this motivation to push himself to work on every aspect of his game to transition into the National Football League.
“When you are at a lower division one school such as FAU and people don’t show much respect you have to grind harder, harder than everyone else. You have to work when everyone else is sleeping so for me, I really feel like that’s going to help me transition into the pros”
Draft weekend was a stressful one with Joseph. Whilst ESPN and the NFL Network showed footage of guys celebrating when their names were called, Joseph waited by the phone, his anxiety building with every pick announced. He was disappointed when the draft concluded, and he had not yet received a call from a team.
He thinks part of the reason he didn’t get selected on draft weekend was that Florida-Atlantic had never had a player selected in the draft, or even a player in the NFL. Rather than regret his decision, he sees this as an opportunity for his success to create opportunities and open the door for future Florida-Atlantic players.
“Florida-Atlantic has never had a guy in the pros or a guy drafted. For me, it is a lot of pressure on me from that standpoint. So, really, I want to open doors for the guys coming out behind me.”
Within forty five minutes of the conclusion of the draft, he knew that his destination would be Oakland. He shunned offers from several other teams including the Denver Broncos, who upped their offer when they found out that Oakland was the frontrunner, to join the Silver and Black because he fit best with the 4-3 base defense, and because of the tradition of the Oakland Raiders.
“When the Denver Broncos heard about the Raiders, they definitely tried to beat them out as far as signing bonus and all that. I feel like the Raiders are somewhere I want to be. Not only because of the scheme they run which is the 4-3 something I am much more used to since high school, because of the tradition they have over there and the fans, the city, and the organization I feel like it’s a great organization even though it hasn’t been going so well the past couple of years. I feel like we’re just a couple pieces away from turning it around.”
He knows that he has nothing promised from the Raiders. His only chance for success is to work harder than anyone else. He will bring everything that he has on every single play. He will be in the film room breaking things down, and at every practice giving everything he has got. His burning desire is to win in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders.
“Everybody feel like they have things laid out and made for them, they might tend to take a play off or take a rep off, take a practice off or take a film session off. For me, I am going to take advantage of all these opportunities and make the best of it.”
When the Raiders contacted him, they asked him if he would like to come out and contribute to their run defense from the middle linebacker position, a challenge that Joseph was eager to accept. Whilst, he doesn’t expect that he will be able to beat out Kirk Morrison for the mike linebacker position, he looks forward to being able to contribute to the Raiders winning. He feels that his strength is playing against the run, and that he will always be working to get better.
“Oh, I mean, if the opportunity presents itself, definitely, that’s something I feel that’s my strength. That’s something I really work hard at to get the job done as well. So for me whatever it takes and whatever preparation it takes. I am going to stand up to the plate and definitely just try to make the Raiders win more football games, however I can whether its on the field on defense or on special teams.
Kirk Morrison is a great football player, he excels in the field. He’s a good player, but I am just coming in just whatever I can do to get better. Whatever I can do to come in and help the team win. I really gotta push forward towards that.”
Coach Tom Cable repeatedly stresses that he wants high character guys, who are not about being selfish and will give it all for the team. This describes Joseph’s attitude to a tee. Joseph is ready to contribute on defense or on special teams, and he will step up and grab any opportunity to do either that will help the Raiders to win.
“Wherever they want to put me to win. Whether its special teams, whether its holding a PAT kick, whether its pouring water, even if its giving signals on the sidelines. It doesn’t matter to me. Whatever I can do to get better. Defense is definitely one thing I want to get better at, I want to step in help if I can. Special teams is another aspect I want to step in if I can. Whatever opportunity presents itself, I will be first in line.”
In addition to being focused on improving the team, Joseph also fits the “Cable Guy” prototype in that he prides himself on his work ethic and his leadership abilities. He wants to make the guys around him better. He wants them to feed off of his work ethic and enthusiasm.
“First and foremost, I think my leadership skills and working hard and I mean I know I’m the guy just coming through the door, but once I get the hang of it I know I can show the guys coming in behind me or even the older guys who the job is supposed to be done because that’s one thing I feel like I have been blessed with since day one.”
In addition to his leadership, he is ready to put some mean back into the Raiders’ defense. He knows that once upon a time the Raiders’ defense was built on intimidation, and he wants to bring that back to the Silver and Black.
“And number two is just a nasty attitude, the way the game is supposed to be played as a linebacker. Like you said, the run defense hasn’t been so great. For me, that is one thing I can step in and presents its self as, the whole tradition is a nasty Raider, the Black Hole and the physicality of the defense. I just feel like I can bring that back. Like I said, just step in and help them win football games.
