Archive for July, 2010

When it comes to signing draft picks, the Oakland Raiders move at Usain Bolt speed (JaMarcus Russell not withstanding). Late Wednesday night the team reached a contractual agreement with top pick Rolando McClain. Terms of the deal were not immediately announced but you’d better believe general managers everywhere breathlessly await the specifics of the contract. It is not known whether or nor McClain will make it to Napa in time for the morning session on Thursday but he is expected to be in attendance at some point today. The Raiders now have all 9 draftees under contract as the first [...]

Dubbed as the steal of the offseason, Jason Campbell will begin his career in Oakland as the starting quarterback. Tom Cable made the announcement today as the Raiders opened up training camp. Campbell will have to wait until Thursday to get in his first reps as the starter as the team is in meetings today and will not take to the field until tomorrow. Of course this is still very much an open competition. Cable cited Bruce Gradkowski’s pectoral injury as the main reason why JC is opening camp as the starter. Unlike last year, when JaMarcus Russell and Jeff [...]

Sad news today for Raider Nation as word of the passing of Jack Tatum spread throughout the sports world. Plagued with a litany of health concerns since his playing days had ended, Tatum suffered a heart attack and was pronounced dead today in Oakland. The Raiders originally drafted Tatum 19th overall out of Ohio State back in 1971. Wasting no time in introducing himself to the NFL, Tatum knocked out two Baltimore Colts in his pro debut. From that day forward Tatum was a starting safety in one of the most feared secondaries in pro football. He would go on [...]

With the start of training camp just days away, the Oakland Raiders have now secured all but one of their draftees. Late Monday, the team announced that second round pick Lamarr Houston had aggraded to terms well in time for the defensive lineman from Texas to be in attendance for the first day of camp. Houston’s intensity level during offseason OTA’s is well documented in Vittorio Tafur’s piece that appeared in the chronicle over the weekend. For a run defense that has been struggling mightily to improve over the past 7 years, perhaps the upstart rookie’s eagerness will be just [...]

What will Al Davis get for $21-million in 2010? Hopefully he’ll get more than 9 catches, 1 touchdown and fewer drops out of Darrius Heyward-Bey. Sports Illustrated compiled the Fortunate 50, a raking of the 50 highest paid athletes in 2010. Surprisingly enough, DHB ranks 28th, one spot ahead of Jeff Gordon and just behind Paul Pierce. Heyward-Bey’s salary of $21.4-million in 2010 also makes him the highest paid athlete in the Bay Area – eat your checkbook Barry Zito – and the 8th highest paid player in the NFL. The combinations of clever accounting and the NFL going sans [...]

And then there were two. Yesterday, the Oakland Raiders signed 7th round pick Stevie Brown leaving just Lamarr Houston and top pick Rolando McClain as the only unsigned draftees. Brown played both safety and linebacker at the University of Michigan and will be in for the fight of his life to make the active roster as a defensive back. The Raiders, already loaded with a wealth of talent in the secondary, drafted three more DB’s in the 2010 draft creating what should be some heated competition during training camp. Now the attention turns to Houston and McClain. The Raiders should [...]

Continuing their now annual tradition, the Oakland Raiders are hosting the Raider Nation fan appreciation celebration on August 27th. Titled “Back to Football”, the event was announced today by the Raider organization. Back to Football: The Raider Nation Celebration is set for Friday, August 27 from 4– 6:00 p.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland. This family-friendly event will feature current Raiders players and coaches, Raider Legends and the Raiderettes as well as chances to win exciting prizes. This FREE event features select autograph and photo opportunities with the Raiderettes and Raider Legends, the Super Bowl Trophies on display and live [...]

Come one week from today – when the Oakland Raiders begin training camp – chances are they’ll be without top pick Rolando McClain. While McClain is highly unlikely to enter into a JaMarcus Russell-esque holdout, the eighth pick in the 2010 NFL Draft will undoubtedly miss the initial days of camp. However, McClain’s absence will have nothing to do with his demands. JaMarcus notwithstanding, the Raiders have had great success at signing draft picks and getting them into camp early. Look no further than Darrius Heyward-Bey who one year ago missed just one day of training camp after agreeing to [...]

Perhaps Len Pasquarelli is unaware of just who it is he works for. Today, the ESPN columnist went rogue and actually – Gasp! – declared the Raiders acquisition of Jason Campbell as the steal of the offseason. To be fair, the network that has taken Raider Hatred to Olympian heights has been very reserved this offseason. In fact, despite Pasquarelli’s praise of the Campbell deal he is still in the Disney minority of those that are picking the Silver and Black to be a surprise team in 2010. The Raiders have been a chic pick by the pundits at this [...]

Late Thursday night, the Oakland Raiders reached contracutal agreements with rookie linebacker Travis Goethel and defensive back Jeremy Ware. Best bet for Goethel making the roster would be as a special teams contributor. As for Ware, well, he’s got his work cut out for him in attempting to make a team that is far from thin on talent in the defensive secondary. More than likely these two will be fighting for a practice squad spot. But even that will be an uphill battle with the likes of David Nixon and Jerome Boyd ahead of them. Considering the Raiders made headlines [...]