Raider Nation Is Getting Served - And Not In A Good Way

Al Davis is fond of saying he'd rather be right than consistent.  Well, he's been consistently wrong for the past six seasons with his heavy handed handling of personnel and the media.  In fact, but for a couple of instances at the beginning of the 90s and the 00s, his teams have been mediocre to horrible since its last Super Bowl championship in 1984.  It really boils down to Al achieving success early with some fairly innovative techniques.  Problem is, he's remained stubborn to those ideals while being fairly close-minded to the way the game has evolved.

I don't say these things lightly.  I've been a Raider fan since I was ten (1974).  During that time, it was Muhammed Ali, Richard Pryor, Marvel comics, and the Raiders were it for me.  Al shaped those Raiders, and I was, and have been, an Al Davis fan.  I've held out on calling for his retirement or relinquishment of the reins, in large part because I know he won't do it.  And while I hear that he remains as sharp as a tack, he can't keep operating like this and expect different results.  I seem to recall the definition of insanity is doing something the same while expecting different results.  I don't know if that's insanity, but it might define idiocy.

In the early days of my Raider fandom (the mid-70s), the Raiders were a hardcore thing of beauty to behold.  John Madden was the coach and his antics on the sidelines were almost as entertaining (sometimes more so) as the game itself.  The Snake was a left-handed rebel who was as a cool as a cucumber.  Of course, he was helped by the O-line, particularly Gene Upshaw and Art Shell, who allowed him to just stand in the pocket as still as a statue before firing a pass to Mr. Stick-Um, Fred Biletnekoff.  Cliff Branch used to beat fools on a deep fade before snatching a bomb.  Dave Casper was one of those smart quirky rebels the Raiders seemed to have.  Ted "The Mad Stork" Hendricks was another one but on the other side of the ball.  Otis Sistrunk made the shaved head goatee look hip before it was hip.  Then there were George Atkinson and especially Jack Tatum patrolling the middle of the field like a couple of Darryl Gates cops in South Central LA.

After Madden retired (according to some reports with Al glad to be rid of an independent thinker as his coach), the Tom Flores era began.  The 1980 team was my favorite because it was full of grit and determination.  A few holdovers from the 70 glory years, such as Upshaw, Hendricks, Branch, and Shell, remained.  However, there were some new heads who brought that Raider flavor to the table - in particular, Jim Plunkett, Lester Hayes, Rod Martin, Matt Millen, Kenny King, and Bob Chandler.

The 1983 champion team was even better.  By then they had added my all-time favorite Raider Marcus Allen along with Lyle Alzado and Mike Haynes with Todd Christensen and Howie Long becoming more significant players.  I hated the Washington football team as much as the Broncos in those days, and the Raiders smashed the Washington.

But the downfall was in full effect at that time.  Al drafted Marc Wilson to be the QB.  Now, he may have been a perfectly nice guy, but he was not an effective quarterback.  It has been Al's chasing of a quarterback that has led to the Raiders mediocre ways.  Particularly after Al decided to banish Marcus Allen to the doghouse.

Al likes to pat himself on the back for hiring Art Shell the first time around.  But Art benefited from a decline in the AFC at that time.  Soon KC got strong again and Belichick coached circles around him for a mediocre Cleveland team.  Art's teams were never particularly sharp.  The qb's got killed routinely.  Plus he benefitted from the Bo Jackson experiment.

Another in the qb fuckery was the Jay Schroeder for Jim Lachey trade.  At the time, Al had Willie Gault, Mervyn Fernandez, and James Lofton on the squad.  He believed all he needed was a strong-armed qb to get them the ball deep.  Well, he didn't have the line to hold the blocks, he wasn't giving Marcus Allen the ball to offset the passing game with a running attack, and Schroeder wasn't particularly accurate. (Does this sound familiar?) 

Jeff Hostetler got into a famous argument with Art Shell over play-calling because Art's o-coordinator, Tom Walsh, kept calling Al-type deep ball throws.  He was getting killed because the line couldn't block and weak-ass receivers James Jett and Rocket Ismail couldn't get open. (Sound familiar?)

Al kept signing big name players hoping that he would see the same impact on his roster he saw doing similar things he had done in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.  It didn't work.  In fact, the 49ers and Packers were better at the game than he was by then (former Al protegees Bill Walsh and Ron Wolf being responsible, respectively).

Finally, he hired young Jon Gruden to turn the team around.  Gruden convinced Al to change the scheme and sign a back-up qb who had always been effective when given a chance in Minnesota, DC, and KC - Rich Gannon.  Gannon blossomed.  The Raiders returned to the top after Al made savvy signings in Jerry Rice, Rod Woodson, Eric Allen, Lincoln Kennedy, William Thomas, Zack Crockett, and Charlie Garner.  I thought maybe Al hasn't lost it after all.

Then Gannon got hurt into retirement.  Kerry Collins took over and couldn't hit the side of a barn.  Al signed Aaron Brooks (huh?)   And then drafted Jamarcus along with Darrius Heyward-bey to revitalize a passing attack that hadn't seen a consistently thrown deep ball since Plunkett to Branch in the 80s.  Gannon has been banned from the facilities because he offered friendly analysis as to why Al's offense is not working.

It's this last act along with Al's meddling in the personnel that has me at wit's end with my favorite football franchise.  I know Al cares more about his thought process and what he believes will get this team turned around than what other folks think.  But you have to be willing to go outside yourself and objectify your actions.  Al has great ideas, but they need tempering.  Cuz the product on the field sucks right now.