If anything, I hope to build on it by bringing the nastiness back, that intimidation that the great Raider teams had back in the day. You know, when teams come in to play its not only the crowd that they fear, but they fear that the tenacity of the defense is extremely too high and the nastiness of the defense is back to where it was when the Raiders were in their heyday.”
He laughed when I told him how I had been chastised by FAU fans for calling Florida-Atlantic “smaller” than Boston College in this space in an earlier article. He said that there had already been Raider fans at Florida-Atlantic, but with his signing with the Raiders the number of Raider fans at Florida-Atlantic had swollen.
“There’s a lot of Oakland Raider fans out here on the East Coast, believe it or not. A lot of them are from Florida-Atlantic so when they heard I have the opportunity to go out there and prove myself, everybody was excited, you know, everyone’s all of a sudden, if you wasn’t a Raider fan, now everybody’s Silver and Black. Everybody just wants to be a part of the organization.”
Joseph is a shining example of what to look for in an NFL player. He will be at the facility in Alameda “working his butt off every day, the first one in and the last one out.”
That is the drive that it takes to succeed. Success is not defined as where one starts, but where one finishes. Joseph took the long road to NFL, but it was this longer journey that taught him the keys to success. Many draft guides had him as a fifth round rating, but instead he was taken as a free agent after the draft. That can only be a fitting coda to Frantz Joseph’s pre-NFL story.
However, the pre-NFL story is but an overture in what has the potential to be a powerful symphony. He has the motivation and the drive to do whatever it takes to succeed at the next level. He will undoubtedly make it close to impossible to cut him because he will be working the hardest. He says that the Raider Nation is loved when it is on your side, and reviled when it is against you. Something tells me that the same thing can be said about Frantz Joseph.
http://www.examiner.com/x-514-Oakla...-win-Oakland-Raiders-linebacker-Frantz-Joseph
I recently interviewed Oakland Raiders undrafted free agent signee linebacker Frantz Joseph. I left the interview with the distinct impression that he will do whatever it takes to win at the NFL level.
Frantz Joseph took the long road to the NFL. He waited through both days of the draft with the anxiety building before his phone rang with a team telling him they wanted to secure his services. Taking the long road is nothing new for Joseph.
His story is one that is the essence of the American Dream. He is from a family that immigrated from Haiti, and growing up he lived through poverty. This experience helped mold his character into one of a hard worker who will take nothing for granted, nor will he leave an opportunity on the table without making the absolute most of it.
“Everything I have been through as far as financially, emotionally, just being there for my mother, my family whatever the case may be, the things I have been through in life. I just really feel like it’s molded me as a person molded my character just made me learn to appreciate everything in life as everything many take for granted.”
His dream of playing in the NFL took an early detour when he had to make the decision to transfer from Boston College to Florida Atlantic University so that he could be closer to home and help support his mother. This moved him from a sports program that has sent numerous players into the NFL including a top ten pick this year, to a school that has never produced a single NFL player. As he made the decision, he had people telling him that he was making a wrong decision, and that he was sabotaging any chance he had at getting into the NFL. However, Joseph persevered doing what he felt was the right thing.
“At the beginning of the process [the transfer] really affected me mentally, because people were putting me down. Saying I was leaving a higher institution to go to a lower institution, ‘you’re not going to have a shot at the NFL anymore.’ Just saying I was making a poor decision”
He now sees this transition as a blessing in disguise, as it forced him to have to work harder than anyone else. He had to push himself to take everything more seriously, because nothing would be handed to him, as it was at Boston College. Whilst completing his double major in business and management and playing division one football at Florida Atlantic, he also found himself working odd jobs so that he could help to support his mother, which only made him further realize what was at stake.
“In reality it was a blessing in disguise because just going through that transformation and sitting out that transfer year and realizing what I have at stake and how hard I have to work. I really think it made me feel like I had to take everything much more seriously as far as learning the playbook and getting better individually. I really feel like God blessed me with better coaching at Florida-Atlantic, so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”
For some people this can be an embittering experience, but for Joseph it solidified his ‘underdog’ mentality, which he uses as his motivation to be the hardest worker on the team. He knows that noting will be given to him, so he is not going to miss any opportunity that presents itself for him to prove himself, as well as improve his game.
“It really gave me that underdog mentality that I have had all my life. If I were to be at BC I feel like I would have shied away from that. When you are at a high institution a lot of things are given to you. You are pampered as a high institution division one athlete and you don’t have to work hard for things.”
This lack of pampering solidified Joseph’s work ethic. He knows that coming from Florida-Atlantic, he will have to work even harder to prove himself. This attitude is a product of coming from one of the “lower” division one schools, which don’t garner the same respect. He is going to use this motivation to push himself to work on every aspect of his game to transition into the National Football League.
