Tag: Oakland Raiders

Couple Raiders legends remain among modern-era semifinalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame

The latest trim down to 25 modern-era semi-finalists, leaves two Raiders nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2025.

Wednesday the Pro Football Hall of Fame trimmed their list of nominees down to 25 semi-finalists. Among them are a couple Raiders legends.

Making the list are Raiders greats CB Eric Allen and G Steve Wisniewski.

Allen finished out his career in Oakland, playing for the Raiders for four seasons from 1998-2001. This is his fifth time being named a semi-finalist.

Wisniewski played his entire career for the Raiders, starting in Los Angeles in 1989 and retiring after the 2001 season. This is his second time as a semifinalist.

This round saw Marshawn Lynch trimmed from the list of nominees for the Raiders. He was in his first year of eligibility.

This list will be trimmed down to a shorter list of finalists later this year. They will be combined with the senior finalists for a list of 20 modern-era and senior finalists, with the list of inductees announced prior to Super Bowl LIX in February.

Scott Turner opens tenure as Raiders OC with moving tribute to recently passed Hall of Fame coach

In Scott Turner’s first press conference as Raiders offensive coordinator, he gave tribute to recently passed Hall of Fame coach, John Robinson.

Thursday, Scott Turner took to the podium for his first press conference since being named the Raiders interim offensive coordinator. But before he answered any questions, he had to pay his respects to a legendary coach who was a big part of his life.

“The sports/football world, and the Las Vegas community specifically, lost someone this past week in Coach John Robinson,” said Turner.

“He was my college coach, had a big impact on my life both professionally and personally. And then my dad [Norv Turner], who just joined the staff, obviously you guys know that, he played for him [Coach Robinson] at Oregon, he coached for him, and that’s how my dad met my mom, when she was his secretary at USC. So, obviously, a big, big part of our family, a tough loss, and it’s a tough loss for everybody in the football community. A legendary coach, College Football Hall of Fame.”

It’s hard to imagine a coach having more ties to a family than Robinson did with the Turner family. To coach both father AND son in college and also be the reason Norv met his wife and Scott’s mom?

In 1975, the San Mateo native Robinson returned home to coach running backs for the Raiders for a season before USC came calling for him to take their head coaching job. With the Trojans he went on to win four straight Rose Bowls and a National Championship (1978).

He then went on to the NFL as the head coach the LA Rams for eight seasons from 1983-91 before returning to USC for seasons.

His ties to Las Vegas came in 1999 when he took over as head coach at UNLV and in his final two seasons as a college head coach in 2003-04 Scott Turner played for him. Now two decades later, he recalled what stuck with him the most about playing for Robinson.

“The big thing that he did as the head coach, and what I said before is like, this is a relationship business, and I learned that from him, just like how he truly cared about all the players on the team,” Turner added. “And it didn’t matter if it was a walk-on or the highest recruit that we had there at the time, he knew about them and he found time to build relationships with guys to try to help them be the best that they can be. And that’s what coaching is about, and that’s why you get in this business.”

In 2009 — five years after Robinson’s retirement — he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. He passed away on November 11 at the age of 89.

A’s play final game at Oakland Coliseum, watch John Facenda narrate Raiders early days there

As the A’s end their final game at Oakland Coliseum, watch John Facenda narrate Raiders early days there

It’s an end of an era in Oakland…again. Nearly five years after the Raiders played their final game at Oakland Coliseum, the A’s have now done the same.

With the A’s planning to also pull up stakes and head for Vegas, they wrapped up their time in Oakland Coliseum Thursday with a win over the Texas Rangers.

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And with this final game in this iconic stadium, let’s take a little trip back to the early days in the A’s first season in Oakland and the Raiders entering their third season at the Coliseum, just after taking the team to Super Bowl II.

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The plan is for the A’s to play in Sacramento for the next few years until a new stadium is built for them. Plan being the operative word.

Fans in Oakland have been urging owner John Fisher to sell the team in the hopes of a new ownership engaging in actual negotiations to build a new stadium in Oakland.

But Fisher’s intentions were always to take the team away so he could cash in the same way the Raiders did — by landing billions in public money with a move to Las Vegas.

First year eligible Marshawn Lynch one of 15 former Raiders among Hall of Fame nominees

Marshawn Lynch has been nominated for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He is one of 15 former Raiders to make the list

Each year around this time, the process for the following year’s Hall of Fame class begins. It starts with a long list of that year’s nominees.

That list was released this morning by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It consists of 167 NFL greats. Among them are 15 former Raiders players, which includes Marshawn Lynch who has been nominated in his first year of eligibility.

