Given Gruden’s history, Raiders should tread lightly with ‘Diva’ WRs
Is Gruden out of touch or what’s the issue?
Recently, the Raiders have had issues with what you would call ‘star receivers’, and no surprise, it’s happened since Gruden’s return. First, there was Amari Cooper. Upon Gruden’s arrival, it was clear that the organization was going to rebuild through the NFL draft.
After all, they traded away defensive superstar, Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears for a bevy of picks. Cooper followed suit, while there were no public confrontations, the wide receiver didn’t mince words once he was a Dallas Cowboy.
"“I just always felt like I wasn’t really being used how I felt like I would have used me if I was the coach. So I looked at it from that perspective, not from the perspective that, ‘Oh, they don’t think I’m good enough’ or I’m not good enough.”"
Maybe Gruden just simply didn’t know how to take advantage of Cooper’s skill or was it that the two just didn’t mesh. Cooper isn’t exactly remembered for his lively personality either.
Then, the Raiders decided that they were missing a true number one option for quarterback Derek Carr. They decided to acquire Antonio Brown.
It was supposed to be something special…
It was supposed to be something special, an offense built around Brown but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. A lot of folks point to Brown’s altercation with general manager Mike Mayock when he called him a ‘cracker’ as the nail in the coffin.
Once the smoke had settled and Brown was gone, Gruden enlightened the media as to his thoughts on Brown and essentially said his antics were just too much. Whether it was the ‘thing’ with his feet, the debacle over his helmet, or the missing practices, it was just too much.
Like it or not, when it comes to great talent, there’s often some level of attitude that goes with it. Not all players can be consummate citizens and a great coach has to adapt. Not necessarily amateur antics but handling difficult personalities doesn’t seem to be one of Gruden’s strengths.
The most painful example of Gruden’s inability to deal with such personalities stems from his run in Tampa Bay.