“When you are at a lower division one school such as FAU and people don’t show much respect you have to grind harder, harder than everyone else. You have to work when everyone else is sleeping so for me, I really feel like that’s going to help me transition into the pros”
Draft weekend was a stressful one with Joseph. Whilst ESPN and the NFL Network showed footage of guys celebrating when their names were called, Joseph waited by the phone, his anxiety building with every pick announced. He was disappointed when the draft concluded, and he had not yet received a call from a team.
He thinks part of the reason he didn’t get selected on draft weekend was that Florida-Atlantic had never had a player selected in the draft, or even a player in the NFL. Rather than regret his decision, he sees this as an opportunity for his success to create opportunities and open the door for future Florida-Atlantic players.
“Florida-Atlantic has never had a guy in the pros or a guy drafted. For me, it is a lot of pressure on me from that standpoint. So, really, I want to open doors for the guys coming out behind me.”
Within forty five minutes of the conclusion of the draft, he knew that his destination would be Oakland. He shunned offers from several other teams including the Denver Broncos, who upped their offer when they found out that Oakland was the frontrunner, to join the Silver and Black because he fit best with the 4-3 base defense, and because of the tradition of the Oakland Raiders.
“When the Denver Broncos heard about the Raiders, they definitely tried to beat them out as far as signing bonus and all that. I feel like the Raiders are somewhere I want to be. Not only because of the scheme they run which is the 4-3 something I am much more used to since high school, because of the tradition they have over there and the fans, the city, and the organization I feel like it’s a great organization even though it hasn’t been going so well the past couple of years. I feel like we’re just a couple pieces away from turning it around.”
He knows that he has nothing promised from the Raiders. His only chance for success is to work harder than anyone else. He will bring everything that he has on every single play. He will be in the film room breaking things down, and at every practice giving everything he has got. His burning desire is to win in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders.
“Everybody feel like they have things laid out and made for them, they might tend to take a play off or take a rep off, take a practice off or take a film session off. For me, I am going to take advantage of all these opportunities and make the best of it.”
When the Raiders contacted him, they asked him if he would like to come out and contribute to their run defense from the middle linebacker position, a challenge that Joseph was eager to accept. Whilst, he doesn’t expect that he will be able to beat out Kirk Morrison for the mike linebacker position, he looks forward to being able to contribute to the Raiders winning. He feels that his strength is playing against the run, and that he will always be working to get better.
“Oh, I mean, if the opportunity presents itself, definitely, that’s something I feel that’s my strength. That’s something I really work hard at to get the job done as well. So for me whatever it takes and whatever preparation it takes. I am going to stand up to the plate and definitely just try to make the Raiders win more football games, however I can whether its on the field on defense or on special teams.
Kirk Morrison is a great football player, he excels in the field. He’s a good player, but I am just coming in just whatever I can do to get better. Whatever I can do to come in and help the team win. I really gotta push forward towards that.”
Coach Tom Cable repeatedly stresses that he wants high character guys, who are not about being selfish and will give it all for the team. This describes Joseph’s attitude to a tee. Joseph is ready to contribute on defense or on special teams, and he will step up and grab any opportunity to do either that will help the Raiders to win.
“Wherever they want to put me to win. Whether its special teams, whether its holding a PAT kick, whether its pouring water, even if its giving signals on the sidelines. It doesn’t matter to me. Whatever I can do to get better. Defense is definitely one thing I want to get better at, I want to step in help if I can. Special teams is another aspect I want to step in if I can. Whatever opportunity presents itself, I will be first in line.”
In addition to being focused on improving the team, Joseph also fits the “Cable Guy” prototype in that he prides himself on his work ethic and his leadership abilities. He wants to make the guys around him better. He wants them to feed off of his work ethic and enthusiasm.
“First and foremost, I think my leadership skills and working hard and I mean I know I’m the guy just coming through the door, but once I get the hang of it I know I can show the guys coming in behind me or even the older guys who the job is supposed to be done because that’s one thing I feel like I have been blessed with since day one.”
In addition to his leadership, he is ready to put some mean back into the Raiders’ defense. He knows that once upon a time the Raiders’ defense was built on intimidation, and he wants to bring that back to the Silver and Black.
“And number two is just a nasty attitude, the way the game is supposed to be played as a linebacker. Like you said, the run defense hasn’t been so great. For me, that is one thing I can step in and presents its self as, the whole tradition is a nasty Raider, the Black Hole and the physicality of the defense. I just feel like I can bring that back. Like I said, just step in and help them win football games.
