2007 Raiders

Don Wassall

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The great Raiders teams of the integrated NFL of the 1970s had plenty of white stars at every position on offense and defense except for cornerback. It's a much different story in Oakland in today's segregated NFL.


The Raiders actually are in the middle of the pack when it comes to racial breakdown -- a strong white presence at tight end and the offensive line gives the team 16 white players overall. But why did the white well of talent suddenly dry up, seemingly permanently? Why are there no more Fred Biletnikoffs, Mike Sianis, Mark van Eeghens, Marv Hubbards, Pete Banaszaks, Ted Hendricks, Phil Villapianos, and Howie Longs? Of course they're out there, but the I-A programs don't recruit and develop them, which keeps them out of the NFL.


A very good example of a player who has continually been overlooked and consigned to a backup role even at a position whites are still "allowed" to play is quarterback Josh McCown. McCown is 6'4" with a very strong arm and excellent mobility and all-around athleticism, to the point that the Detroit Lions toyed with the idea of playing him some at wide receiver. In limited opportunities to start with Arizona McCown had some huge games. But he was solely a backup with Detroit last year and if he does open the '07 season as the Raiders' starter, it would appear to be only a short-lived formality until rumblin' fumblin' Daunte Culpepper is judged ready to take over.


Andrew Walter, who never had a chance starting last year with perhaps the worst-coached offense in history under Art Shell's disastrous return, is firmly ensconsed as the third-string quarterback and is reportedly being shopped around as trade bait.


The demographic highlight of the Raiders is the offensive line, which has four white starters: RG Cooper Carlisle, C Jake Grove, LG Robert Gallery, and LT Barry Sims. Paul McQuistan, Chris Morris and Jeremy Newberry are backups, though Newberry continues to battle Grove for the starting job at center.


Rookie Zach Miller out of Arizona State has been named the starter at tight end. He is an excellent receiver with good running ability after the catch. His backup is John Madsen, who is a tremendous ball catcher in his own right. The 6'5" Madsen was a wide receiver at Utah and still at around 220 pounds there's no good reason he shouldn't be playing wide receiver for the Raiders, especially considering the fourth rate talent the team is carrying at wideout. Madsen is easily the third best receiver on Oakland after Ronald Curry and "Pouting" Jerry Porter, and may well be better than both of them if given an opportunity.


The pickings are slim on defense. The bright spot is starting FS Stuart Schweigert out of Purdue, the former high school state sprint champion who was a third round draft pick in 2004. Schweigert is a fine player who continues to improve every year, though a sizeable portion of the drunk white fans in the Bay Area continue to call for anyone black to replace him.


Former first round draft pick Tyler Brayton has been moved from the line to linebacker and back and is no longer starting.


The only other white defensive player on the roster is LB Jon Condo, who is used strictly as a long snapper.


NUMBER OF WHITE STARTERS: 6


APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF WHITE PLAYERS ON 53 MAN ROSTER: 16


GRADE: D-
 
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Al Davis used to like white "street kids" from the Northeast. Examples were Phil Villapiano, Mike Siani, Howie Long, and Lyle Alzado. He drafted many players with this background, while picking up Alzado toward the end of his career.
 

White Shogun

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sport historian, it's a real pleasure to have you posting on this site. I for one always look forward to reading your anecdotes when I see you have written a new post. Thanks for posting.
 

Colonel_Reb

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I agree with you White Shogun. sport historian, you always have great info and I have learned a lot from you. I wish we had 100 more like you on the board.
 

backrow

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or a 1000! but yes, i also appreciate all the cool info, sport historian
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Thanks for the compliments. I can remember watching pro football on TV from 1958, age 8, and have vivid recollections of games I saw in 1960. I also read the sports press from childhood, and have collected sports magazines and books.

For example, I recall watching the Steelers on TV when their backfield was Bobby Layne, John Henry Johnson, and Tom Tracy. During the Sixties and Seventies, I followed the pro football very closely. this gives me the advantage of knowing how players were seen during the time they played, rather than in retrospect.

However, I haven't payed as much attention since the late 1980's. You guys know the current scene better than me. I try to give a perspective on the period from the 1970's and before.
 

Colonel_Reb

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sport historian said:
This gives me the advantage of knowing how players were seen during the time they played, rather than in retrospect.

The significant thing about that is because the media will not talk about great white players from the past for the most part, so having a perspective like yours is invaluable for trying to prove the power of the Caste System. Knowing that in 1965 Jim Taylor and Jim Brown were thought of by the media as the best RBs in pro football history is something that you would never hear from an ESPN talking head today. They would have us believe that all the best RBs have always been black, but that is just part of the big lie.

Before this change on the part of the media, things were much different. Just knowing that is a powerful thing in this ignorant sheeple dominated age. My thoughts on the subject is that as long as people are around who remember how whites were treated before the change, it will be easier to convince people of the Caste System's existence. If it keeps going long after that time, nobody will remember first hand, and the Caste System will end because of the performance of the white athletes of the time or some outside influence changing things.
 

backrow

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rotoworld.com

Raiders signed KR Tim Dwight to a one-year contract.

Oakland has been having trouble with its return unit, going through Chris Carr, Johnnie Lee Higgins, and most recently Dominic Rhodes on kick returns. Dwight should also handle punts and act as the team's fifth receiver
 

Don Wassall

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If the Raiders weren't so Caste oriented, they would be using John Madsen as one of their receivers instead ofmis-casting him as a tight end. He should be starting alongside Ronald Curry instead of the organization forcing him to try to greatlybeef up his naturally lean frame.


