Category: Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders podcast with Jeremy Kahn: Better than last year these Raiders are ready to go

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeremy Kahn

ALAMEDA–The Oakland Raiders are all set for the first of four games and the veteran Charles Woodson an 18 year veteran whose been in the league and he can help the Raiders out a lot with his expertise back there. Head coach Jack Del Rio is ready to use Derek Carr out there for a little while and then go with his back ups and it’s pre season and they’ll play a couple of series and they’ll go to the back up.

The Raiders will go to a couple of series and look at a few of the players that most likely won’t make the team in September. Del Rio wants to get these kids a chance under their belt to play an actual NFL pre season game. Running back Roy Helu Jr is a good ball player who played in Washington last year. Look at running back Latavius Murray and Taiwan Jones whose in his third year, let’s face it the Raiders are stacked.

The Raiders are stacked on the offense and their looking forward to seeing running back Trent Richardson, receivers Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper, Cooper who did wonders in Alabama for the Crimson Tide. Trindon Holliday is a great receiver, look out for Andre Holmes these kids are going to be good. The Raiders a just a year away from making it to the promise land and making post season.

Del Rio as a coach has a lot of experience whose worked with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL, he worked in Jacksonville, he worked in Denver, he has seen the Raiders up close up and personal. He knows the personnel he’s a local kid he knows the Raider mystique as well. There is a huge difference with the changes as opposed to last season.

The Raiders had two head coaches Dennis Allen and Tony Sparano and it wasn’t working with them and they didn’t know what they were doing and that’s why they needed to go. General Manager Reggie McKenzie said, “we need to change it up and they need to hit the bricks” and that’s what happened and the Raiders are looking for good things from head coach Jack Del Rio.

McKenzie brought in Del Rio who he’s known for a long time and McKenzie has been doing this for a long time too. This is a make or break year for the Raiders. It’s the fourth year with McKenzie and it’s time for the Raiders to get going. The Raiders fans their patient they’ve waited a long time to get to the playoffs and 2002 was eons basically.

Jeremy Kahn is the Oakland Raiders beat writer and does Raider podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo SF Gate

NFL Podcast with Tony Renteria Thu Aug 13, 2015: Jets Geno Smith got in Enemkpali’s face was smug before the punch say teammates

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Tony Renteria

Former New York Jets linebacker IK Enemkpali was merely asking for the $600 he loaned Jets quarterback Geno Smith in the Jets locker room that paid for a plane ticket. Smith got angry about Enemkpali having the gull to ask for the loaner back and got in the linebacker’s face and pointed his finger in Enemkpali’s face making contact in Enemkpali’s face and that’s when Enemkpali laid Smith out breaking his jaw.

Here’s Smith making bank and for him not to pay his teammate back, it’s a guy barrowing a lot of money from a guy who doesn’t make a lot of money and not paying it back. If you were a quarterback in that leadership role your the guy who actually hosts camps with your teammates. Your the guy who picks up the check at dinner.

There’s great stories about quarterbacks buying cars, expensive wrist watches and getting their linemen gifts. To barrow money from another guy on the team especially someone on the other side of the ball and not paying him back is just ludicrous. Now mind you there is no excuse for violence in the dressing room. You wouldn’t imagine former Packers quarterback Brett Farve being in the at situation, or a Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning being in that situation.

You wouldn’t imagine a Raiders quarterback Derrek Carr being in that situation, you wouldn’t imagine the Colts Andrew Luck being in that situation because these are guys who are leaders on and off the field. This situation that took place between Enemkpali and Smith was described by Jet teammates as something that would take place in the sixth grade level. These other quarterbacks are guys who know what it’s like to be the number one person in the huddle.

I’m not saying that Enemkpali got what he deserved but what Smnith didn’t do would establish himself to be in that elite part of the locker room knowing that that’s his locker room. Smith is a young kid whose immature and didn’t take the lead role of being the quarterback and all the intangibles that go along with it.