If anything, I hope to build on it by bringing the nastiness back, that intimidation that the great Raider teams had back in the day. You know, when teams come in to play its not only the crowd that they fear, but they fear that the tenacity of the defense is extremely too high and the nastiness of the defense is back to where it was when the Raiders were in their heyday.”
He laughed when I told him how I had been chastised by FAU fans for calling Florida-Atlantic “smaller” than Boston College in this space in an earlier article. He said that there had already been Raider fans at Florida-Atlantic, but with his signing with the Raiders the number of Raider fans at Florida-Atlantic had swollen.
“There’s a lot of Oakland Raider fans out here on the East Coast, believe it or not. A lot of them are from Florida-Atlantic so when they heard I have the opportunity to go out there and prove myself, everybody was excited, you know, everyone’s all of a sudden, if you wasn’t a Raider fan, now everybody’s Silver and Black. Everybody just wants to be a part of the organization.”
Joseph is a shining example of what to look for in an NFL player. He will be at the facility in Alameda “working his butt off every day, the first one in and the last one out.”
That is the drive that it takes to succeed. Success is not defined as where one starts, but where one finishes. Joseph took the long road to NFL, but it was this longer journey that taught him the keys to success. Many draft guides had him as a fifth round rating, but instead he was taken as a free agent after the draft. That can only be a fitting coda to Frantz Joseph’s pre-NFL story.
However, the pre-NFL story is but an overture in what has the potential to be a powerful symphony. He has the motivation and the drive to do whatever it takes to succeed at the next level. He will undoubtedly make it close to impossible to cut him because he will be working the hardest. He says that the Raider Nation is loved when it is on your side, and reviled when it is against you. Something tells me that the same thing can be said about Frantz Joseph.
Inman: Give Raiders' draft picks a chance
By Cam Inman
Staff columnist
Posted: 05/01/2009 05:54:50 PM PDT
Updated: 05/02/2009 05:09:14 AM PDT
No one endured more criticism this past week — and perhaps every week since 2003 — than Raiders patriarch Al Davis.
But all the shock and awe over last weekend's NFL draft is ridiculous.
First, there's uncertainty with every team's draft, and grading it should be reserved for three years down the road.
Second, what the Raiders did — drafting speedsters with their top two picks — shouldn't surprise anyone. If it does, take a minute here and grasp Davis' background, from his childhood days in Brooklyn to his decades of service that got him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"I find him great," said Joe Torre, the Los Angeles Dodgers manager and Davis' fellow Brooklyn product. "I know he's not the most popular guy in the world. But he knows his football, and he has a great spirit about him."
This does not, by any means, exempt Davis from criticism. His franchise sports the NFL's worst record since 2003, a result of constant coaching changes, bad roster moves and an overall leadership void.
Still baffled by his selections of wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and safety Michael Mitchell with the Raiders' first two draft picks Saturday? Simple answer: Davis has coveted speed and size since his Brooklyn days, back when he would study the Dodgers and Yankees lineups.
"The things that inspired me were not the coaches, not the players. It was the general managers,
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Branch Rickey and a guy who ran the Yankees," Davis recalled in a 2006 interview. "I used to watch batting practice. And they were power, intimidation, big guys, feared. The Dodgers were speed, the Dodgers were pitching. They had a way of playing the game, the Dodger way of playing. They sold that.
"I thought you could put the two of them together, big guys that could run faster than anyone else."
Heyward-Bey is 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, and he ran the 40-yard dash faster than anyone else at the NFL scouting combine (4.3 seconds). The moment that stopwatch stopped, 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan could slot Heyward-Bey as Davis' first-round pick and hope Michael Crabtree would fall three spots to the 49ers at No. 10, as he did.
Even if the Raiders should have traded down and squeezed every ounce of value out of their top pick, perhaps they had no takers (remember, the New York Jets already traded up to No. 5 for USC quarterback Mark Sanchez).
As for Mitchell, he is also well built (6-1, 220) and fast (4.43 in the 40). He wants to be the Raiders' next Jack Tatum, whom Davis drafted in the first round in 1971.
Size and speed, however, don't always translate into Pro Bowl ability (see: Fabian Washington, Philip Buchanon, James Jett). Hence, a torrent of criticism has descended on Raider Nation.
But what good is all that whining? Davis is not selling the team and easing into retirement. He turns 80 this Fourth of July. He joined the Raiders at age 33. His life is the Raiders.
He doesn't trust anyone enough to hand over personnel control, and even if that weren't the case, the Raiders' image needs repair before any top-notch understudy goes there.
"Whether you want to call it the Al Davis way (or) the Oakland Raider way, it's our way," Raiders coach Tom Cable said last weekend of their draft process.
