The commonalties between Antonio Pierce’s personality and the 1974 poem about the Oakland Raiders “The Autumn Wind” is enough to make even the most demoralized Raiders fan excited for Sundays again.
As interim head coach, Pierce’s Raiders are “swaggering boisterously” with confidence we haven’t seen in decades. They are “villains big and bold” who will ““knock you 'round and upside down” like the several opposing QBs they’ve defeated. And they will certainly “laugh when they’ve conquered and won” with their loud locker room parties and postgame victory cigars.
At halftime of a milestone Christmas Day victory in Kansas City, Pierce’s message to the team was “hatred and violence and pain.” He talks the talk, and his players walk the walk of old-school Raiders.
But to think that’s all Pierce offers, is selling him short. He’s so much more than a guy who is on-brand.
Sure, all of this exemplifies his contagious confidence, his incredible ability to communicate with people, and his superior leadership skills --- all of which a great head coach must have. But there are also positive results and stats to compliment his “Raiders with attitude”.