Do We Really Need Nmamdi?

Dan and I are sitting here watching (currently) the Jets-Dolphins game, discussing what to do now the Off-season is officially official.

And Dan says, "All of our players are emerging players. We only have three established players: Nmamdi, Lechler, and Burgess. And they all might leave."

So I say, "After today, do we really need Nmamdi?"

And then we laughed. Of course, we need Nmamdi. If I had to choose one of those three, it would be Nmamdi.

In fact, in order of guys I would keep: Nmamdi, Lechler, and then Burgess.

Raiders 2, 49ers 1

Suck it, Niners fans. We got more Pro Bowlers than you did.

Ostler: Lincecum and the Top 5 Most Loved and Hated Bay Area Sports Figures

First of all, I didn't know that Tim Lincecum was an emo kid. In that knit cap he looks like the dude from Fallout Boy who married Tony Romo's Girlfriend's sister.

Second, Ostler's reference to Fader Nation is a potentially HOTW-worthy, except that it's tough to get worked up about that right now.

Al Davis as most hated Bay Area Sports figure? It still seems to me like York would jump him, because he's both incompetent and boring. It's always better to interesting than boring, isn't it?

Finally, CLOAK-designated Man Crush of 2008 being compared to Barry Bonds works and it doesn't work. Yes, I understand the intentional walk analogy and the implication that Nmamdi is even more talented than Barry at his peak. But Barry Bonds is a fucking prick. Nmamdi is thoughtful, articulate, and as Joe Biden might say, clean, too. He does belong in the Top 5 most beloved Bay Area Athletes; granting Lincecum #1, Nmamdi's got to be #2. If you throw in his days at Cal, he's also the longest-tenured Bay Area Athlete on this list.

Whatever Al Davis does, he has to find to stop running the Raiders into the fucking ground, if only to make signing a long-term deal attractive to Nmamdi.

We flat out need him.

Bill Williamson Talks Raiders on ESPN

Following up on Dan's excellent post from yesterday, the only thing I can really say is that at least people are talking about the Raiders again. I still don't think the weirdness of the Kiffin firing can ever be topped, but if what Williamson is saying is true, and Javon Walker, Tommy Kelly, Kwame Harris, Gibril Wilson, and Gerard Warren are all cut during the off season at the latest, then it's clear that perhaps the denial that Alameda's been mired in for the last 5 years may finally be fading.

We can only hope. It's come at a great cost: 2nd and 5th round picks for Hall. Plus all that Salary Cap money in the guarantees to Walker. Especially after Al could have just let Javon retire and it would have cost him NOTHING.

But sometimes lessons are expensive. There is a good core of players here. I'm not trying to sound like Tom Cable, but I think there really is a foundation to build on here. JaMarcus, Nmamdi, the Linebackers, Run DMC. And didn't Super Mario play pretty well in Buffalo?

So the weirdest thing of all may just be Al Davis looking himself in the mirror and understanding that he's made some atrocious moves in the last couple of years, and taking action, no matter how embarrassing or drastic, to finally, actually remedy things.

Official

DeAngelo Hall is cut.

Is Javon next?

Bill Williamson agrees with Dan that Nmamdi's a must-sign.

At least this happened.

Nmamdi: Players are Okay.

Nmamdi Asomugha is quoted pretty extensively in this Boston Globe Football Notes column by Mike Reiss. He's got to be the most eloquent football player since Steve Young. This thoughtful quote takes goes right to the heart of Warren Sapp's recent comments:

"I'm not trying to save face of the Raiders, because I could be on any team at any moment. I'm just being honest. From a player's perspective, it's nowhere near what you hear, point blank. I don't know how else to explain it. It's so normal that it's abnormal, because you're thinking that it should be dysfunctional."

The "any team at any moment" obviosly refers to his contract situation. Al, do whatever it takes, but Lock Him Up. Nmamdi should be a Raider for Life.

Nmamdi Defers

Just heard the coin toss; Nmamdi called "tails" and won.

He deferred, so the Raiders will start on Defense. Ballsy?

Essence Readers are Not Haters

Essence Magazine has an online poll called the Do Right Men. Week 4 features both Nmamdi Asomugha and Kirk Morrison.

They are Dominating. As of this posting, Captain Kirk leads all Candidates with 26.1% of the votes, followed closely by Asomugha who has 22.5%. This is out of 12 dudes. The next closest percentage is some dude named Angelo Mitchell. He has only 14.7% and is the only guy besides our defensive leaders in double figures.

(hat tip to Jason Jones)

For the record, I voted for Morrison. But it was a tough call. I figured that since Nmamdi was already my Man Crush of the week, I could give my vote to Morrison.

Man Crush: Nmamdi Asomugha

Apocryphal:

adjective. 1. Of doubtful authenticity :SPURIOUS.
2. Often capitalized: of or resembling the Apocrypha.
SYNOMYMS: see FICTITIOUS.

I start this post with the dictionary definition of "apocryphal" because Nmamdi Asomugha used it correctly during his interview session yesterday after the opening practice of training camp:

I had heard all the apocryphal stories during the offseason of what was going on so I wanted to put everything to rest and just show up. . . It went both ways. I had a lot of people saying don’t show up and I had enough people saying show it up so it helped me out. I sought out the counsel that was needed in this situation and I was able to come and be here.

Please, Al. Pay this guy next year. Not only is he the anti-Charles Woodson in terms of team leadership-by-example, but the English Major in me can't resist a guy who uses SAT words like "apocryphal" correctly to describe the speculation about his contract negotiations.

And look, I know we're not supposed to feel bad for this guy, because he's making $9.87 Million or whatever it is this year. But that's not the point. This is:

I really want to win games. That’s a big part of why I’m here. It’s putting that on the line, that you could get hurt, and those types of things. But it’s in the name of being a cohesive unit and coming together and trying to win football games.

That is exactly the kind of leadership you want from your star players. He admits he was taken aback by the money the Raiders threw around this summer, but instead of doing sit-ups in his driveway, or staying home during training to "send a message"--a message absolutely no one would blame him for trying to send--he shows up in fantastic shape and intercepts the one pass that was thrown to his side of the field.

The actions of players like Asomugha seem to contradict all of the negative press swarming the Raiders this offseason. If the Hotel California was so goddamned disfunctional, why would an obvious "character guy" such as Asomugha be in such a hurry to get back and join his teammates, when he has every incentive not to?

It almost makes these stories seem apocryphal.

UPDATE: Per Dan's comment, here's Nancy Gay's article on Asomugha. She has some very nice things to say about Lane Kiffin as well.