NFL bigwigs don't publicly mock Davis' recent string of questionable moves. But some privately question whether the game has passed him by in terms of the salary cap and draft-pick values.
The practice of instantly ridiculing a draft crop is foolish. No one knows who will prove worthy of their draft slot. It is a guessing game, one that can't be graded fairly until prospects are three years into the league.
So it's fair to rip Davis for not producing a homegrown Pro Bowl player in any of his previous five drafts. Those subpar drafts have been a key factor in his organization's downfall, much to Davis' own dismay.
"He still gets very excited," said Torre, recalling a lunch last year in which Davis stopped him in "mid-fork" and implored him to get to the ballpark on time.
Torre is 11 years younger than Davis and doesn't recall too much from their Brooklyn days. But Davis does.
"Joe Torre's brother, Frank, he was my age. We were rivals but good friends," Davis said in 2006. "We played on a place called the Playground, and Joe carried the bats."
Perhaps Davis considered that Torre's introduction to baseball and yet another notch on Davis' belt of sports prodigies. Here's the remainder of that quote: "I put Jerry Reinsdorf into baseball and basketball. I put (Alex) Spanos into San Diego (as the Chargers owner), (Eddie) DeBartolo into the 49ers. I know all of these kids."
Davis has always liked to discover talent. As for his new kids on the block Heyward-Bey and Mitchell? If they don't deliver in the next three years, let the criticism roll.
By Cam Inman
Staff columnist
Posted: 05/01/2009 05:54:50 PM PDT
Updated: 05/02/2009 05:09:14 AM PDT
No one endured more criticism this past week — and perhaps every week since 2003 — than Raiders patriarch Al Davis.
But all the shock and awe over last weekend's NFL draft is ridiculous.
First, there's uncertainty with every team's draft, and grading it should be reserved for three years down the road.
Second, what the Raiders did — drafting speedsters with their top two picks — shouldn't surprise anyone. If it does, take a minute here and grasp Davis' background, from his childhood days in Brooklyn to his decades of service that got him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"I find him great," said Joe Torre, the Los Angeles Dodgers manager and Davis' fellow Brooklyn product. "I know he's not the most popular guy in the world. But he knows his football, and he has a great spirit about him."
This does not, by any means, exempt Davis from criticism. His franchise sports the NFL's worst record since 2003, a result of constant coaching changes, bad roster moves and an overall leadership void.
Still baffled by his selections of wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and safety Michael Mitchell with the Raiders' first two draft picks Saturday? Simple answer: Davis has coveted speed and size since his Brooklyn days, back when he would study the Dodgers and Yankees lineups.
"The things that inspired me were not the coaches, not the players. It was the general managers,
Advertisement
Branch Rickey and a guy who ran the Yankees," Davis recalled in a 2006 interview. "I used to watch batting practice. And they were power, intimidation, big guys, feared. The Dodgers were speed, the Dodgers were pitching. They had a way of playing the game, the Dodger way of playing. They sold that.
"I thought you could put the two of them together, big guys that could run faster than anyone else."
Heyward-Bey is 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, and he ran the 40-yard dash faster than anyone else at the NFL scouting combine (4.3 seconds). The moment that stopwatch stopped, 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan could slot Heyward-Bey as Davis' first-round pick and hope Michael Crabtree would fall three spots to the 49ers at No. 10, as he did.
Even if the Raiders should have traded down and squeezed every ounce of value out of their top pick, perhaps they had no takers (remember, the New York Jets already traded up to No. 5 for USC quarterback Mark Sanchez).
As for Mitchell, he is also well built (6-1, 220) and fast (4.43 in the 40). He wants to be the Raiders' next Jack Tatum, whom Davis drafted in the first round in 1971.
Size and speed, however, don't always translate into Pro Bowl ability (see: Fabian Washington, Philip Buchanon, James Jett). Hence, a torrent of criticism has descended on Raider Nation.
But what good is all that whining? Davis is not selling the team and easing into retirement. He turns 80 this Fourth of July. He joined the Raiders at age 33. His life is the Raiders.
He doesn't trust anyone enough to hand over personnel control, and even if that weren't the case, the Raiders' image needs repair before any top-notch understudy goes there.
"Whether you want to call it the Al Davis way (or) the Oakland Raider way, it's our way," Raiders coach Tom Cable said last weekend of their draft process.
NFL bigwigs don't publicly mock Davis' recent string of questionable moves. But some privately question whether the game has passed him by in terms of the salary cap and draft-pick values.
The practice of instantly ridiculing a draft crop is foolish. No one knows who will prove worthy of their draft slot. It is a guessing game, one that can't be graded fairly until prospects are three years into the league.
