What is the "Raider Way"?
This offseason we've seen numerous reports about instilling attitude and the Raider way back into the Oakland Raiders football team. Fans to young to remember or recent converts may not know what the Raider Way is. It's a concept that isn't very easy to put into words but let's take a look back to see what we have to look forward to.
The first step is to look at some of the quotes made by Raiders and about the Raiders. One of my favorites can be found at the bottom of of the site.
"You don't adjust. You just dominate"
-Al Davis
"Everyday I walked on to the field I was the best center."
-Jim Otto
"Everybody says the Raiders cheat...OK, we cheat. So, what are you going to do about it?"
- John Madden
"When you play for the Raiders you play to win and you play tough. It's not something the coaches teach or talk about. It's just there, like in the air. It's an attitude--you are going to hit people and smash them if you are a Raider."
- Phil Villapiano
"I'm gonna take off Joe Theisman's head."
- Lyle Alzado
"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault."
- Jack Tatum
"If something is said about the Raiders, I'm ready to go to war."
- Jim Otto
As you can tell by these quotes, these teams oozed confidence and nastiness but also loyalty. This is what has been missing from the Raiders, that is what Art Shell is trying to restore. Art Shell has done a number of things this offseason to prove he's not just all talk. He is getting this young team to play Raider football.
Shell set the standard for Gallery in their first meeting. "I told him he's too good a football player not to be mentioned for the Pro Bowl, and that we've got to get him there," Shell said. "He's accepted that challenge. And I'll tell you, his potential is way out there. He can be as good as he wants to be. I think he wants to be good. I really do."
"We don't talk about timing here. We don't talk about so many seconds to get the ball out," Shell said. "We want to block. We're going to work to block until the quarterback gets rid of the ball, until the whistle blows. It's not 1.5 seconds or 2.2 seconds or whatever it is. You block, block, block."
Shell did not sound overly concerned about place kicker Sebastian Janikowski, who managed to stay out of trouble last season but missed a third of his 30 field goal attempts. "It's more mental than anything else," Shell said. "He's had the same guy holding for him all these years, so that hasn't changed. He'll be fine. I told him I expect him to be in the Pro Bowl this year. He has that kind of talent." During Oakland's first mini-camp, Shell put pressure on Janikowski by making his teammates run laps every time he missed a kick.
A number of analysts and haters have said we "settled" for Art Shell. I don't believe that and feel Shell will truly restore this franshise by changing the attitudes of our players, by restoring the "Raider Way."
The first step is to look at some of the quotes made by Raiders and about the Raiders. One of my favorites can be found at the bottom of of the site.
"You don't adjust. You just dominate"
-Al Davis
"Everyday I walked on to the field I was the best center."
-Jim Otto
"Everybody says the Raiders cheat...OK, we cheat. So, what are you going to do about it?"
- John Madden
"When you play for the Raiders you play to win and you play tough. It's not something the coaches teach or talk about. It's just there, like in the air. It's an attitude--you are going to hit people and smash them if you are a Raider."
- Phil Villapiano
"I'm gonna take off Joe Theisman's head."
- Lyle Alzado
"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault."
- Jack Tatum
"If something is said about the Raiders, I'm ready to go to war."
- Jim Otto
As you can tell by these quotes, these teams oozed confidence and nastiness but also loyalty. This is what has been missing from the Raiders, that is what Art Shell is trying to restore. Art Shell has done a number of things this offseason to prove he's not just all talk. He is getting this young team to play Raider football.
Shell set the standard for Gallery in their first meeting. "I told him he's too good a football player not to be mentioned for the Pro Bowl, and that we've got to get him there," Shell said. "He's accepted that challenge. And I'll tell you, his potential is way out there. He can be as good as he wants to be. I think he wants to be good. I really do."
"We don't talk about timing here. We don't talk about so many seconds to get the ball out," Shell said. "We want to block. We're going to work to block until the quarterback gets rid of the ball, until the whistle blows. It's not 1.5 seconds or 2.2 seconds or whatever it is. You block, block, block."
Shell did not sound overly concerned about place kicker Sebastian Janikowski, who managed to stay out of trouble last season but missed a third of his 30 field goal attempts. "It's more mental than anything else," Shell said. "He's had the same guy holding for him all these years, so that hasn't changed. He'll be fine. I told him I expect him to be in the Pro Bowl this year. He has that kind of talent." During Oakland's first mini-camp, Shell put pressure on Janikowski by making his teammates run laps every time he missed a kick.
A number of analysts and haters have said we "settled" for Art Shell. I don't believe that and feel Shell will truly restore this franshise by changing the attitudes of our players, by restoring the "Raider Way."
posted by The Analyzer at 7:26 AM
6 Comments:
Great post! The "Raider Way" is difficult to define but it seems to be a mentality and style of play.
Mentality & Traits:
Will to win; loyalty, nasty attitude, tough football players; intimidating presence. Find a way to win.
Style of Play:
On offense it is establishing the power running attack between the tackles and the ability to strike deep with the pass at any time.
On defense it is playing an intimidating brand of football where kill-shots on WRs and QBs is par for the course.
I really hope we can get some of that back. Shell does seem to be doing a good job so far.
I really hope you guys can get that back too. It must suck having not 1 not 2 but 3 consecutive losing seasons....
I don't think that is the "Commitment To Excellence"....
Commitment to excellence is going to turn back into "Just win, baby!"
Sitting at home for the playoffs.
Ya, good luck on the wait. You may be waiting for at least a decade or two. The Raiders are not realy "Playoff" material anymore. Not since the 70's. They realy suck bad.
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