Madsenshould be starting in placeof Jerry Porter. Porter's another one of those black WRs who's perpetuallyswooned overby the media and the drunk white fans even though his career has been exceedingly inconsistent and underachieving. Plus he's an a-hole who was suspended most of last season for his behavior, yet still remains on the team and as a starter yet.


Edited by: Don Wassall
 

White Shogun

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I forgot about Porter in a conversation today regarding over-hyped wide receivers. Porter = Peerless Price.
 

Tom Iron

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I'll answer my own question. Josh McCown is getting the start. Excellent news.

Tom Iron...
 

Stonewall

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Oakland should use Madsen, Miller and Dwight on the field together, those three would present serious problems to opposing defenses with their diverse combination of speed, quickness, and size.
 

jaxvid

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Tom Iron said:
I'll answer my own question. Josh McCown is getting the start. Excellent news.

Tom Iron...

Didn't Culpepper play instead?
 

ToughJ.Riggins

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I gotta say this isn't necessarily a caste move. McCown has a 59.5 QB rating thorough 5 games and has 9 INTs to 5 TDs. Clearly the Raiders think Russel is the QB of the future. The Raiders think Culpepper might have a better chance to help them win for the rest of this season. And they can groom Jamarcus for next season

Edited to Add: McCown has been in the league since 2002 and in 40 games has a 70.6 QB rating with 38 INTs to 30 TDs. McCown is a good backup, but I'm not convinced he's starting material. Maybe he should be moved back to WR, he is frekin fast for a QB!Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins
 

backrow

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from rotoworld.com

Hiram Eugene has overtaken Stuart Schweigert as the Raiders' starting free safety.

It's not been a good year for Schweigert, who may not be back with Oakland next season. Eugene has only 12 tackles in the Raiders' last three games and won't be much of a shallow IDP league option playing center field.
 

celticdb15

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Even if Schweigert is out of Oakland, he has the skills and now experience to start somewhere else next year.
 

backrow

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yeah, it might be for the best. but really, one might almost think that some sort of NFL white safeties quota was getting too high, with Reed Doughty and Cam Worrell starting, hence demotions of Archuleta and Schweigert.

also unluckily Worrell, Considine and Piscitelli who were starters or had a shot at it (Sabby) are on the IR.
 

backrow

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here's what i found investigating Schweigert's situation:

Free safety Stuart Schweigert (calf) is probable after his streak of 37 consecutive starts ended at Kansas City.

It wasn't settled as of Friday's practice if Schweigert or Hiram Eugene would start against the Broncos.

Schweigert has been criticized for missing tackles. That, in part, has sunk the Raiders' run defense to worst in the NFL.

But in place of Schweigert against the Chiefs, Eugene also missed tackles in his first NFL start.

Eugene has been a big contributor on special teams all season.

"We're going to play them both," Kiffin said. "And look at this practice - they both took a number of reps ... and we'll figure it out by (today)."


and this:

EUGENE REPLACES SCHWEIGERT: Hiram Eugene will start for the third straight game and appears to have unseated Stuart Schweigert as the Raiders' free safety.

A third-year player who spent most of 2005 and 2006 on Oakland's practice squad, Eugene initially started against Kansas City on Nov. 25 after Schweigert sat out with a calf injury. But Schweigert, the team's third-round pick in 2004, returned to practice last week only to find Eugene had replaced him atop the depth chart.

The two split reps in practice Thursday but Kiffin indicated Eugene will get the nod against Green Bay.

"Hiram will start, building off the last two weeks that he's played extremely well," Kiffin said. "He's tackling well and doing things."

Eugene will continue to play on special teams as well, while Schweigert could see playing in Oakland's nickel and dime packages.

Edited by: backrow
 

backrow

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from rotoworld.com

According to SI.com's Don Banks, there are "rumors" that JaMarcus Russell has ballooned to close to 300 pounds since last season ended.

Russell, who coach Lane Kiffin has named the Raiders' starter, had weight issues in college. InsideBayArea.com's Jerry McDonald writes in his blog that no players have actually seen Russell this offseason, so the rumors are hard to confirm. Russell has shown the ability to drop weight quickly.
 

Don Wassall

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Senile Al Davis has gone wild this off-season, spending zillions on free agents, all black. The Raiders now easily have the NFL's highest payroll for '08 at $137 million.


This is a storied franchisethat dominated for a long period of time with no shortage of great white players. Davis's personnel moves the past half dozen years have been pitiful, with no end in sight. He should have turned the reins of power over years ago, instead he's now a way past his prime Caste System fanatic whose team is a joke. I eagerly anticipate the beginning of the Jamarcus Russell era.
smiley36.gif



[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayto n_john&id=3299615[/url]
 

Thrashen

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I still can't believe the contracts they gave to the quite mediocre Gibril Wilson (former Giants Safety), DT Tommy Kelly, and WR Javon Walker.

Don, I too can't wait to watch the now 300lb Russell's fat gut flopping up and down as he slowly drops back to pass. I don't think we have much to worry about in terms of Russell becoming the "next great black QB." Or even the next Dante Culpepper. I actually think Vince Young or T. Jackson has a better chance of that (on a much better teams).

I'm sure Russell will play aweful each and every season and be often injured...yet the media will call him "warrior," "leader," and suggest that if he were the QB of a better team...he'd be a future hall of fame player.
 

PhillyBirds

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The NFL just hates admitting defeat on black QBs. Most of them take years (if not decades) to finally fade away for good.
 

Tom Iron

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What's the latest scoop on Russel? I heard he's put on weight. Is that true?

Tom Iron...
 
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