Will the following people please shut their mouths …

By Anthony Carroll  |   Wednesday, November 05, 2008  |  Comments( 31 )

Oakland Raiders
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There’s no better vote of confidence than hearing three of your own players say they’d gladly accept a former jailed NFL quarterback to come in and press you for your job.

But that’s what Oakland Raiders second-year passer JaMarcus Russell had to wake up to this weekend in the twilight zone that is Al Davis’ franchise, or lack thereof.

Three current Raiders, all of whom once played with Michael Vick and two of whom play with Russell on the offensive side of the football, had no hesitation when the question arose of signing the 28-year-old QB after his release from Leavenworth State Prison in Kansas.

Vick is scheduled for early release in July, and cornerback DeAngelo Hall went so far as to say he’d have no problem shifting a bit of his pay to bring in the scrambling QB.

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Hall told the Contra Costa Times. “I wouldn’t have any second thought about doing it. I’ll put in my contract the same stipulations or whatever, man. I know anytime something like that happens, you wake up and you smell the roses.”

How nice of Hall, who’s being paid $66.28 million by Oakland over the next seven years to cover and tackle wide receivers. Last Sunday, he did neither. Within six minutes of the start of the game, Falcons wideout Michael Jenkins caught a 37-yard TD against the 24-year-old Hall. And it didn’t matter that Jenkins caught the ball at the 6-yard line and wasn’t yet in the end zone; by then, Hall was already complaining to the referee positioned on the goal line, and Jenkins walked in.

Vick will be two years removed from the NFL when he’s released this summer, with his last (and probably most impressive) campaign coming in 2006, when he started 16 games and passed for 2,474 yards, 20 TDs and 13 interceptions and ran for another 1,039 yards on 8.4 yards per carry. In his career, the ex-Virginia Tech standout has completed 53.8 percent of his passes for 11,505 yards, 71 touchdowns and 52 interceptions; he’s also rushed for 3,859 yards and 21 TDs, but has fumbled 55 times.

“You have to sign him, if you’re the Raiders,” wide receiver Ashley Lelie said. “Trust me, I’ve played against him before. You don’t want him on the other team. I’ve seen what he can do.”

Without the Raiders, Lelie likely wouldn’t have a news outlet to vent to right now, and he probably won’t be on the team next year. The Raiders signed Lelie, 28, to a one-year contract just days prior to the campaign out of desperation in the wake of a season-ending Drew Carter injury. It’s hard to believe reporters would be seeking his opinion if the Raiders weren’t so offensively challenged.

“If you look around the league right now, you don’t see a whole lot of Mike Vicks out there,” recently injured fullback Justin Griffith added to the discussion.

True, probably because the NFL doesn’t like convicted criminals on its playing fields.

“You see good football players, but the things that he did when he was active in the league, it makes you shake your head, man, like, “Wow,’” Griffith added. “I just hope that we get a chance to get him.”

Griffith was certainly an asset to Oakland as a blocker before his season-ending knee injury, but, in this setting, his off-the-field opinion doesn’t hold much value.

The Raiders have not only invested the entire ‘08 season in the 23-year-old Russell, but a first overall draft pick and $61 million. With that in mind, Davis has put him behind a less-than-acceptable O-line, fired his head coach midseason, brought in a crew of over-the-hill, misfit wideouts and failed to assemble one, consistent and coherent staff of assistants on the sidelines.

But Michael Vick is the answer, certainly.

Perhaps the Raiders’ locker room should focus on the next game, not nonsense. Check that, they should focus on the next regime.

Until Davis is ousted, players will continue to say dumb things and make dumb plays, coaches will be hired and fired and, sadly, rumors like this one will actually be considered viable options for the disorderly Raiders.
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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