Black Lining in the Silver Cloud

By MikeBullock  |   Monday, February 01, 2010  |  Comments( 4 )

Oakland Raiders
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The only bright spot to this time of year for Raider fans of late has been the appearance of a player or two at the Pro Bowl. This year, all-pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and all world punter Shane Lechler made the trip for a game that was played at half speed and described as a “seven on seven” by rookie defensive end/linebacker Brian Orakpo of the Washington Redskins. After watching Pro Bowls since 1975, I can say clearly and concisely this was the most boring all star game I’ve ever seen.

Midway through the motions, commentators made an offhand remark about Nnamdi Asomugha leaving the game to have his knee looked at by the medical staff. While no further information was made available, it would be just the Raider’s luck to have their only true star defensive player injured in a game that meant absolutely nothing to the organization or Raider Nation.

Since NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been doing his best to white wash everything NFL in the eyes of the world lately, odds are any injuries sustained by players during the Pro Bowl will be left unannounced by the league. However, the local journalists in Oakland, such as Jerry McDonald of the Contra Costa Times will most likely have the information sometime this week. Stay tuned.

Asomugha had a few moments in the national spotlight leading up to the game, in which he did little to cast an overwhelming amount of support on his head coach or quarterback.

Regarding Russell, Asomugha had this to say during an interview with Rich Eisen of NFL Network, “I think he can be the guy. I don’t think he was ready for what we went through last year, I think he needed to be a little more prepared, going into each game, going into the season, and I think he has that opportunity this offseason.

“It’s got to be big for him. He knows that too. He has to understand that we’re going to go as far as he takes us. He’s the quarterback of the team.

“Look, we’ve all played the game. You can have all the intangibles, but unless you put in the work yourself… look, I came into the league as a safety and I had to move to man corner. Mentally, you’ve got to do it yourself. A lot of it’s going to be on you and I think he’s getting to the level that he realizes that.”

This is far from the ringing endorsement Raider Nation will need to believe in Russell. If Al Davis continues to hang his hat on the big armed kid from the Bayou for the 2010 season, he better pull out all the stops to resign Bruce Gradkowski and be ready to field him in week three when Oakland is staring at 0-2.

When asked about Coach Cable, Asomugha replied, “We can’t keep starting over. Five coaches in seven years, that’s tough.”

Again, not really the kind of “Rah Rah” answer a pro bowl player delivers when he believes in his head coach.

Hopefully, Asomugha’s injury in the Pro Bowl was nothing but a scratch and he’ll be on his merry way to a nice vacation before returning to Oakland for mini camps this spring. And, hopefully Russell realizes the frivolity going on in the French Quarter this week is a celebration of players who prepare and give it their all, something he might think about doing at some point in his NFL career.

Otherwise, he’ll be hearing the old Jerry Glanville quote for a long time.

“This is the NFL, which stands for Not For Long…”
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