Compared to Porter, Moss is a choir boy; who knew?

By Connor Byrne  |   Friday, July 28, 2006  |  Comments( 11 )

Oakland Raiders
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When future Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss arrived in Oakland in March 2005, many were skeptical about the wideout's past attitude problems with the Minnesota Vikings. After one season with the Raiders, however, it's plain to see that Moss possesses the ability to remain out of the headlines for controversial acts, unlike a teammate of his, No. 2 receiver Jerry Porter.

While Moss has played the role of good soldier in the Silver and Black thus far, the 28-year-old Porter has been a coach's worst nightmare.

Unfortunately for the petulant but talented pass catcher, there's no room for juvenile behavior under Art Shell, the Raiders' no-nonsense head coach. The 59-year-old was rehired by the organization this offseason after a long stint in the league's front office. The Hall of Fame offensive lineman led the Los Angeles Raiders to a combined 56-41 regular and postseason mark between 1989-1994 as their sideline general, guiding the team to three playoff appearances. He also earned a reputation as one of the NFL's ultimate drill sergeants, refusing to take any insolence from his players. Frankly, that's exactly what the lately-undisciplined Raiders need these days.

For Porter, however, hard-nosed control from a coach is exactly what he doesn't want to deal with. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder has been on the receiving end of 239 passes in his six-year Oakland career, but he's also been a model of inconsistency. For example, the former West Virginia Mountaineer had four times as many games of less than 50 yards receiving (eight) in 2005's 16-game set, than he had games surpassing the 100-yard plateau (two).

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Moss' Raider career hasn't exactly been outstanding thus far in terms of record or single-season receptions (4-12; 60), but he's kept his mouth shut at the very least. Many expected the 6-4, 210-pounder to be a bad fit in Oakland, but he was one of the few members of the team who actually gave 100 percent every week last year. Under weak-handed former head coach Norv Turner in '05, Moss racked up 1,005 receiving yards in his inaugural campaign in Oakland despite dealing with frustratingly bad play from signal-caller Kerry Collins. Still, he never bleated about anything.

And for the record, Moss and Shell haven't experienced any friction just yet. In truth, they probably won't anytime soon. The No. 1 wideout is embracing Shell's style and becoming better for it, while Porter's stock drops more everyday.

Ultimately, the Oakland Raiders' solution to the Porter problem will likely be to trade the starting receiver to someone in desperate need of help at the position. Since the depth chart already includes solid wideouts Doug Gabriel, Ron Curry and Johnnie Morant as possible Porter replacements, there's no need to keep the poor man's version of Terrell Owens around anymore.

No matter what ends up happening, Shell will continue doing things his way while he and Moss help to bring back the two things Oakland was famous for back in its glory days: "Commitment to Excellence" and "Pride and Poise."

--Connor J. Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com.

--Anthony Carroll returns Monday with his acclaimed Raiders analysis.
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