- 49ers
- Raiders
- Giants
- A's
- Warriors
- Sharks
- NFL
- MLB
- NBA
- NHL
- College
- Preps
- Golf
- NASCAR
- Outdoors
- Other
- On TV & Radio
- Shop
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Seymour update plus a new field
Coach Tom Cable said there is no progress on contract talks with Richard Seymour. He was asked if there was any chance that the defensive lineman would attend any of the 12 practices this month and next.
"I don't know that at this point," Cable said.
Cable had sounded more optimistic at the minicamp, and really there may not be more to read into this than a veteran taking the summer off. The exclusive franchise tender would pay Seymour $12 million this season.
^ The non-profit Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation organization will receive a $200,000 NFL Grassroots Program grant, facilitated by the Raiders. It will be used to install a synthetic turf field and drainage system at Sobrante Park, a multi-purpose field located in East Oakland, designed to serve more than 14,000 young people in the area.
"The kindness of the Raiders to recognize an area that sorely needs their support will, in no small amount, have a tremendous impact on the lives of these kids," President Pro Tem of the Oakland City Council Larry Reid said.
Matching funds will be provided by the City of Oakland and Oakland Unified School District.
| May 20 at 02:59 PM
Celtics-Yankees-Raiders year
That's what Raiders coach Tom Cable said Wednesday after two practices this week. He likes how his team is progressing and is also a big-time Celtics and Yankees fan. "It'll be a Celtics-Yankees-Raiders year," Cable said. "It's starting to look like it. You never know."
^ Here is today's story in the Chron on Jason Campbell
^ Campbell was excited about new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson.
"He's very energetic. He talks a lot of smack," Campbell said. "That's his whole goal during practice is to make someone mad on defense. It excites everyone around us. There's not going to be a quiet practice here, I know. As long as he's here, it's going to be rowdy."
While we can hear the animated Jackson during practice, you are going to have to wait until July. The Raiders, for some reason, have decided not to make Jackson available to the media until training camp.
^ Silver and Black Productions, the broadcast department of The Oakland Raiders, won a Northern California Area Emmy Award last week. "Bruce Gradkowski Homecoming" won for Outstanding Achievement in Sports -- Program Feature/Segment.
The story chronicled Gradkowski's return to his hometown of Pittsburgh and his performance in the Raiders' 27-24 victory over the Steelers. Here it is if you want to watch.
^ While Gradkowski looks to return soon from a torn pectoral muscle, receiver Chaz Schilens looks to be out until training camp. He had surgery on his broken foot last season and also had a recent follow-up procedure.
"I think we'll take our time with that, just to be smart," Cable said. "I don't want to do anything to set it back. If he's there when we go to camp - which he will be - I'll be happy with that."
| May 20 at 01:16 AM
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
No Owens, Cable says
Raiders coach Tom Cable went on KNBR radio's Murph and Mac show this morning and shot down a ESPN report that Oakland was interested in receiver Terrell Owens. The free agent is still looking for a team.
"We really haven't had any discussion about that," Cable said. "We've got a good, young receiving corps, it's never been a point of conversation."
Cable, whose team practices today, Wednesday (the one media is invited to) and Thursday, also touched lightly on the team cutting quarterback JaMarcus Russell.
"I think we did what was best for our football team, that's the only thing that really matters here," he said. "Why, why not, this or that, it doesn't matter any more. What matters is we move forward as a football team and we did what we think gives us the best chance to succeed."
He did answer a question about new quarterback Jason Campbell being the opposite of Russell in terms of his work ethic.
"I don't think there is any question about that," Cable said. "We make a trade, he shows up he's here for four days, he goes to minicamp, never blinks."
| May 18 at 04:49 PM
Monday, May 17, 2010
More Kiffin and Russell
Had a couple days off and getting ready for Wednesday's OTA. Planning to talk to Hue Jackson, as well as hear the team's (coach Tom Cable's) first comments on releasing JaMarcus Russell.
Anyway, there is some stuff on the tube. Former coach Lane Kiffin, now at USC, is on HBO's Real Sports on Tuesday. Among other things, he talks about his time with Al Davis:
ANDREA KREMER: "What did you do to Al Davis that made him look like he wanted to wring your neck in that press conference?"
LANE KIFFIN: "Yeah, I don't know. I guess that would explain it, not agreeing with him, you know, and not winning enough games in his mind."
ANDREA KREMER: "Were you insubordinate in Oakland?"
LANE KIFFIN: "Absolutely not, unless being insubordinate is making every decision that you make and fighting for what you believe, will help your team win. If that's insubordinate, then I was insubordinate."
ANDREA KREMER: "Why did it have to end so badly?"
LANE KIFFIN: "Well, let's go with the law of averages. How many Raiders coaches ended real great? It's All Davis. He's gonna run the whole thing. What's going to happen is whatever he feels like that day."
^ There was an Ice Cube documentary "Straight Outta L.A." on ESPN about the Los Angeles Raiders, their popularity and their connection to the rise of gangster rap music. More about the show in our next post, especially Davis sitting down for a long interview with Cube.
^ Meanwhile, Chad Ochocinco tweetered that he will see JaMarcus Russell at Bengals training camp, but there has no been no move made yet. Russell is back home in Mobile, Ala. and did receive another endorsement -- this one from Alabama coach Nick Saban, who coached Russell one year at LSU.