Tom Brady after court appearance will get some looks during exhibition game on Thursday night: Brady will get in about three plays and as many as 12 plays. That package has already been set. Brady shouldn’t be distracted by what’s going on with the court appearance Brady and head coach Bill Belichick you almost have to believe that the Patriots arrived in a little bit of controversy.

Matter of fact it’s going to be fuel for Brady this year, if Brady’s suspension is reduced one or two games even with that the Pats still can make a run at Peyton Manning’s touchdown season total. The Patriots want to go into this leaving no doubt that they are still the top team in the NFL.

Listen to Tony for more on the NFL Podcast as he talks about the Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and more at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Are you ready for some football? Raiders host Rams Friday in preseason opener.

Published on by jhawkes51Leave a comment

By Joe Hawkes

OAKLAND — The best time of the sports season has finally arrived: NFL football is back and I can’t be more excited. The action, the intensity of guys trying to make the final 53-man roster at the end of a grueling training camp. Some guys make a great impression in the first game and solidify their position on the depth chart, while others, can drop in a heartbeat.

And football will be played at 7000 Coliseum Way when the Oakland Raiders host the St. Louis Rams Friday night in the preseason opener for both clubs. Kickoff is set for 7:00 P.M. PDT.

The 2015 Oakland Raiders enters the season with a renewed breath of fresh air (from those who’ve visited training camp in Napa said there is an excitable feeling from players and coaches), which has been foggy for the past 13 seasons that have ended with Oakland watching the playoffs from the couch.

And why shouldn’t the future look bright for the Silver & Black?

They enter the season with Derek Carr at quarterback, who started all 16 games as a rookie in 2014 and displayed the characteristics of a 10-year veteran, despite leading Oakland to a 3-13 record.

Carr’s 2014 rookie campaign: 348-599 passes, 3,270 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while completing 58 percent of his passes.

Carr was recently quoted in the Associated Press as one of the Raiders’ biggest goals (as it is for all teams), is to “win the (AFC West) division.” That is a lofty expectation for the second-year pro and a franchise that has not won a division title since 2002.

But you got to love the confidence and the visionary outlook from Carr.

Carr should improve on those numbers with the drafting of Alabama superstar in wide receiver Amari Cooper with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and the signing of veteran wide receiver Michael Crabtree.

Crabtree’s career appears to be coming to a full circle in signing with Oakland.

In 2009 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders selected Maryland wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey at seventh overall and passed on Crabtree, who was drafted three spots later at 10 to San Francisco.

As it is the first preseason game, don’t expect the first-team offense to be on the field for that long. I’d expect Carr and the first-team offense to be on the field for one drive. The running game will be an interesting subplot with Latavius Murray, Trent Richardson, and George Atkinson III (son of Raiders’ great George Atkinson II) all battling to be the bell-cow for Oakland in 2015.

The player I’m looking forward to seeing Friday night is rookie tight end Clive Walford. Walford has the chance to unseat incumbent starter Mychal Rivera should he have an amazing training camp and impressive showings in game action.

Walford, who has been battling a hamstring injury for parts of camp, was on the field Tuesday after a Monday off day. The 6’4″, 250 lbs Walford was an absolute weapon at the University of Miami. catching 121 passes for 1,753 yards and 14 touchdowns, becoming just the seventh tight end in Hurricanes history to surpass 1,000 career receiving yards.

Defensively, Oakland is converting explosive second-year player Khalil Mack from linebacker to defensive end. Oakland wants Mack to get after the quarterback more after having to play in coverage for most of his rookie year, but Mack has been a quick study and has adapted to his new position.

Justin Ellis is solid at defensive tackle and rookie defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. is expected to be a key contributor on the defensive line.

The linebacking corps looks good too, with a healthy Sio Moore, and free agent imports Curtis Lofton (Atlanta), and Malcolm Smith (Seattle). Smith, a former Super Bowl MVP, is quite familiar with want Norton Jr. wants to do on defense from their time in Seattle.

