Javon Walker Update

There’s not much going on right now with America’s Least Favorite Team. Or any other for that matter. Probably won’t be much until Training Camp starts next month. So today’s update is just further looking at the Javon Walker incident. New reports are surfacing that there is much more to this story than previously reported by Walker himself. He claimed to be kidnapped from his room but police have surveillance video of him willingly getting into a car. They have no video of him coming back. That means that Javon is hiding something. One can’t help but wonder what. I will choose not to speculate, but will say that it is hard to believe that we have heard the last of this disturbing story.

Javon’s large contract, veteran status and vote of confidence from ownership and the coaching staff put him into a position to be a leader in Oakland. What has evolved from there is as much the fault of the Raiders as it is Javon. A history of injuries, getting dumped by two teams who initially had high hopes for him, and poor decisions in his personal and professional life should have been enough to tell the Raiders this guy isn’t what they need him to be. It wasn’t. Further evidence of the decaying logic and decision making ability of the Raiders.

I am not one of the people who will go on the internet and say that Al Davis will have to die for the Raiders to succeed. That is ignorant and just not how I roll. I will say though that until this team is able to pull their heads out of their collective asses mistakes like this will always plague the Raiders. Many of the Black Holes in the reading audience are clearly making this point. He’ll play this year, he could still succeed, we’ll show you. That’s the problem with Black Holes. They are just as easily blinded by big name potential as the team they root for.

Jeff Winters

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Spending High Just Hurts, Leadership Important

By: Garret Barnes-Bronco Madness

Every Raider fan in the world cheers when they look at the roster for this season. It is quite similar to last year when Broncos fans saw their team and thought that they had so many stars they couldn’t lose. Daniel Graham, Travis Henry, etc had all had amazing seasons and the Broncos took from free-agency hoping that spending high would help them win.

It didn’t. Instead it resulted in a 7-9 season and a playoff miss. So if that makes a team that was was 9-7 lose two more games, what will that do to the Raiders? Raiders fans think that this is their free pass to the playoffs. More like their free pass to the number 1 draft pick again. It is possible.

In my last article I stressed how compatibility and character is important. There is another thing that I do not see in this new class of players. Leadership. I mean seriously!!!! Javon Walker goes out and gets “kidnapped” in Las Vegas. More like, he gets so drunk he is knocked unconscious in the streets of Las Vegas. If DeAngelo Hall does not win, he won’t play and throws hissy fits. Not to mention Darren McFadden who is way to distracted by his family and their many antics.

JaMarcus Russell hasn’t shown much either. He cares more about his stupid contract then his team. The Raiders could have won a couple more games had Russell not been crying about his contract. Let’s face it, this off-season has been a wreck and the Raiders are practically broke right now. This spending high on risks is not helping them.

Players like Walker, Hall, and anybody else they have grabbed this off-season have been nothing but bad news so far and the season hasn’t even started. I think that somebody needs to do something inside of that franchise. Get Al Davis out of there and maybe you guys could have a future.

Positional Breakdown of the AFC West

To better understand why I think the Raiders have no chance in the AFC West, if recent history isn’t enough for you, let’s look position by position and see if the Raiders are tops at any of them.

Quarterback

1. Philip Rivers- I don’t actually think Rivers is the most talented QB in the division, but he’s led his team to the playoffs two years in a row and actually improved stat-wise last year, so he gets the edge.

2. Jay Cutler- The most talented QB in the division. If you watched him play last year then you know he can make every throw and is a leader. He does need more consistency and at times better judgment.

3. Brodie Croyle- A very strong arm and actually pretty accurate. Still has a lot to prove, but gets the edge over Russell because he didn’t hold out last year, so he had more opportunity to play.

4. JaMarcus Russell- Hasn’t shown anything in the NFL yet. Truth be told he didn’t show much in college either and was only a number one pick because he beat Notre Dame on national television.

Running Backs

1. Chargers- Duh.

2. Chiefs- If Larry Johnson is healthy he is obviously the second best back in the division. Kolby Smith played really well last year when called on. The Chiefs really helped their cause by signing Musa Smith.

3. Broncos- A point of much contention amongst me and Raiders fans. Fact is the Broncos backs are far more proven both as a system and as individuals. Selvin Young looked great last year and Michael Pittman is a proven vet. Ryan Torain has every bit as much potential to succeed as Michael Bush if not more so.

4. Raiders- I don’t think the Raiders backs are bad. Just a tough division at the position. McFadden has 0 yards, Michael Bush has 0 yards, Fargas started last year and barely broke 1,000. Two years ago Denver’s backup had over 950.