"I still think that JaMarcus Russell is a very talented young man, " Saban told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "The thing that JaMarcus needs is someone to give him a structure of things that will help him be successful. And I know he will follow the plan. He always did that.
"He's not a defiant guy in any way. He wants to please you, and if he gets in the right organization with the right group of people, they can affect him and he can be very successful in the National Football League."
| May 17 at 06:02 AM
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Kiffin on Russell
Lane Kiffin didn't want JaMarcus Russell but the former Raiders coach liked the quarterback.
Former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin took the high road when he was asked about Oakland cutting JaMarcus Russell. Kiffin was fired by managing general partner Al Davis in 2008, and Davis blasted him for giving up on Russell.
Kiffin, now at USC, reportedly wanted to go with receiver Calvin Johnson with the No. 1 pick in 2007, and Davis wanted Russell. The strange thing was that Kiffin kept in touch with Russell even after he was fired.
"We had a difference of opinion, myself and Mr. Davis," Kiffin told the Los Angeles Times. "But, you know, like I've always said, 'Everybody has a boss,' and he was the boss. I truly wish it would have worked out different for JaMarcus because he's a great kid. But this could be the best thing for him."
| May 08 at 04:39 PM
Friday, May 07, 2010
The JaMarcus shadow (update)
UPDATE: JaMarcus Russell went unclaimed Friday, passed waivers and is now a free agent. Nobody wanted to touch his $9 million salary this year and he is now free to sign with any team for something closer to the veteran's minimum ($620,000). Mike Singletary, Jack Del Rio, Mike Shanahan, step up ...
There are those who say JaMarcus Russell never had a chance with the Raiders. From holding out his rookie year to walking into a feud between Al Davis and Lane Kiffin and having too many offensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches in his three years in Oakland, Russell does have his share of excuses. (We forgot the horrible offensive line).
He could have been a contender
Again, we're not saying that. We like the spoiled athlete gets $39 million and loses his mind theory. Even before the Vegas trips and crazy bling and purple drank rumors, there was the ESPN video of him just before draft day talking about how much he was going to relax and eat once he got drafted. (How that didn't freeze NFL scouts in their tracks I have no idea.)
We'll have more JaMarcus apologists in Saturday's paper, but here are two:
^ "That organization hasn't had a lot of success with a lot of (its players) lately," Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, who coached Russell as offensive coordinator at LSU, said. Fisher thinks Russell can turn his career around -- "There's more there, that's for sure," he said.
^ "No kid drafted No. 1 has ever faced what this kid faced," former Raider Warren Sapp told the Bay Area News Group. "He walked into arguably the most dysfunctional franchise in pro sports in the past 20 years. Ryan Leaf had a squad around him. They had some weapons to work with. Russell had nothing. He never had a chance."
| May 07 at 06:37 PM
Thursday, May 06, 2010
This guy had good minicamp
No, not JaMarcus. Running back Michael Bennett made the most of his tryout last week and signed with the Raiders on Thursday. Bennett, 31, has played for the San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings.
He rushed for 65 yards on 23 carries last season for the Chargers, catching six passes for 65 yards. Bennett's best year came in 2002, when he ran for 1,296 yards for the Vikings.
He and Rock Cartwright are behind Michael Bush and Darren McFadden on Oakland's depth chart.
| May 06 at 04:25 PM
More on Russell
Here's Vittorio Tafur's full story. And how much the Raiders spent -- and did not spend -- on JaMarcus Russell.
| May 06 at 01:41 PM
Russell released
JaMarcus Russell has been released, AP reports. We'll have a full story shortly.| May 06 at 12:58 PM
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Ex-teammates rip JaMarcus
Watched Sunday's "Outside the Lines" on ESPN about JaMarcus Russell, and if some of you didn't want to sit through a half-hour on more people piling on the quarterback, thought I would give you the highlights:
^ One anonymous ex-coach calls Russell a "binge eater"
^ Former teammate Jeremy Newberry said Russell "looked like a lineman - he was way out of shape." He also said Russell would walk from drill to drill at practice and was "more comfortable with a role as a backup."
^ Former Raider quarterback Andrew Walter blamed some of Russell's problems on the organization and its turnover in coaches. "If he was drafted by somebody else, it could be completely different." (Sorry but if Walter the statue is trying to suggest maybe he too would have been better somewhere else, he should think twice and thank the Raiders for every paycheck).
^ Russell's high school coach, Bobby Parrish, said people should not misread Russell's body english for not caring. "That's just the way he's been all his life; that's just his demeanor." Parrish also said Russell was deeply hurt by the death of his uncle, Ray-Ray, last year.
^ Jon Ritchie, a former Raider who didn't play with Russell, said he heard that Russell fell asleep in meetings. Former teammate Dominic Rhodes verifed that, and it also came out the Russell would sometimes take breaks from meetings, forget to come back and need to be fetched. "I don't think he has the mindset to be great," Rhodes said.
LINK SAUSAGE: Here is Monday's story on Robert Gallery and a Jacksonville story on popular ex-Raider Kirk Morrison.
| May 04 at 11:40 AM
more