The secondary does have some questions. Charles Woodson, seems to always know when to drink from the fountain of youth.

Woodson, who is entering his 18th year in the league, is like a fine Napa Cabernet. Woodson remains a lock to start a free safety and former Philadelphia Eagle Nate Allen at strong safety, but who will be the starters at cornerback?

D.J. Hayden, who has been having a tough start to training camp, is penciled (not penned) in to be a starter at one spot, with T.J. Carrie, Chimdi Chekwa and Keith McGill competing for the other starting spot at cornerback.

St. Louis finally turned the page on the Sam Bradford Era, by trading the former No. 1 overall pick in 2010 to the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback Nick Foles. Foles is adequate passer and is the kind of quarterback that Rams head coach Jeff Fisher loves.

In 28 starts for Philadelphia, Foles completed 550-of-893 passes for 6.753 yards, 48 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. St. Louis inked Foles to a two-year, $24.5 million deal last week, per NFL Media Insider Michael Rapoport. Rapoport confirmed that the Rams are committed to Foles through 2017 by guaranteeing $14 million to Foles, who was set to earn just $1.5 in the final year of his rookie deal.

Foles can void the final year of the deal based on Pro Bowl and team performance.

The Rams swung for the fences in drafting Georgia running back, Todd Gurley with the 10th overall selection in the 2015 NFL Draft. Gurley is an all-world talent with exceptional speed and field vision, but will not play in the preseason according to Fisher. Gurley is recovering from the torn ACL that ended his his junior year and college career.

Defensively, this might be one of the best units in all of football.

Robert Quinn, Chris Long, Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers make up a formidable defensive line that can get after the quarterback. Donald, the defensive tackle, finished with 9.5 sacks, was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014.

Linebackers Alec Ogletree and James Laurinaitis combined for 220 tackles last season, while free safety T.J. McDonald (son of former Cardinals and 49ers strong safety Tim McDonald), finished with 105 tackles.

St. Louis comes into 2015 with high expectations. Most football experts and prognosticators have predicted that the Rams have a look of a playoff team, even playing in arguably football’s toughest division, the NFC West.

The Rams finished 6-10 (2-4 in the NFC West) last year.

That’s Amuary’s Podcast,News and Commentary: Gifford was part of what many say the best NFL broadcast team in history

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–One more thought on the late Frank Gifford who passed this week at the age of 84 he was most likely part of the best talented broadcast teams in the history of netowrk TV. You have to remember that Monday Night Football revolutionized sports with the Dandy Don Meridith, Howard Cosell, and Gifford may he rest in peace.

Those three are inseparable in the success of the football broadcasting booth although Cosell didn’t get along with the jocks in the booth, he didn’t get along with Frank but the Giff was a class act. Gifford was one of those guys who played for the New York Giants and in the 60s in New York the biggest star was Mickey Mantle and then Gifford. Remember the NFL wasn’t big yet in the 60s.

The NFL became big because of TV and because of these three guys in the MNF booth Cosell, Meridith, and Gifford who worked together from 1971-1977. These three revolutionized MNF and later you got guys like Al Michaels, Tony Kornheiser, Jon Gruden, Dennis Miller and many more and Michaels you might remember was the voice of the San Francisco Giants in 1974-75.

These three guys revolutionized national television on Monday Nights and MNF became more than a game MNF became an event and now we see what happens the NFL is the leading league in all of sports and is the number one league. Every single game is on TV with Sunday night, Thursday night and on Monday night.

So those three revolutionized the national TV spotlight, Gifford came from humble beginnings born in 1930 grew up in California during the depression, moved 47 times before high school, his family was so poor they ate dog food during the great depression to survive, Gifford went to Bakersfield City College and got enough credit to go to USC and was a fast runner on the football team there and got noticed and was drafted to the NFL and after his playing days went onto work in acting and television broadcasting.