So it's fair to rip Davis for not producing a homegrown Pro Bowl player in any of his previous five drafts. Those subpar drafts have been a key factor in his organization's downfall, much to Davis' own dismay.
"He still gets very excited," said Torre, recalling a lunch last year in which Davis stopped him in "mid-fork" and implored him to get to the ballpark on time.
Torre is 11 years younger than Davis and doesn't recall too much from their Brooklyn days. But Davis does.
"Joe Torre's brother, Frank, he was my age. We were rivals but good friends," Davis said in 2006. "We played on a place called the Playground, and Joe carried the bats."
Perhaps Davis considered that Torre's introduction to baseball and yet another notch on Davis' belt of sports prodigies. Here's the remainder of that quote: "I put Jerry Reinsdorf into baseball and basketball. I put (Alex) Spanos into San Diego (as the Chargers owner), (Eddie) DeBartolo into the 49ers. I know all of these kids."
Davis has always liked to discover talent. As for his new kids on the block Heyward-Bey and Mitchell? If they don't deliver in the next three years, let the criticism roll.
Five who need to step it up
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 12:33 pm in Oakland Raiders.
With a five-practice mandatory minicamp looking Friday, a short list of veterans who who will need to step it up or be in danger of losing their starting job or roster spot:
QB JaMarcus Russell– What kind of shape is he in? How is he taking to being `mentored” by Jeff Garcia?
Coach Tom Cable has praised Russell’s preparation, but the underlying message has been the same _ we need more from you, we want more from you.
It’s lunacy to begin to affix a “bust” label to Russell after he played relatively well down the stretch, albeit in games dominated by the run. At the same time, the Raiders should expect a big jump in terms of his quality of play this year.
If that were to happen, the Raiders are legitimate division title contenders. If it doesn’t, then the scrutiny will be intense and Garcia will go from mentor to beloved No. 2.
It’s about time for the Raiders to break out an NFL-quality passing game. With good passing teams, the ball rarely hits the ground in non-contact sessions.
The turf in Alameda and Napa has been littered with footballs since the start of the 2006 season. The receiving corps is still very young, but there ought to be some improvement in Russell’s practice accuracy from last year to this year.
DE Jay Richardson–He’s had 22 starts in two seasons and his strength at 6-foot-6, 280 pounds is supposed to be at the point of attack as a base end. But Richardson too often fails to hold his edge or is pushed aside because he plays too high, resulting in rushing gains in his direction.
The Raiders made Matt Shaughnessy out of Wisconsin a third-round draft pick, and Greyson Gunheim, a practice squad promotion, turned some heads with his play in the season finale against Tampa Bay.
S Michael Huff–Rest assured Huff was dangled as trade bait, but his lack of production and a contract befitting the No. 7 overall pick in the 2006 draft made him untradeable. Teams realize if Huff is cut, they can bring him in at the minimum salary.
Cable has already identified Hiram Eugene, who started the last five games of the season, as one of the team leaders. The draft picks of each of the last two years, Tyvon Branch and Mike Mitchell, look to have the potential to provide the physicality lacking in Huff.
If undrafted free agent Jerome Boyd makes a good impression, Huff’s roster spot could be in jeopardy.
WR Javon Walker–The Raiders are on the hook for $4.6 million over the next two seasons, regardless of whether Walker plays or not.
It was about this time last year Lane Kiffin began expressing concerns about Walker’s conditioning. Cable is more likely to express those concerns to Walker in private. What is really on trial is Walker’s passion and love for the game. He had a legitimate reason to be distracted last year after he was beaten and robbed in Las Vegas.
With new flyers Darrius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy in the mix, along with Johnnie Lee Higgins and Chaz Schilens, Walker will either be pushed back into prominence or pushed off the roster.
DE Derrick Burgess–If form holds, this will be the last Burgess sighting until training camp. His roster spot is safe, because he makes a reasonable $2 million salary in the final year of his contract and pass rushers are hard to find.
A cynic would suggest Burgess will be good for 12 sacks in a contract year. Perhaps, but the bigger issue with Burgess has been his health. What the Raiders ought to consider is making Burgess a nickel rusher, keeping his snaps down, and trying to help him maintain optimum health by avoiding rushing downs against tackles who outweigh him by 60 pounds.
DHB profile
– Beat writer Steve Corkran wrote this story on Darrius Heyward-Bey in today’s Bay Area News Group-East Bay papers.
– If Terdell Sands tackled ball-carriers and went after opposing guards and centers with the same ferocity he went after Lane Kiffin in his local paper, he wouldn’t be referred to as an underacheiver.
