Shell’s blind loyalty to Walsh failing Oakland

By Anthony Carroll  |   Tuesday, November 14, 2006  |  Comments( 52 )

Oakland Raiders
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The Oakland Raiders have taken the notion of loyalty to an all-new level this season.

Loyalty, that is, in all the wrong places and at all the wrong times.

Al Davis showed his allegiance to Art Shell this past offseason by re-hiring the long-removed coach to take over his struggling ballclub. In turn, Shell pledged his fidelity to Tom Walsh.

Now 10 weeks into the 2006 campaign, the Raiders are in utter disarray, becoming the laughingstock of the NFL.

Still, the triangle of trust remains nauseatingly intact, despite no visible proof of improvement or control.

Davis won't touch Shell, which in turn safeguards his friend, Walsh.

While, underneath it all, the players stand voiceless.

And that's the problem.

The first sign of the Shell tyranny began early in the offseason, when wide receiver Jerry Porter detected the first signs of the downward spiral ahead. Porter, who dropped 23 pounds during the summer in preparation of the upcoming season, was benched for the first four games of the year after an altercation in Shell's office.

In late July, Shell commented on the Porter situation, saying, "You can't have inmates running the asylum...not under me, and 99.9 percent of the players here feel that way. They want direction."

Not quite.

Defensive players Warren Sapp and Jarrod Cooper have already publicly supported Porter; Randy Moss has remained unhappy throughout the entire season; running back LaMont Jordan questioned the team's offensive game plan after a shutout loss at Seattle; free safety Stuart Schweigert spoke out about his unproductive offense after Sunday's loss to Denver; and, now, quarterback Andrew Walter has joined the club.

"We need to make [the playbook] more complex," Walter said on Sunday. "I'd like more swing routes, flat routes, short stuff. There are certain things I'd like to see."

Instead of sitting down with his 24-year-old quarterback and finding a middle ground, Shell stood resolutely on the side of his hopeless coordinator.

"When you speak out, you need to know what you're talking about when you make those statements," Shell commented. "You can speak out; I've said that before. Guys are capable of speaking out, but when you start going out and you start airing your laundry in public, then you've got to have some accountability for that, too."

"Accountability" has become a preferred word for Shell this season. Thus far, the word has been applied to virtually every member of the team -- except himself and his buddy, of course. According to Shell, Walsh is yet to cost the team a single game, despite coordinating the NFL's worst offense.

Even I, who tried to cut Walsh some slack after Sunday's loss to the Broncos, have had trouble defending the coordinator for more than 24 hours. After writing yesterday, "For the first time of the '06 season, even the artless Tom Walsh is free from blame," I received a stream of feedback. Among the most recurrent responses was, "Did Mr. Walsh offer you free pancakes for life to write that?"

I wish. But, apparently, he has made that same offer to Shell, and he accepted.

Shell added to the Walsh-defense on Monday, saying, "To start making statements about what's in and what's not in, then you need to take a hard look at what's there. Obviously, I don't want to get into a contest with a young man."

Perhaps because you would lose.

Want to be in the Raiders mailbag? Visit RaidersLive.com to submit your questions and comments for the Nov. 17 mailbag. Get more on the Oakland Raiders at RealFootball365.com.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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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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CommentsComments: 52  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
carter		09:54 AM
11/14/2006
Art Shell needs to get hids head out of tom walshes but and see the picture.This is the sorriest offence the raiders have ever...
No.2
Docs Raiders		10:16 AM
11/14/2006
Fellow Raider fans, I hate that it has come down to this but if Shell can't be man enough or smart enough to see how much of an...
No.3
eL_cUrLy_16		10:23 AM
11/14/2006
yea you tell 'em AC ...hey you know what i think that Shell & Walsh have something going on.....Porter is a really smart guy he...
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