Listen to Amaury Pi Gonzalez on the podcast below as he also discusses more on Gifford and MLB headlines, Amaury is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s, the Spanish TV voice for the Angels, and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders podcast with Jeremy Kahn: Murray and Richardson welcome sight while back ups rest

Published on by lleonardbw1 Comment

by Jeremy Kahn

NAPA–For the Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray he will later be backed up by Roy Helu Jr who is out right now. The Raiders right now don’t want a lot of distractions like another team has in the Bay Area. It’s really good to have Murray in the back field and the Raiders can be a powerful team in that backfield when the season starts in September.

Murray was badly needed back because back ups Helu and Michael Dyer are not active. Trent Richardson is also back after missing the first five days of camp due to a case of pneumonia. Richardson rivals the Colts Frank Gore and they will do very well replacing Helu and Dyer. Ken Norton Jr defensive coordinator is a proven winner and he won two World’s Championships with the Dallas Cowboys.

Norton’s expertise is coaching defense and his experience from Seattle will help him out alot. He’s a great coach and in the next few years Norton could be a head coach somewhere. Head coach Jack Del Rio is a great coach and a good guy and he was in Jacksonville and he’s a proven Bay Area figure he went to USC and then onto the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.

He was a good player and a greater coach and he’s going to be offensive savvy when he gets into his first game in Oakland when the pre season starts next Friday against the Houston Texans at the Oakland Coliseum. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is a stud and he came in and lit the world on fire last season and nobody at the Raiders knew who he was.

David Carr is Derek’s older brother and if they can get all their cylinders fired up and the Raiders can get everything going on offense and defense the Raiders should be back in the playoffs in a year or year and half year. The Raiders had Dennis Allen at head coach last season and right now it looks like the Jim Harbaugh effect.

Harbaugh got the 49ers when they were struggling and got them to the playoffs in one year and he got them to the post season when the team was primarily former head coach Mike Singletary’s guys. Del Rio can have that same kind of success by next season but in two years the Raiders will be back in two years. Raiders receiver Rod Streater, tight end Clive Walford, and tackle Stacey McGee are still out these three will probably miss a lot of the pre season. Streater will be back and if McGee and Walford can get back by the last game that would be great for the Raiders before they start the season.

Jeremy Kahn is an Oakland Raiders beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NFL Podcast with Tony Renteria: No discipline rules covers broken cell phones in NFL CBA

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Tony Renteria

Tom Brady says he’s innocent: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s lawyers told him exactly what to say and he told the equipment managers and ball boys to deflate the ball not during the AFC Championship but to deflate the balls during pre season at the beginning of last season. They just kept deflating the ball all last season. It just so happened to be over the course of time that people picked up on it.

You have to look back at what Brady said and dissect it and he doesn’t make a comment on it unless he has a lawyer tell him what to say. This is a truthful statement if I had asked you to deflate to the balls the entire season and then I say “I did not ask them to deflate the ball in the AFC Championship” that statement is 100% true.

Brady didn’t ask the equipment staff to deflate for the AFC Championship game as they were doing it the entire season long. It was a Baltimore Ravens player that told the Indianapolis Colts players to watch out for it as the Ravens picked up on it during the season. Brady is trying to reduce his suspension from four games to one or two.

Keep in mind that all of Brady’s legal fees are being taken care of by the Player’s Association and Brady can maintain his innocence all he wants and he will not pay the bill for it. The idea of the NFL disciplining Brady for breaking his cell phone is not covered under the NFL bargaining agreement. Remember when Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Rothlesberger had his intimate with the lady in the bathroom and the cover up was worse than the crime.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would like to say, ‘this is what’s going on and I have control” when the players are trying to circumvent that from him that’s when the hammer comes down. Four games suspended for under deflating a football may seem like a lot but it’s really four games for Brady who really led a conspiracy to make sure that the NFL could not get to the 100 percent truth.

A 457 page transcript came out on Tuesday on Deflategate and Brady has maintained his innocence. Brady said he never had any discussion with the ball boys regarding deflating football. He also said that no one in management or the coaching staff asked him to tamper with footballs during the AFC Championship.