Here is the full list of 15 former Raiders among the modern era nominees:

QB Rich Gannon
RBs Charlie Garner, Marshawn Lynch
WR’s Jordy Nelson, Andre Rison
OL Lincoln Kennedy (T), Steve Wisniewski (G)
DL La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Chester McGlockton (DT), Justin Tuck (DE), Ted Washington (NT/DT)
LB’s NaVorro Bowman, Bill Romanowski
CB Eric Allen
P Shane Lechler

Marshawn spent two seasons with his hometown Oakland Raiders in 2017-18. He built his his Hall of Fame caliber career over his first eight seasons split between the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks.

His best years were in Seattle where Beast Mode made four straight Pro Bowls, was named an All Pro once and won a Super Bowl. And should have won a second had Pete Carroll had called for him to get the ball near the goal line instead of notoriously calling for Russell Wilson to throw it only to have it intercepted.

Lynch retired after his tenth season in 2015, but came out of retirement for the chance to suit up and play in front of his hometown fans. Thus adding another 1300 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns to his resume before retiring for good in 2019 at the age of 33.

Former Raiders QB Nathan Peterman joins 3rd NFL team in a month

Former Raiders QB Nathan Peterman joins 3rd NFL team in a month

You’ll rarely see another player with less success in the NFL get signed more times to more teams than Nathan Peterman. Today he signed with the Atlanta Falcons practice squad, making for his third NFL team in a month.

A month ago, Peterman was part of the New Orleans Saints. He was released early in training camp and a little over a week later, he signed with the Raiders. Two weeks later, he was released with the roster cuts to get from 90 to 53 players and the team opted for Carter Bradley to join the practice squad, leaving Peterman unsigned.

Peterman joins his sixth NFL club entering his eighth season, meaning he now has been part of more NFL teams than he has NFL starts (5) or NFL touchdown passes (4). But still less than half of his career interceptions (13).

He’s just one of those guys who hangs around. His longest stint with any team was the four years he spent with the Raiders from 2018-21 and in that time he had zero starts and a grand total of five pass attempts with no touchdowns. He had one touchdown pass with the Bears in 2022, and before that is last TD was was 2018.

Talk about a dream job.

Fantasy football: Where to draft Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers

Analyzing Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers’ 2024 fantasy football ADP and where to target him in fantasy drafts.

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Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers was selected with the 13th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Georgia. He had an impressive collegiate career with 56 or more receptions in each of his 3 seasons. His last season in college was cut short due to a knee injury which also affected his draft stock. Below, we look at Brock Bowers’ 2024 fantasy football average draft position (ADP) and where you should draft him.

Entering 2024, he is expected to take a big step in the right direction in his NFL development and ideally will be a top tight end in the league. Even with a knee injury under his belt, his fantasy value is exciting

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Brock Bowers’ ADP: 85.10

(ADP data courtesy of MyFantasyLeague.com; last updated at time of this publishing – ADPs continually change as more drafts occur)

Bowers has an ADP of 85.10 in redraft leagues, which puts him in the range of the 7th to 9th round, depending on the size of the league.

Among tight ends, Bowers’ ADP puts him 10th at the position, behind the likes of Kyle Pitts (Atlanta Falcons, 65.72), George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers, 60.03), Evan Engram (Jacksonville Jaguars, 59.42), Dalton Kincaid (Buffalo Bills, 62.01), and Mark Andrews (Baltimore Ravens, 51.36).

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Brock Bowers’ 2023 Georgia stats

Games: 10

Receptions | targets: 56 | 73

Receiving yards: 714

Receiving touchdowns: 6

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Where should you draft Bowers?

Bowers’ fantasy value should stay steady this season as one of the Raiders’ top targets with QB Gardner Minshew captaining the offense.

Bowers will still mostly be an underneath receiver with not many deep routes, but as displayed by his collegiate experience, he’s excellent after the catch and the mere threat of Minshew throwing deep to WR Davante Adams opens things up for Bowers.

Draft Bowers after Pitts is taken off the board, but don’t let him fall out of the 9th round in 10-team leagues. He is unproven, and there will be other opportunities with WR3s who may provide more consistent value. He will be a solid TE this season, but Las Vegas may struggle as a team, which will affect his fantasy value.

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Carl Weathers to be honored posthumously with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Just like former Raiders teammate Ken Stabler, Weathers will receive his honor posthumously.

Last February the world lost the great Carl Weathers at the age of 76. The man who started his adult life in professional football with the Oakland Raiders, would go on to become a legend of film and television. And now, like several Raiders greats in recent years, he is going to be posthumously honored and immortalized.

Weathers is to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Few actors in their careers came to be more known for such iconic characters as Weathers played. Characters such as Apollo Creed from the “Rocky” films, Chubbs in “Happy Gilmore”, Dillon in “Predator”, and  Jericho Jackson aka “Action Jackson”.