Sands’ beliefs do serve to underscore the utter lack of drama which should make this year’s minicamps and training camps more conducive to putting a good product on the field in Week 1.
Last year’s Lane vs. Al show essentially had the Raiders as no-shows for the opener.
– Over the last few days I’ve been conducting interviews for a closer look at Raiders safety Mike Mitchell, the controversial second-round pick who elicited scorn from Mel Kiper Jr., an apology from Mike Mayock and was mocked by Cris Carter.
While checking in with people who saw Mitchell extensively and also prepared to play against him came this gem from Central Michigan coach assistant head coach and wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni regarding a hit against star wide reciever Bryan Anderson.
“We had a three-time All-MAC wideout, 6-foot-5, 210 pounds,” Azzanni said. “Mitchell just knocked the absolute piss out of him. I thought he killed him on the sideline. That’s how hard he hit.”
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 12:33 pm in Oakland Raiders.
With a five-practice mandatory minicamp looking Friday, a short list of veterans who who will need to step it up or be in danger of losing their starting job or roster spot:
QB JaMarcus Russell– What kind of shape is he in? How is he taking to being `mentored” by Jeff Garcia?
Coach Tom Cable has praised Russell’s preparation, but the underlying message has been the same _ we need more from you, we want more from you.
It’s lunacy to begin to affix a “bust” label to Russell after he played relatively well down the stretch, albeit in games dominated by the run. At the same time, the Raiders should expect a big jump in terms of his quality of play this year.
If that were to happen, the Raiders are legitimate division title contenders. If it doesn’t, then the scrutiny will be intense and Garcia will go from mentor to beloved No. 2.
It’s about time for the Raiders to break out an NFL-quality passing game. With good passing teams, the ball rarely hits the ground in non-contact sessions.
The turf in Alameda and Napa has been littered with footballs since the start of the 2006 season. The receiving corps is still very young, but there ought to be some improvement in Russell’s practice accuracy from last year to this year.
DE Jay Richardson–He’s had 22 starts in two seasons and his strength at 6-foot-6, 280 pounds is supposed to be at the point of attack as a base end. But Richardson too often fails to hold his edge or is pushed aside because he plays too high, resulting in rushing gains in his direction.
The Raiders made Matt Shaughnessy out of Wisconsin a third-round draft pick, and Greyson Gunheim, a practice squad promotion, turned some heads with his play in the season finale against Tampa Bay.
S Michael Huff–Rest assured Huff was dangled as trade bait, but his lack of production and a contract befitting the No. 7 overall pick in the 2006 draft made him untradeable. Teams realize if Huff is cut, they can bring him in at the minimum salary.
Cable has already identified Hiram Eugene, who started the last five games of the season, as one of the team leaders. The draft picks of each of the last two years, Tyvon Branch and Mike Mitchell, look to have the potential to provide the physicality lacking in Huff.
If undrafted free agent Jerome Boyd makes a good impression, Huff’s roster spot could be in jeopardy.
WR Javon Walker–The Raiders are on the hook for $4.6 million over the next two seasons, regardless of whether Walker plays or not.
It was about this time last year Lane Kiffin began expressing concerns about Walker’s conditioning. Cable is more likely to express those concerns to Walker in private. What is really on trial is Walker’s passion and love for the game. He had a legitimate reason to be distracted last year after he was beaten and robbed in Las Vegas.
With new flyers Darrius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy in the mix, along with Johnnie Lee Higgins and Chaz Schilens, Walker will either be pushed back into prominence or pushed off the roster.
DE Derrick Burgess–If form holds, this will be the last Burgess sighting until training camp. His roster spot is safe, because he makes a reasonable $2 million salary in the final year of his contract and pass rushers are hard to find.
A cynic would suggest Burgess will be good for 12 sacks in a contract year. Perhaps, but the bigger issue with Burgess has been his health. What the Raiders ought to consider is making Burgess a nickel rusher, keeping his snaps down, and trying to help him maintain optimum health by avoiding rushing downs against tackles who outweigh him by 60 pounds.
DHB profile
– Beat writer Steve Corkran wrote this story on Darrius Heyward-Bey in today’s Bay Area News Group-East Bay papers.
– If Terdell Sands tackled ball-carriers and went after opposing guards and centers with the same ferocity he went after Lane Kiffin in his local paper, he wouldn’t be referred to as an underacheiver.
Sands’ beliefs do serve to underscore the utter lack of drama which should make this year’s minicamps and training camps more conducive to putting a good product on the field in Week 1.
Last year’s Lane vs. Al show essentially had the Raiders as no-shows for the opener.
