Asomugha was a Raider when he went to bed last night and he’ll still be a Raider tomorrow while he eats his breakfast and reads the morning paper.

The ink is dry on a lucrative deal. Now let the debate begin.

For the average fan who only watches ESPN highlights, it is hard to grasp why a man who has managed just two interceptions in the last two seasons could be worth up to $50 million over the next three years.

Nnamdi Asomugha is to the sports media what soccer is to the American public: They just don’t get it. 

He is revered by those who play the game and is appreciated only by fans who understand the complexities football. Highlight reels of high school running backs will be viewed on You Tube more often than his exploits, yet offensive coordinators will spend more time watching Oakland Raiders game tape in order to develop a game plan that avoids him.

Try wrapping your head around the concept of a cornerback who has played for a franchise whose record is 24-72 since he has been on their roster,  yet is now worth the type of money  that Peyton Manning or Tom Brady will be making. While countless Americans are losing their jobs with each passing day in a dying economy, the sports world is only raising the bar and Asomugha is only raising his game.

Nnamdi has earned every penny that he has been promised. He has worked hard to become the best in his profession. When it was his time to cash in, he did not yell at his coordinator on the sideline and then take his contract negations to the media. There was never a public demand for a trade nor was there ever an attempt to use another team’s offer as leverage. Instead, a company man gave the company line and will now go to back work in the same office.

While Julius Peppers and Anquan Boldin grabbed the headlines, Nnamdi let his agent do the talking. The details of his contract aren’t even exact. One source states he has a six year deal, while another reports it as only three. After two years, he cannot be given the dreaded franchise tag and is to be paid a salary comparable to the NFL’s golden boys, yet he’ll most likely never receive a deal to endorse credit cards or sports drinks. The language of this contract is vague. The full contractual details, I’m sure, will be revealed sooner than A-Rod will tell the whole truth. But Asomugha will never be as infamous or noteworthy as a baseball player who smuggles steroids and lies to protect his millions. Nnamdi is the Bill Gates of sports: Filthy rich, yet incredibly humble.

Yes, this is indeed a modern conundrum. Why would a man with so much skill commit to a team with so much woe? Why would a team in one of the smaller sports markets be so ready to hand out millions in such uncertain times? How can a player with only two interceptions in the last two years be worth more than the receivers he is paid to keep out of the end zone and who surely sell more tickets and merchandise than him?

As many questions as there are, they will only have one answer: Because he’s worth it. That is not easy to comprehend, but it is true.

On the field, he is every bit the genius that Peyton Manning is and is an athlete that rivals Larry Fitzgerald’s ability. Off the field, he is as presidential as Barack Obama and is as thoughtful as Cornel West. Truly he is as brilliant as any of his fellow noteworthy alumnus from the University of California, Berkeley.

So before all the talk begins, I’d like to go on the record and say that in a world gone mad where we value entertainment over education, finally we have an athlete that is truly worth the money.

Congratulations Nnamdi! Now all you need is a Super Bowl ring to accompany your bust in Canton.

I’ve heard the gossip. I’ve scoured through posts on message boards.  I’ve read The Landry Hat. This story has been floating out there for some time now and is finally beginning to simmer a little. The rumors of T.O. departing the Cowboys are gaining momentum like Obama in Iowa. Then comes the knuckleball: T.O. will become a Raider upon his exit from Dallas.

To begin, I am not speaking on behalf of the Oakland Raiders. Nor am I presenting myself as the voice of Raider fans worldwide. This is but one fan’s humble opinion. Take it for what it is.

I find it laughable that anytime there is a head case out there in search of a new job that the first franchise floated out is always Oakland. Yes, I know why and where the reputation comes from, but the idea that every castoff misfit in the sporting world is somehow Oakland Raider material is a mockery of the business of professional football. I’m just waiting for the “Michael Phelps in talks with Oakland” headlines to be the next wave of trashy journalism to scroll across the lower third of ESPN News during the 35,000^th rebroadcast of the A-Rod interview.

From a professional standpoint, there are several reasons why this can’t happen: 1) Cap space – Last off season Al Davis went on a $200 million dollar spending spree. 2) Free agency – The lone two Raider Pro Bowlers (Shane Lechler and Nnamdi Asomugha) are set to hit the market. One of these two will get the franchise tag. 3) Javon Walker - Mr. Davis dropped $50 mil into this guy last year, and unless he retires I’m willing to bet he’ll come back to get all of his coin.

From a personal standpoint, I find T.O. to be a sham and a fraud. He represents everything that is poisoning the sports world. His “me first” attitude has sent him on an odyssey of destroying franchises at a rate that not even Isiah Thomas could aspire to. The man can ball, but in my Sports Bible, character counts.

That is why I want to say that having Terrell Owens appear in Silver and Black would be enough to make me root for the 49ers next season. Yeah, I said it!

