Post by TheShadow on Aug 24, 2008 12:26:01 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/story/761070.html
On the surface, the whole concept sounds like a joke on Al Davis and the Raiders.
Just Win, Baby — the theme of our football section.
The Raiders – right now – are regarded as a franchise in ruin, an organization run by a legendary kook surviving on a legacy built when his unorthodox style produced great teams, unearthed coaching stars and kept the Raiders highly relevant.
Al Davis, leader of the Oakland Raiders, coined the phrase Just Win, Baby, and the words will surely be mounted on his tombstone and are likely somewhere near his plaque at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Raiders used to be big winners. Now they’re a joke.
But maybe so are our Kansas City Chiefs and Carl Peterson. Maybe the joke is on us.
Under Peterson, we’ve been the Oakland Raiders for 20 years — except we don’t have three Super Bowl titles, a bundle of playoff victories and a 2003 Super Bowl appearance to soothe our embarrassment.
Think about it. Until this season, the philosophy guiding the Chiefs has been just win, baby, and the reckless approach has landed Kansas City in similar shambles as Oakland.
After years of selling the theory that the Chiefs are just one or two players away from being a legitimate Super Bowl team, Kansas City is now trying to build a contender from scratch, including drafting and developing its own quarterback, Brodie Croyle.
Well, the only team that has been more in love with a castoff, journeyman quarterback than the Chiefs is/was the Oakland Raiders. Al Davis won Super Bowls with Jim Plunkett and an AFC title with Rich Gannon. In between, he’s tried some of everybody — from Jeff Hostetler to Jeff George.
Finally, the Raiders now have committed to LSU all-star JaMarcus Russell, a second-year pro and 2007 No. 1 overall draft pick. It had been the first time since the plucking of Ken Stabler in the second round of the ’68 draft that the Raiders had made a real commitment to their own quarterback.
Since then, with the exception of a half-hearted effort to anoint Marc Wilson the QB, the Raiders had figured any old Dan Pastorini or Jay Schroeder would do. And you know what? Al Davis was right.
Plunkett was the NFL’s 1980 comeback player of the year and Super Bowl MVP. Schroeder led the Raiders to 12 victories in 1990 and back-to-back playoff appearances. Gannon was the MVP of two Pro Bowls, won two player-of-the-year awards and was the AP’s league MVP in 2002.
Al Davis consistently hit the lottery when it came to fixing up castoff quarterbacks.
Meanwhile, Carl Peterson occasionally got to scream B.I.N.G.O.!
Dave Krieg, Joe Montana, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, Trent Green and Damon Huard never quite elevated their play to MVP status. Yeah, there are a few Pro Bowl appearances in that group, and Green threw up some fantastic numbers. But Lenny Dawson is still the only Kansas City quarterback to write himself into football history with his work in a Chiefs uniform.
When it comes to quarterbacks, the Chiefs and Carl Peterson have been doing bad Oakland and Al Davis impersonations.
In terms of picking coaches, Peterson’s approach is different from that of Davis, but the end result might be worse.
Right now, everyone says no one wants to coach for Al Davis. He’s impossible to work for. He interferes with the head coach and gives him no say-so in personnel matters. Davis likes to do young, talented coaches a favor — give them a job before their resume says they’re ready.
He hired John Madden at 32; Tom Flores, a Mexican-American, at 42; Mike Shanahan at 36; Art Shell, an African-American, at 43 and just seven years after his playing career ended; Jon Gruden at 35; and current Raiders coach Lane Kiffin at 32.
Davis has been a trailblazer. OK, maybe proven coaches don’t want to work for Davis. But maybe proven coaches are overrated.
Peterson specializes in hiring “proven winners” such as Marty Schottenheimer, Dick Vermeil and Herm Edwards. Peterson is a genius at recognizing coaching skill after the skill has been developed.
Let me ask this: If the Chiefs and Raiders both fired their coaches at the end of the season, what would be a better job, working for Al Davis or working for Carl Peterson?
Keep in mind, Peterson is a lame duck who is likely to be let go following the conclusion of the 2009 regular season, which would mean the new coach would be working for a new general manager very soon.
There’s no good joke on the Raiders. We are the Raiders. We have our own version of Al Davis, a much younger, less successful model dressed in a long, black leather coat and ready to lead this franchise for another 20 years.