Wide Receivers

1. Broncos- Brandon Marshall is the best receiver in the division. Any argument for Walker should be muted by the fact that Walker quit in Denver because he knew he couldn’t win the number one job back from “The Beast”. They’ve added much needed veteran depth in Jackson and Parker. Brandon Stokely is probably the best slot receiver of all time.

2. Chargers- Jackson, Davis and Parker finally found their slots last year once Chambers showed up to give them a legitimate number 1.

3. Raiders- It was close. Javon Walker will disappoint Raiders fans and may in fact have already. Ronald Curry is at least a proven starter. They have nothing after that.

4. Chiefs- They have even less than the Raiders. Dwayne Bowe played well as a rookie last year, but there is no depth here to help Croyle.

Tight End

1. Antonio Gates- Younger than Gonzales and more of a deep threat at this point. Has to be healthy though.

2. Tony Gonzales- Future Hall-of-Famer. Second best catching tight end ever. Still productive.

3. Tony Scheffler- Really started to come into his own late last year.

4. Ummm, I guess Zach Miller

Offensive Line

1. Chargers

2. Broncos

3. Raiders

4. Chiefs

Defensive Line

1. Chargers- As the only 3-4 in the division, it’s hard to compare but they have a pro-bowl defensive end and a pro-bowl DT, so they get the spot.

2. Broncos- A ton of potential for improvement here. Elvis Dumervil makes a play every time he’s on the field. Dwayne Robertson should vastly improve Denver’s run stop ability. Second year players Marcus Thomas and Jarvis Moss should produce this year, as they’re healthy.

3. Raiders- Paying players a lot doesn’t automatically make them good. Derrick Burgess is a good player and Tommy Kelly is not a bad one. Neither is as good as Raiders fans like to pretend they are. Everybody else on the roster is either washed up or unproven.

4. Chiefs- Tamba Hali is a very good young DE. Glenn Dorsey seems to have all the tools to dominate the middle, but is unproven. The loss of Jared Allen really hurts this team.

Linebackers

1. Chargers- Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips are pro-bowl talents. The addition of Derek Smith in the middle gives them some veteran leadership.

2. Chiefs- The strongest unit on the team. Derrick Johnson has earned his first-round label and veterans Napolean Harris and Donnie Edwards have both continued to produce.

3. Broncos- DJ Williams finished second in the league in tackles last year and returns to his natural position on the outside. The additions of Niko Koustivades and Boss Bailey should solidify what was once a very strong position in Denver.

4. Raiders- Robert Thomas, Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard. Their play has been as pedestrian as their names. None of them are bad players, but there’s no real standout talent here.

Secondary

1. Broncos- Champ Bailey is the best CB in the league. Dre Bly will greatly benefit if Denver is able to pressure the QB. Great depth at safety with John Lynch, Marquan Manuel, Hamza Abdullah and Marlon McCree fighting for position.

2. Raiders- The strongest position for the Raiders. Nnamdi Asomugha is a top 3 or 4 corner in the NFL. DeAngelo Hall is not, even though he sure thinks he is. He’s not a bad corner though. They are strong at safety with Michael Huff moving there this year.

3. Chargers- Antonio Cromartie was last years it guy. Let’s see him do it two years in a row. Quentin Jammer is a serviceable corner. They are weak at safety..

4. Chiefs- An aging group that badly needs re-tooled.

Coach

1. Mike Shanahan- Two Super Bowls. A winning percentage of over 60 after 13 years as a head coach.

2. Norv Turner- Based entirely on the fact that he won a playoff game in Indy last year.

3. Herman Edwards- How does this guy still have a job in the NFL? It’s not that I think he’s that bad, but better have been fired to never be rehired. Mike Sherman, Mike Mularkey, Steve Mariucci, Jim Fassel. Yet Edwards keeps working.

4. Lane Kiffin- 4 wins.

Looking at it like this it should be clear that the Raiders are in a race for last with the Chiefs. The AFC West is the Chargers to lose, unless Denver can find a way to beat them this year.

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Be sure to check out the official site of the Raider Hater. While you’re there check out the merchandise. As notorious Raider Hater Kevin Nash would have said in 1996, BUY THE STUFF!!! If you get that reference you’re officially an honorary member of the Nation.

Bad Character, and Team Decisions By Al Davis (Post this one Jeff)

I think the best way to open this article would be to introduce myself. Hi, my name is Garret Barnes of Bronco Madness.com. (Yes I am that guy who leaves all the obnoxious Raider Hater comments). I am honored to get to post on what has become one of my favorite sites. 