Tony Renteria covers more NFL stories listen to the podcast below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders podcast with David Zizmor Sat Aug 1, 2015

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by David Zizmor

SF 49ers update: Head coach Jim Tomsula has worked on the offensive side of the ball although he was a defensive coach previously. He’s been the 49ers line coach for quite sometime. It’s yet to be seen how much coaching contact that Tomsula will have with 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Given how the 49ers defensive line has done in recent years you’d figure he’s pretty good.

Given his reputation and given that he’s the man for the 49ers head coaching position is his people skills he’s a guy that everybody just loves. All the players enjoyed working with Tomsula. Tomsula is a guy whose very good interacting with his players. You just figure the quarterback is the guy whose the head of your offense and he is the perceived team leader.

You got figure that Tomsula has been working on that relationship and Tomsula is a player’s coach and that’s what the players say. It’s too early now to tell you what his relationship is with Kaepernick. The assumption is he’s working on it, you just have to give it time and your not going to know about it until you see it. Tomsula is like a players coach, the players like him and get along with him and given his background he’s traveled around and found his way into such a great position.

Oakland Raiders update: The relationship between Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio and quarterback Derek Carr is not known yet. At least with the 49ers Colin Kaepernick and head coach Jim Tomsula they know each other because Tomsula was an assistant coach at the 49ers all these years so maybe they’ve had some contact with each other.

Del Rio and Carr it’s an unknown right now, Del Rio was an assistant coach with the Denver Broncos so he definitely wasn’t in any contact with Carr prior to being named head coach. The other thing is Del Rio is a defensive side of the ball guy and Carr is a quarterback. So they got to work on it and they may not be necessarily on top of each other in every single meeting.

That said Del Rio has been a head coach before and he’s been a fairly moderate one at that he knows how to interact with different players especially when the team leader is the quarterback. Del Rio is going to go into this season and he knows he has to develop a relationship with Carr.

Del Rio knows he has to get more production out of him as he grows in his second year, so it’s incumbent on Del Rio to develop that relationship to grow it and make sure that these guys are on the same page and to know how the offense and defense are going to interact and how their going to support each other.

David Zizmor podcasts for the NFL each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

NFL Podcast with Tony Renteria: Kraft apolgizes to fans for wrongful NFL discipline; League says Brady broke cell phone

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Tony Renteria

The NFL is looking for transparency and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady apparently destroyed his phone on the same day he was supposed to speak to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. So Brady destroyed evidence that the NFL is looking for. Brady is hiding behind lawyers, agents, his owner Bob Kraft and other people.

Which now poses a lot of legalees and you can tell that he’s trying to hide something and it all boils down to if the NFL cared if he cheated it’s about the cover up behind the cheating and the denial of the cheating. In light of deflategate and spygate with the Patriots over the years and the questionable formations that the Patriots ran against the Ravens in the AFC playoffs last season which were legal mind you.

The Pats just pushed the limits of the rules and Brady has grown up in that atmosphere where if your not cheating your not trying. On Brady’s appeal it’s not costing him a penny. The Player’s Association is footing the bill for all of Brady’s legal needs. So it’s not costing Brady a penny and of course the union is going to side on Brady’s behalf and not the employer.

Also the union has something in it too because Tom Brady pays the union, let’s fall back when head coach Bill Belichick was asked about the deflated football. Belichick says you have to go and ask Brady because he would control how the football is inflated. One of the things that Belichick is falling back on is the Patriots feel it’s not that big of a deal.

It is a huge deal when your looking number of times that the Patriots receivers and running backs lost fumbles last season because if the ball is underpressurized it’s easier to grab. It’s less likely your going to fumble the football. The Pats lost only one fumble all last year. You look at the turnover ratio and if you have football that’s inflated correctly and the opposition offense is using it and the chances of popping out during a hit is greater as opposed to an underinflated football where the Patriots can grab and hold onto easier.