– Over the last few days I’ve been conducting interviews for a closer look at Raiders safety Mike Mitchell, the controversial second-round pick who elicited scorn from Mel Kiper Jr., an apology from Mike Mayock and was mocked by Cris Carter.
While checking in with people who saw Mitchell extensively and also prepared to play against him came this gem from Central Michigan coach assistant head coach and wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni regarding a hit against star wide reciever Bryan Anderson.
“We had a three-time All-MAC wideout, 6-foot-5, 210 pounds,” Azzanni said. “Mitchell just knocked the absolute piss out of him. I thought he killed him on the sideline. That’s how hard he hit.”
Cable on KHTK
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 2:07 pm in Oakland Raiders.
A transcript of Raiders coach Tom Cable talking with KHTK Sacramento hosts Grant Napear and Mike Lamb, courtesy of sportsradiointerviews.com.
On being immune to criticism regarding the picks of Darrius Heyward-Bey and Mike Mitchell . . .
Cable: Absolutely. We knew what we needed at the wide receiver spot. And we had obviously targeted that as a need for this team. And we needed a box safety, a guy that could give us a real physical presence in helping stop the run. So we knew the two types of players we needed and it was a matter of locating them the draft and would they come to us. And they did. You know, everybody’s going to question you, but the minute those guys start making plays, they’re gonna say, ‘Man those guys were geniuses and they were right all along.’”
On the advantage of having players in ‘NFL-ready’ offenses . . .
Cable: Well, in today’s game, it’s huge, because colleges are having so much success with the spread system. And rightly so — college is always ahead in terms of experimenting and trying new things and so you have to be careful; what’s the background of the individual and is he going to be able to adjust and do what you need him to do.
On an early inter-division schedule being spicy:
Cable: It is. And I mentioned this when the schedule came out, and I think it’s a good thing that we start out against San Diego right away and we’re coming off having won our last two regular season games and obviously feel good about ourselves and know we’ve got a long, long way to go to get where we want to be to compete for the division. But you’ve got to go play the best in your division right away, and it’s on Monday night.
On knocking Tampa out of the playoffs:
Cable: It was a lot of satisfaction to be quite honest with you. The week before we beat Houston who was arguably the hottest team in football. And we beat them the right way; we threw it with good balance, we ran it with good balance, we were able to close the game out running the football so we were able to win that game. And then you go out to Tampa and they’ve got everything to play for, they’re playing to get in the playoffs. And we talked all week that this is our last game and we have a chance to go back and learn something for the future — and that was our message all week: ‘You’re going to be in this situation, become a playoff team soon and you’re going to have to learn how to do it, how to live with it and how to handle yourself in that environment.
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 2:07 pm in Oakland Raiders.
A transcript of Raiders coach Tom Cable talking with KHTK Sacramento hosts Grant Napear and Mike Lamb, courtesy of sportsradiointerviews.com.
On being immune to criticism regarding the picks of Darrius Heyward-Bey and Mike Mitchell . . .
Cable: Absolutely. We knew what we needed at the wide receiver spot. And we had obviously targeted that as a need for this team. And we needed a box safety, a guy that could give us a real physical presence in helping stop the run. So we knew the two types of players we needed and it was a matter of locating them the draft and would they come to us. And they did. You know, everybody’s going to question you, but the minute those guys start making plays, they’re gonna say, ‘Man those guys were geniuses and they were right all along.’”
On the advantage of having players in ‘NFL-ready’ offenses . . .
Cable: Well, in today’s game, it’s huge, because colleges are having so much success with the spread system. And rightly so — college is always ahead in terms of experimenting and trying new things and so you have to be careful; what’s the background of the individual and is he going to be able to adjust and do what you need him to do.
On an early inter-division schedule being spicy:
Cable: It is. And I mentioned this when the schedule came out, and I think it’s a good thing that we start out against San Diego right away and we’re coming off having won our last two regular season games and obviously feel good about ourselves and know we’ve got a long, long way to go to get where we want to be to compete for the division. But you’ve got to go play the best in your division right away, and it’s on Monday night.
On knocking Tampa out of the playoffs:
Cable: It was a lot of satisfaction to be quite honest with you. The week before we beat Houston who was arguably the hottest team in football. And we beat them the right way; we threw it with good balance, we ran it with good balance, we were able to close the game out running the football so we were able to win that game. And then you go out to Tampa and they’ve got everything to play for, they’re playing to get in the playoffs. And we talked all week that this is our last game and we have a chance to go back and learn something for the future — and that was our message all week: ‘You’re going to be in this situation, become a playoff team soon and you’re going to have to learn how to do it, how to live with it and how to handle yourself in that environment.
