What does it mean to be an Oakland Raider?

[TheShadow]

www.realfootball365.com







By Os Davis





The Oakland Raiders .

Just those three little words and images spring to life in the mind's eye: Maybe it's Kenny Stabler making like his serpentine nicknamesake, dodging defenders on the way to finding Fred Biletnikoff again and again. Maybe you recall the silver and black of early this decade, a high-velocity offense matched only by the speed of the defense.

When someone says "the Oakland Raiders ," maybe you think of Marcus Allen or Bo Jackson or Jack Tatum or Dave Casper ... guaranteed, however, is some sort of emotional extreme triggered in the NFL fan.

Because there's a mystique about the Raiders that their 31 brethren in large part don't share. Which other team boasts a reputation for, um, winning no matter what, year after year as personnel and coaches change? Which other team is half-jokingly called cheaters while no-jokingly respected?

What does it mean to be an Oakland Raider? I opened up the quotebook...

Perhaps the intimidating Raider rep started in the 1970s; I know I've known them that way all my life. When the 2003 documentary about those AFC-dominating dudes, it was titled "Rebels of Oakland." (But wait, what the heck is nice guy Tom Hanks doing in the flick?)

"The Snake" Stabler led those teams with his philosophy of "There's nothing wrong with studying your playbook by the light of the jukebox." The defense, on the other hand, was bolstered by frankly scary guys like "The Assassin." Mr. Jack Tatum was once quoted as saying "I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault."

These guys were so "well" remembered that Lisa Simpson was able to justify her picks of the week in 1992 (and every year since then) with "I like the 49ers because they're pure of heart, Seattle because they've got something to prove, and the Raiders because they always cheat." The joke still gets a laugh: Insert, say, "Bills" or "Jaguars" for "Raiders" and it don't work.

But, come on, in all seriousness, those guys didn't literally cheat, did they? Like my friend Jeff, lifetime Raider Nation citizen says, "they just did whatever it took to win," right? Wellllllll, here's the line from John Madden: "Everybody says the Raiders cheat...OK, we cheat. So, what are you going to do about it?"

(How come lines like that never get "in the game" over at EA Sports?)

When guys like Mark Van Eeghens, Art Shell (the player), Gene Upshaw (ditto) departed the silver and black, they were replaced by others, in similar fashion to the way the New England Patriots ' much-ballyhooed system is celebrated today.

All under the banner of maybe the most famous line in the whole Raider repertoire: "Just win, baby."

Of course, the visceral speaks louder than the mental sometimes. How about "I'm gonna take off Joe Theismann's head"? That one came courtesy of Lyle Alzado, pre-Super Bowl XVIII and, boy, did he try.

But what about Al Davis? After the infamous Tuck Game eliminated Oakland in 2002, Raider all-time great Tim Brown groused that "People try to say that what goes on between Al Davis and the league doesn't affect what happens on the field, but there's no way you can tell me that that's so."

What does it mean to be an Oakland Raider, though? Not looking back, for one. After that glorious handful of years with Jon "Chucky" Gruden as coach, you'd think there'd be concern. Nah. When asked before Super Bowl XXXVII what the best thing Gruden had done for the Raiders, Frank Middleton came back with "Leave."

Of course, this writer's taken hits from the Raider Nation here at RealFootball365 for talking up the past too much. The Raiders of 2007 look to be an exciting bunch; but how will they respond to one of the saddest slates in team history last season?

In at least two ways: Lane Kiffin and JaMarcus Russell. Russell "just dreamed about getting here." Kiffin has promised that "This is the right guy and this is the right time." Heck, as Madden might say and Kiffin did post-draft, "It was perfect ... there are no scenarios we could imagine that could make it better."

Could the swagger be returning? "When you play for the Raiders you play to win and you play tough," philosophized '70s linebacker Phil Villapiano. "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."

Though the Raider haters in 31 other markets would never publicly admit it, everyone secretly misses the Death Star Raiders. Love 'em or hate 'em, you gotta love 'em. Plus, as Villapiano once put it, "Fu-- all non-believers."