But to get back on track I am looking at the Raiders roster and I see players who I remember watching in awe but now can not stand. Players such as Darren McFadden and JaMarcus Russell I still like. They were both great players in college and I am not going to hate just for the team they are on. In reality, if the Raiders do not step up and I don’t know, WIN SOMETHING they may leave the team. But I am ashamed that players who I once loved have turned over to the dark side.

Stars such as DeAngelo Hall and Javon Walker have become despicable obnoxious players and I could almost survive it if they would just be loud and leave to a quiet team. Then they could shut up. But instead they have decided to go to a team that encourages and honors players with no human decency and hope that they are loud and obnoxious. 

But do the Raiders actually think this is helping them? I guess Al Davis does. All they have done is taken washed up, obnoxious, players who have no compatibility then demand they work like a machine. They have taken players from all sorts of offenses, defenses, and teams and expect that they learn the offense quickly. This is not helping them. This is destroying them.

Sure the season hasn’t started but every person in the Sports writing business knows that this is going to tear them apart. By the way, if I hear one more Raiders fan at the office say how many Pro Bowlers they have I swear I am going to hang myself. You can not talk sense into them either. They don’t listen and do not understand how teams work.

They might as well rename this team the Ball hogs. Because with no compatibility, teamwork or talent that is what every player will be. I can only imagine Lane Kiffin shaking his head as every single player on that team runs into each other on a simple play. LANE!!! Do yourself a favor and get the heck out of Oakland. You would be much better off as the ball boy of the Dolphins.

So to wrap up this rant the Raiders have messed up this off-season by making bad character choices (lets pretend they care for a moment about that. Wow that is harder than it seems.) and they have made bad player choices. I am ashamed to live within a 200 mile proximity of their stadium. (Actually I think Broncos fans in Poland think they are too close to Oakland). I am now going to try to cool off from this rant. 

Javon Walker

When I first heard the news about Javon Walker it was simply that he had been found in Las Vegas with significant injuries as the result of an apparent robbery. I felt very bad for the man. As stated previously on this site I do not hate Raiders as people just as an institution. So when a man shy of 30 is put in the hospital with serious injuries it bothers me.

Then more of the story starts coming out. Javon was partying in Vegas all weekend. He was spraying 1,000 dollar bottles of champagne on clubbers Monday night. He dropped nearly 20,000 dollars in the club on one night. Does any of this mean that Javon deserved what he got? NO. But it does mean that he got what he asked for.

I obviously do not know Javon Walker on a personal basis, but everything I do know about him suggests an undeniable history of poor decision making and questionable character moves. On a professional level, I’ve already covered what I thought were huge mistakes in judgment leaving Green Bay and Denver. Less than two years ago, he was in the truck when Darrent Williams was shot and killed. Williams died in his lap.

Walker did an interview for HBO Sports on the subject. You couldn’t help but feel complete and utter sadness for the guy. Then you learned that he skipped the viewing and funeral. I know funeral’s are hard, I hate them myself. But, It’s not about us at that time and Walker should have been there.

What did Javon learn from this experience. Not enough apparently. Less than two years after this harrowing time, he is partying at a club. Not just partying though, but acting like Paris Hilton. Javon wanted attention that night. He is far from a household name and even most football fans wouldn’t recognize him on the street. So he begged for attention by flashing all the money he had in the city where celebrities go to celebrate themselves.

I hope Javon gets better. I truly do. I hope he heals, straightens out his demons and goes on to live a happy and full life. I think he will probably miss much of this season, with a broken orbital bone. Hopefully, I’m wrong or at the very least he is able to continue his career at some point.

More of this story is sure to come out. I hope it does because the number one question that I have has yet to be answered. How does a professional athlete worth millions of dollars end up found unconscious on the street alone?

Raiders Not Protecting Investments

Another June, another round of short on memory Raider fans predicting 12-4 division title winning seasons. I get it. Kind of. They got two top five picks in their backfield in JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden. They signed two of the biggest names on the free-agent market in DeAngelo Hall and Javon Walker, though both are bigger on name than talent at this point. The Raiders apparently missed the memo that John Madden sent Al Davis back in the 70’s. The game is won and lost on the front lines. Let’s take a look at the Raiders offensive line.

RT Cornell Green- Well, he’s been in the league for nine years and played for six different teams. One of them, the Bucs, twice. How many really talented tackles do you think switch teams seven times in nine years? Yeah, probably not many. Yet on all those teams in all those years he’s only managed to start 18 games.

