Tag: Al Davis (Page 8 of 12)

Five potential suitors for Vick

Even though his agent Joel Segal recently stated that his client is putting football “on the back burner”, Peter King of SI.com lists five potential suitors for Michael Vick once the NFL decides to reinstate him.

1. New Orleans Saints
I think coach Sean Payton could sell it pretty easily to selfless and egoless quarterback Drew Brees by telling him Vick’s not coming in to take your job, only coming in to play five to 10 snaps a game in some Wildcat/running back/receiver capacity. Saints owner Tom Benson wants to win badly.

2. Oakland Raiders
Because Al Davis is Al Davis, and he doesn’t care what we think, or what PETA thinks, and because he loves athletes more than any other owner in football.

You can read the rest of King’s list, here.

Personally, I think the only person with the kahones to take Vick on would be Al Davis in Oakland. I don’t disagree with any of King’s reasoning for the other teams, but in the end, most owners will to be scared off by the potential consequences that come with signing Vick.

But as King alluded to, Davis doesn’t give a wet fart about anything but winning and if he feels Vick will help him win, he’ll bring him on board. I just hope Davis is dumb enough to trade for Vick and the Falcons get something in return for all of their troubles.

DeAngelo Hall: Al Davis didn’t know Tom Cable

Current Redskin and former Raiders’ cornerback DeAngelo Hall appeared on a Washington D.C. based radio show recently and told an interesting story about Oakland owner Al Davis not knowing who Tom Cable was when he hired him.

The funniest Al Davis story from his time in Oakland?

“Probably the funniest thing, I was pretty close to Lane Kiffin…and after they fired Lane and were about to announce who the next coach was – I don’t know if you guys saw this in the media world, but I was actually sitting there live, me and a couple other players there in the back. And [Davis] went through this whole spiel of what happened…and said our next coach is Tom Cable, he’s going to be our interim coach. When everybody paused for Tom to come in, like a breakoff. [Davis] goes to the media guide and not even whispering says ‘hey, anyone got any information on this Tom Cable guy, I don’t know where he comes from.’ That’s just vintage Al Davis. Making a move, not really knowing why, no real justification for doing it. But just saying, ‘hey, I want this guy, let’s get him, I’ll figure everything else out later.’ And that’s just how Al Davis is.”

His thoughts on being out of Oakland:

“Oh, it’s a weight off my shoulders, just that whole situation out there and the way they did things. I’m not knocking it but it wasn’t what I was accustomed to, what I was used to, and I just started just not caring like a bunch of other guys, you know. It kind of rubs off on you. They say you go to Oakland as a player to die..You can definitely go there and have fun towards the end of your career, but to go there during the prime of your career, that’s just not a place you want to be. I felt the same when I was out of there – just a sigh of relief to get out of there.”

For as zany as Al Davis is, I highly doubt he would hire a head coach not knowing who he was. I also highly doubt that Davis would say what Hall says he did in front of an entire media staff. (And loud enough for Hall to hear it in the back, but not loud enough for the media members to hear it in the front.) It just sounds like Davis didn’t know where Cable was from (i.e. where he was born, raised, bred, etc.), which isn’t as big of a deal as Hall making it sound like Davis hired Cable not knowing who he was.

His second comment is vintage Hall and vintage Raiders. Hall isn’t saying anything that former Raiders haven’t said before about the situation in Oakland, but it doesn’t surprise me in the least that he says that he stopped caring. The Raiders handed him a $70 million contract and $24 million in guaranteed money and he couldn’t even make it half a season without throwing in the towel. I know the situation in Oakland lends to guys quitting, but it pisses you off when you hear about guys making millions of dollars to play football and they just go through the motions. (Especially in this economy.)

Tim Brown: Al Davis hates black athletes from Notre Dame

Former NFL great Tim Brown was recently elected into the College Football Hall of Fame and during an interview with Jimmy Shapiro, he dropped a bombshell about Raiders’ owner Al Davis.