Tony Renteria does weekly podcast on the NFL at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen for the podcast coming tonight below

San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders podcast with David Zizmor Sat Jul 25, 2015 (photo of Adrian Peterson)

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by David Zizmor

San Francisco 49ers update: The 49ers open their regular season against Minnesota (at Santa Clara), week 2 in Pittsburgh, week 3 at Arizona, and week 4 Packers (at Santa Clara). It is a tough way to open the season and the Niners were going to have a tough schedule anyway since their in the NFC West where they have the Seahawks, the Cardinals, and the Rams who seem to be getting better.

Just generally speaking the 49ers weren’t going to have it easy anyway and when you get off from a rough road trip like the Pittsburgh-Arizona stretch in weeks one and two that’s a difficult way to start your season. The Vikings are going to be one of the trendy picks this season they got Teddy Bridgewater in last year’s draft he really started to look good towards the end of last season.

The Vikings had a rough year last year because of the whole Adrian Peterson situation but he’s back and you have to figure he’s the kind of guy whose going to play with a chip on his shoulder. Let’s not forget this is a guy who is a great, great running back. Forget about all the off field stuff, he’s a great running back over the course of his career however he’s had a few issues here and there and he hopes to straighten that image out when the 49ers get ready to host the Vikings for opening night on September 14th at Levis Stadium.

Oakland Raiders update: Raiders safety Nate Allen was cleared of lewd act charges in Fort Myers Florida when a 16 year girl said she saw Allen making lewd acts in his car. Allen told arresting officers (four of them) that he was not making lewd acts and that he was on the phone the whole time with a local restaurant.

Allen was later cleared of the charges and the four officers who arrested Allen were disciplined for fouling up the investigation for wrongful detainment. Allen said he plans to sue the four officers who arrested him and the Fort Myers Police Department for false arrest. Sources say Allen is looking into taking legal action against the 16 year old girl for defamation.

This was a he said she said situation it was really tough to make any conclusions about what actually happened. Also Allen said he was talking to a restaurant by cell phone the entire time this lewd act episode was to have taken place. Police was said to have contacted the restaurant after Allen’s arrest to corroborate his story and also checked the restaurant and Allen’s cell phone records time line which checked out.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Oakland Raiders podcast with Jeremy Kahn: Look for Carr to have even a better year for Oakland

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeremy Kahn

ALAMEDA–The relationship between Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio and Raiders quarterback Derek Carr will be a good one and Carr will be a great young quarterback. Carr will have help with some good wide receivers with Amari Cooper who was drafted by the Raiders from the University of Alabama. Michael Crabtree will be there at wide out the Raiders will be much improved contrary to popular belief. Crabtree will not be a stranger to anyone at the Coliseum where many had followed Crabree from his days in San Franciso.

For running back Latavius Murray expect nothing but speed last year he had a 90 yard touchdown against Kansas City last year on a Thursday night game and he is going to be a very good running back for the future. Wide receiver Rod Streater he will show speed with Crabtree and Cooper that will be a formable trio.

The Raiders open up the regular season at home hosting Cincinnati and Baltimore and you really never know what is going to happen until the regular season gets underway. The Bengals have quarterback Andy Dalton starting then there’s the Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. We all know whose the head coach at the Ravens it’s none other than John Harbaugh. That team won the Super Bowl three years ago their just as good and just as hungry to get back to that positon now.

The Raiders hit the road against Cleveland and Chicago and in weeks three and four. At Chicago it won’t be too freezing cold because the Raiders will be getting in those two cities in the last part of September and early October. They won’t have to face the winter cold breezes of Lake Michigain or Lake Eerie. The Raiders in their first four games could end up being 3-1 or at worst 0-4 and they could be 1-3. You never know what could happen they could sweep all four games with Cincinnati, Baltimore, Cleveland or Chicago.

Jeremy Kahn is a beat reporter for the Oakland Raiders at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below