RG Cooper Carlisle- Drafted by the Broncos in 2000. Managed to start just 6 games in five years for Denver. In three years with the Raiders he has started every game. Might sound like a good thing, but hasn’t the Raiders O-Line stunk for at least three years?

C John Wade- Probably the best player on the line. But he is an 11 year starter with a history of knee problems. Of course, injury is not likely to scare off the Raiders, just ask Tommy Kelly.

LG Robert Gallery- Mr. Can’t Miss. Missed. After getting off to an okay start at Right Tackle in his first couple of years the Raiders finally moved him to left in 2006. He gave up the fourth most sacks in the league despite only playing ten games. That experiment ended quickly as he was moved to left guard last year. He did an adequate job at guard last year. Here’s the problem. Who was the last left guard drafted number two overall? Yeah, I don’t know either. Every draft bust countdown I’ve ever seen has Tony Mandarich in the top five. Why doesn’t this guy fit there then?

LT- Kwame Harris- The Niners drafted Harris in 2003. How much success have they had since then? He has gone the Robert Gallery route of trying every position to see what fits him best. RT,RG,LG,LT He’s done them all. None of them very well clearly.

Weak left tackles, adequate guards and an old beat-up center. This is the recipe for success in the NFL?

The Raider Hater Nation Grows

Raider Haters,

We are proud to announce the newest member of the nation. Garrett Barnes from broncomadness.com will now be a regular contributor to this blog. As an intelligent Broncos fan Garrett is a natural Raider Hater. We are really looking forward to seeing his work here and are sure you will enjoy it. We continue to try to bring you the most well-researched and well-written raider hate on the internet and bringing in more writers is the natural evolution of that. This should prove to be an exciting period in the nation.

Raiders- A Contender in the West?

 I believe the AFC West is a one-team race this year and that it would take a monumental disappointment for the Chargers not to win the division. That being said the Chargers are certainly capable of being monumental disappointments. So could the Raiders contend this year. Recent history would certainly laugh in our face at this question. Let’s look at how the Raiders stack up against the other four teams in the division over the past half-decade. The Raiders record over that time in case you forgot is 19-61.

The Chiefs are 43-37 over the same time period. They have an 8-2 record against the Raiders in that span. The average score in those games is 22-19 in favor of the Chiefs. Close games, as they always are between the two oldest rivals in the west. Also low scoring which is indicitive of two terrible offenses for the past few seasons. It looks like a great rivalry, but is it still a rivalry at 8-2? It’s like the Yanks-Red Sox when the scoreboard was 22 titles to none.

The Chargers are 50-30 in the past five years. Their record against Oakland is 9-1. The average score is 28-14. That is about as one sided as any divisional rivalry this side of Indianapolis vs. Houston. The Chargers have won the division 3 of the past 5 seasons and there is no reason to think the Raiders can play on the same field as them this year.

The Broncos are 49-31 since 2003. They have, shock here, dominated the Raiders. Their record stands at 8-2. The average scores in those games are 23-14. Not quite as one sided as San Diego but clearly Denver owns Oakland as well as everybody else in the west. This was by the way while Jake Plummer was QB in Denver. Oakland fans were on every site on the net knocking that signing. It also includes a transition to a young quarterback.

The point is, Oakland is irrelevant until proving otherwise. People like to come on this site and point to the 34-20 win over Denver last year. I say it again, if that is your signature win you should already be able to see how sad that is. Oakland had losing streaks of four and five games last year. They were terrible. Yet, Black Holes think this year will be different. I guess I would have to believe it if I see it. Until then, this is a three team division where every team gets at least one bye to spend scrimmaging with the Raiders and usually an all expense paid trip to Oakland to beat up on the NFL equivalent of the jail bird team from the Longest Yard. You guys don’t matter in the west. Come back when you do.

John Rauch 1927-2008

The Raider Hater is human enough to hate a franchise without having to hate all the people who have represented it, or certainly wish ill will on them. Former Raider Coach John Rauch died on June 10 at the age of 80. Rauch coached the Raiders from 1963-68 and led them to Super Bowl II. Rauch quit the Raiders in January of 1969 because he was tired of Al Davis’ eternal presence on the practice field. Rauch bounced around football for another two decades although he never achieved the kind of success he had in Oakland. In 2003 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Rauch died in his sleep Tuesday night. Although I realize how little it means, my condolences still are sent out to his widow.