On meeting Al Davis for the first time:

“Meeting Al (Davis) was pretty unique. I found out five or ten minutes after my first practice there that he hated African-American athletes from Notre Dame. And they literally told me that. They literally told me that because we’re known for using our education more than our athletic ability that he thought that I would be one of these guys that would basically take the money and run. I don’t know if that was a ploy to get me amped up, but it certainly worked.”

Wow. Tim Brown has managed to totally shock me, yet I’m not totally shocked. He says it so nonchalantly like, “Yeah, that’s just Al being Al. He hates black athletes from Notre Dame – no biggie.”

65 Observations about the 2009 NFL Draft

I’m going to channel my inner Peter King and dole out a crap load of quick-hit thoughts on last weekend’s NFL draft, which by the way, was one of the more unpredictable drafts I have ever witnessed.

Below are 65 observations from the 2009 NFL Draft. Why 65? I don’t know – don’t worry about it. Originally I came up with 62, but I know that some people freak out when things aren’t in round numbers, so I added three more. But the number 65 means nothing, so don’t waste time searching for its meaning.

Obviously these are all my opinions and feel free to debate them. But before you do, I already know that it supposedly takes three seasons to fully grade a draft and that no prospect is a sure thing. Again, I’m projecting here – so lighten up and let’s strike up some good debates.

1. Outside of the fact that he’s now a millionaire and could buy a small country, I kind of feel bad for Matthew Stafford. You know some halfwit fan or media member can’t wait to utter the comment, “For $72 million, he should have made that pass.” I hate the fact that money plays such a huge role in sports because when you get down to it, completing a pass, making a catch or kicking a field goal has nothing to do with how many zeros are on your paycheck.

2. I know I’m not saying anything new here, but the rookie salary structure is a joke. When teams don’t even want a top 5 pick anymore because of the financial burden that comes with it, there’s a huge problem.

3. The kid could turn out to be the next Ryan Leaf on the field, but Lion fans have to at least take comfort in the fact that Matthew Stafford is saying all the right things at this point. He did an interview with the NFL Network on Sunday and he talked about how he wants to be a starter right away, but also wants to learn and be patient in his development. From all accounts, he looks like he has a great head on his shoulders.

4. If Tyson Jackson turns out to be the next Richard Seymour like Chiefs’ GM Scott Pioli believes, then nobody is going to remember (or care) that he was taken with the third overall pick in a weak draft class.

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Official 2009 NFL Draft Post & Rumor Mill

As the NFL draft rolls on over the next two days, I’ll post picks, thoughts and stay on top of any rumors that I hear and post them here. Enjoy.

2:55PM ET: Mike Mayock of the NFL Network claims that his “cell phone is blowing up” with reports that the Jets are trying to trade up to No. 2 for USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.

3:19PM ET: According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Dolphins will select Connecticut cornerback Darius Butler at No. 25.

3:22PM ET: The Rams could trade back into the first round for middle linebacker Rey Maualuga according to NFL Network’s Steve Wyche.

3:38PM ET: I’m shocked the Chiefs passed on Aaron Curry, but all the pre-draft rumors that said Tyson Jackson would be their pick were obviously dead on. Jackson is the best 3-4 end in the draft and obvious was a commodity.

3:40PM ET: The Browns got exactly what they wanted with this trade. They weren’t in love with anyone at No.5 and managed to trade out. Great move – I wonder what kind of ransom the Browns got.

3:42PM ET: Mike Mayock just made a great point about the Jets trading up to No. 5. What team did they want to get ahead of to go all the way up to No. 5?

3:45PM ET: DE Kenyon Coleman, QB Brett Ratliff, S Abram Elam No. 17 and No. 57. A sleeper in this deal is Elam, who is one of the more promising safeties in the draft.

3:52PM ET: The Bengals select OT Andre Smith – another low character guy for their low-character roster. He is a tremendous talent, but he comes with a ton of baggage.

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