You wish he could have seen this moment while he was alive. Much like his fellow Raiders Ken Stabler and Cliff Branch who both had passed on before being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Weathers’s star will be unveiled in a ceremony on August 29.

You’ll never guess who is set to play John Madden in ‘Madden’ biopic

If you gave me infinite guesses who is set to play John Madden in ‘Madden’ biopic, I still wouldn’t get it.

If someone gave me infinite guesses as to who would be laying John Madden in a movie about his life, I wouldn’t have guessed who was just chosen to play him. Any guesses? Yeah, well, you’re wrong.

It’s Nicolas Cage.

Variety reports that Amazon MGM is backing the film and Director David O. Russell has tabbed Cage to play the iconic Hall of Fame Raiders coach and video game mogul.

“Nicolas Cage, one of our greatest and most original actors, will portray the best of the American spirit of originality, fun, and determination in which anything is possible as beloved national legend John Madden,” O. Russell said in a statement. “Together with the ferocious style, focus, and inspired individualism of Al Davis, owner of the underdog Oakland Raiders, the feature will be about the joy, humanity and genius that was John Madden in a wildly inventive, cool world of the 1970s.”

No knock on Cage. He may end up doing a great job in the role. But Cage is pretty much a character himself. And that character shows up in pretty much every role he ever plays. It’s one that’s very different than that of John Madden.

With Cage getting this role, I can’t help but think of a certain scene from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in which Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself going through a bit of a crisis in his acting career.

In the scene, he wants a role in a film so bad, he corners the director at the valet stand at a restaurant in Hollywood and does a brilliantly terrible impromptu audition for the lead role in the Director’s next film.

If you have seen it, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t seen that movie, you need to see that movie. He and Pedro Pascal are electric and hilarious together.

At very least, it will be impossible not to be insanely curious to see what Cage can do with this role. Because I am finding it impossible to imagine.

Nick Foles retires from NFL, has Raiders to thank for launching his career

Nick Foles took his breakout 7 TD performance in Oakland and made a career out of it.

Nick Foles announced his retirement from the NFL today. The 11-year veteran had an interesting career which included coming off the bench late in the 2018 season to lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl title while winning Super Bowl MVP. But only starting 14 more games the rest of his career with a 3-11 record in those starts.

While we are talking about where his career ended, it had to start somewhere. And for that he has the Raiders to thank.

Foles and the Eagles came to Oakland in 2013, the former third round pick’s second season. He had started a total of eight games at that point, winning just two of those games.

That all changed on that fateful day at the Oakland Coliseum.

Foles had his coming out party that day, throwing for a career high 406 yards, career high seven touchdowns, and career high 158.3 passer rating.

To say he torched the Raiders, doesn’t quite cover it. He had thrown four touchdowns midway through the second quarter and reached seven touchdowns IN THE THIRD QUARTER. From there, they just went conservative to preserve the win.

These weren’t short touchdowns off turnovers either. The touchdown drive yardage went like this: 84, 82, 63, 80, 61, 57, and 68. An absolute demolition by this previously unheralded quarterback.

Tbough he would never come close to throwing seven touchdown passes in a game or his 158.3 passer rating, that game lit a fire for Foles. The previously 3-5 Eagles would win seven of their final eight games that season and head to the playoffs with Foles going to his only Pro Bowl.

His 27 TDs and two interceptions in that season would never come close to happening again for him. And is just an unreal TD to INT ratio.

So, I suppose I can speak for the entire 2013 Raiders squad when I say, you’re welcome, Nick. Enjoy your retirement.

Patrick Mahomes had the most serious 7-word response to the Raiders’ disrespectful Kermit puppet

Patrick Mahomes officially has the Raiders circled on his calendar.

One thing that teams around the NFL should know by now is that you should never trash-talk Patrick Mahomes.

I mean, let’s be honest. How much is there really to say? The dude is a three-time Super Bowl winner and a two-time MVP. He’s unquestionably the best player in the league at this point. The guy is so good that even his haters have to acknowledge he’s the best (even if they won’t say his name when they do it).

The Raiders didn’t seem to get that message, though. They brought a Kermit the Frog puppet to training camp and dressed it as Mahomes. Absolutely love a good Kermit the Frog joke, but the Raiders should probably have kept that one to themselves.

Now, Mahomes has wind of it. And he doesn’t seem too pleased about it.

“It’s still early in the year. Stuff like that happens. It’ll get handled when it gets handled,” he said.

IT. WILL. GET. HANDLED. WHEN. IT. GETS. HANDLED.

Yikes, Vegas. Y’all poked the bear.