Raiders are silver, black and blue
Oakland is mired in years of decline
It was only six years ago that the Oakland Raiders played in the Super Bowl.
To their suffering fans, that seems like a century ago.
This once-proud franchise, one of only two to make Super Bowl appearances in four different decades (the Pittsburgh Steelers are the other), has fallen on hard times. Owner Al Davis’ “Commitment to Excellence” has given way to a run of mediocrity.
The Raiders haven’t had a winning season since losing Super Bowl XXXVII to Tampa Bay, a five-year drought unmatched in their storied 49- year history. Their 19-61 record since 2002 is the worst in the NFL and worse than the first five seasons of any of the last four expansion teams.
After an embarrassing season-opening home loss to Denver, rumors spread that Lane Kiffin might be the fourth head coach to be fired by the Raiders since 2003. He earned a stay of execution with a 23-8 win at Kansas City, but his job status is still tenuous heading into Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
“I was very proud of our guys that they were able to not allow these outside distractions inside of our locker room, and I was very proud of our staff hanging together because it could be difficult if you allow it to be and they didn’t,” Kiffin said of the Kansas City win. “They worked through it and played extremely well, especially on the road.”
Kiffin said he’s not worried about things that are out of his control, like his job status. The players are following the same approach.
Running back Justin Fargas, now in his sixth year with the Raiders, has gone to great lengths to tune out the negativity surrounding the team.
“I tried to stay off the Internet and just in my experience here, with all the things that have gone on, I really don’t listen to the talk or what people expect or anything like that,” Fargas told reporters recently. “I just try to concentrate on what I can do to improve as a player. That’s not going to change; this is my approach.”
So what happened to the Raiders? How did a franchise that used to be synonymous with winning become mired in a culture of losing?
A lot of the talent that made up the backbone of the 2002 Super Bowl team left either via free agency, trades or the waiver wire. Some former Raiders who left talked about the level of dysfunction within the organization.
Defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who retired after last season, told the St. Petersburg Times that his time with the Raiders was as “dark as a black hole.” Cornerback Chris Carr said there was “so much other stuff going on there,” that it made winning nearly impossible.
Safety Stuart Schweigert said “a thousand-pound bear” was lifted off him when he was released by the team, and wide receiver Jerry Porter commented that being a Raider had become a “burden.”
“There are people there who made it great to come to work every day,” said Bills offensive tackle Langston Walker, who spent five years in Oakland, “and then there are people that you just wished they didn’t get out of bed that morning.
“People stop you on the street and ask you what’s really going on. The only thing you can tell them is, ‘I don’t know. I’ll find out when you find out.’ That’s how it was and how it’s been out there.”
Operating behind the black curtain is Davis, who sold a small percentage of the team to a group of investors late last year. He has no general manager, so he basically makes all personnel decisions. Not many of his moves have worked out, but he keeps trying.
In a desperate attempt to restore the greatness of the Raiders, Davis emptied his bank vault. He signed wide receiver Javon Walker, strong safety Gibril Wilson, cornerback DeAngelo Hall, defensive tackle Tommy Kelly and running back Darren McFadden to contracts totaling $274 million with $100 million in guaranteed money. That doesn’t include the $9.7 million one-year franchise tender signed by cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
So far, Davis hasn’t gotten much of a return on his investment. Walker, who was beaten and robbed in Las Vegas and then had to be talked out of retiring by Davis, hasn’t caught a pass. Hall and Wilson have struggled in coverage and Kelly has underachieved. Only McFadden and Asomugha have played at a level that’s commensurate with their large salaries.
“There was a lot of money spent in the offseason,” Kiffin said. “There is a lot of added expectations and pressure on them.”
The only hope is that those players along with other young players like quarterback JaMarcus Russell, the top pick in the 2007 draft, linebackers Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard and safety Michael Huff will provide the building blocks to a better future.
But for now, all the frustrated Raider Nation can do is wonder when the losing is going to end.
“A lot of my friends and family are Oakland fans, so I don’t want to have to listen to the negative talk,” said Wilson, who left the Super Bowl champion Giants to sign with the Raiders. “It’s just very important to just get back to winning, to get back to the Oakland mystique, the silver and black. . . . That’s what we need to get back to.”