My hope is that this is just all sizzle and no steak and that this story will remain a theory better left to be debated in pool halls and not ever to be spoke of between team owners.

The Raiders have a young team, adding a volatile personality like Owens to the mix would be like tossing Robert Downey Jr. into a halfway house for recovering addicts. 

I don’t even want to think what would happen the first time that JaMarcus Russell floats one just outside of the reach of Owens. I’ve seen this story before and know exactly how it ends: a young talent, the number one overall pick ,who is subjected to constant verbal abuse from an aging superstar. Sound familiar? To Washington Wizard fans it rings loud and clear. Right Kwame? 

Before I get too carried away with what is, for now, just a topic to pass the time between now and the combine, I will leave with this last thought. Winning is everything, but how you win defines your place in history. To date, the cities of San Francisco, Baltimore (even though he never suited up), Philadelphia and Dallas have learned this lesson. I don’t want Oakland to be next.

The sporting world was witness to a historic week, the likes of which make me rejoice for being alive in these modern times.

We saw what might be the greatest Super Bowl ever played, a game of can you top this between Kobe and LeBron played out on basketball’s most glamorous stage, another great installment of the best rivalry in sports (sorry Sox and Yanks fans, I’m talking C’s and Lake Show) and a legendary coach reaching a hostric milestone.

But what has grabbed our attention more than any of these has been the photo of a swimmer, the urine of a slugger and a running back in a rap video.

I am a California resident. Not so long ago our state voted, in a statewide election, to legalize the use of marijuana for medial purposes. Meaning any of us who live in this great state and pay taxes are more than welcome to see our physician and they, in turn, can prescribe an illegal substance for legal use.

As a California resident and die hard sports fan, I follow all things local. Some years ago I watched a track star and All-American running back at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks named Justin Fargas. He was known as the son of an actor, but made his own name as a state champion on the track and as an elusive back on the field. After sustaining a career threatening injury at the University of Michigan, Fargas returned to his roots and attended USC. He would help Pete Carroll win a national title and was later drafted by my Oakland Raiders.

As a resident of California, and a tax paying citizen of the state, Fargas made headlines this week for appearing in a rap video with fellow Bay Area native, and state tax payer, Yukmouth in which the “advocacy of smoking marijuana” was a central theme.

For the record, as an entire state and through the democratic process, we as citizens of California have advocated marijuana. Yet we have singled out one of our own for exercising his right as a tax paying citizen. Mind you, Fargas never does consume any of the legal/illegal substance in the video. Instead, it is the rapper who is doing so and not the athlete. Guilt by association I suppose.  

On the other side of the nation, in a state where marijuana is illegal under any circumstances, a 14 time Olympic gold medalist has brought shame to his family for appearing in a photo face first in a bong.

Now I am not advocating the use of marijuana, but I will say this to Michael Phelps. As far as I’m concerned, you need only to make apologies to your family and friends and owe nothing to the rest of us. You’ve represented your country and given us all a reason to take pride in the colors of our flag as we’ve seen it hoisted above your head and watched as you stood proud to the tune of our anthem. You, sir, are guilty of stupidity and nothing else. I offer you this sage advice. White Owls, Optimos, Swishers. Should you appear in a photo with any of these, you will always have a chance. There is no defending a bong.

Finally, we spent this week obsessing over a urine sample from Barry Bonds that has been sitting in a refrigerator, like some can of cheap domestic beer, for almost a decade. As we speak, Federal agents are using our money to send a baseball player to prison for steroid use.

It was no secret that Bonds was on the juice. Any collector of baseball cards needed only to look at the progression of his stats on the back of the card and then flip the card over and compare the recent photo to that of his rookie year to suspect something was amiss.

What was a secret until this week, was how much money the man whose job it is to police Bonds was making. Bud Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball, took home a cool $18 million last year. As Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles times pointed out, Mr. Selig’s salary was about $7 million more than the commissioner of the NFL. For the record, the NFL is financially head and shoulders above all other sports in the United States. Except for a few franchises in baseball, most all franchises in football are in another league in regards to their value. That’s right! Chances are the Detroit Lions are worth more than your favorite baseball team.

We say our athletes have a responsibility to those of us who help pay their salaries, to uphold the morals of society and be a role model to our youth. We tell them that their job is to set the example. Yet we allow those who are paid $18 million to oversee these athletes to do whatever is necessary to make their sport better.

Today, in that oval office in Washington DC, President Obama is mulling over a plan to salvage our dying economy whose spine has been broken in two by scandalous fund managers, greedy business owners and risk taking bankers. Yet the livelihood of Michael Phelps has been suspended for three months and Barry Bonds could face jail time while Bernie Madoff and Bud Selig are free to live their extravert lives at the expense of others.

Chris Shellcroft