Raiders in New Haven

My daughter started school last week, and there was a note on vaccinations and other health stuff, signed by the president of the Board of Education and the Acting Director of Public Health, Dr. Chisara N. Asomugha.

The form's a little dated, because she is now the Community Services Administrator for the City of New Haven.

She's also permanent CLOAK OF IMMORTALITY Man Crush Nnamdi Asomugha's big sister.

I confirmed this when I read this SI profile from last year on Nnamdi, "A Name Worth Knowing."

"Nnamdi struggled at times to fit in among a household of academic achievers. Chisara, the oldest of the children, is a pediatrician with an M.D. from Duke and a master's in public health from North Carolina; she's a finalist for a White House fellowship, to be announced later this month. His younger sister, Udodirim, has a master's in public health from Michigan, and Chijioke received his M.B.A. from Columbia this spring."

That's a serious family right there.

Man Corner

Had to put this one up on the blog: Nnamdi on the set at NFL Network in Miami. Not only does he say all the right things, as usual, but he doesn't fall into the Michael Irvin, "Must be the coaches' fault" trap and keeps the onus on JaMarcus.

On Nnamdi

Old news in so many ways, but I feel somehow relieved that Nnamdi had so much to say about the Raiders' simple defense (via Jerry, David White's blog and article, Guttierez, and even the Associated Press). This was my point #2 on what we've learned about the Raiders' systemic dysfunction over the years. Despite some excellent defensive performances from time to time, this is ultimately what gives the Raiders little chance of winning with any consistency.

JaMarcus has been a disaster. DHB is even worse than we expected he'd be. But this defense - having filled some important holes with the likes of Richard Seymour and Tyvon Branch - continues to fail. That's what I'd put on a billboard: "Mr. Davis, do the right thing. Give your defensive coordinator an opportunity to do his job."

Fittingly, we get to watch Pittsburgh this week, a team who drove quite a bit of innovation in pressure schemes while absolutely stuffing the run in recent years. Oh yeah, and they've won some more Super Bowls, too.

More Nnamdi on Vick

I attributed this to Jerry Mac's twitter feed, because that's where I saw it first, but I should give props to David White who was on Chronicle Live with Nnamdi last night, which is apparently where the quote comes from.



Also, I'm not sure why the embedded video is cut off. The code they give you to copy is weird and needed to be edited, by me, with my limited skills.

Props to Ratto, I think, for the Bernie Maddoff joke.

Bill Williamson is Lazy; Jerry McDonald is Not (UPDATED)

The headline over at Bronco Bill's blog is "Sound-off: Michael Vick and the Raiders." He's soliciting reader emails, now that Vick's been conditionally reinstated, on whether or not he'd make a good Raider. I'm so tired of this, I don't even know where to begin. But since I had to say something, I submitted this:

Amy Trask would never allow it. You've written elsewhere that the Raiders linked with Vick is knee-jerk "Al Davis Loves Renegades" logic (or something). That fact that you've resorted to this on the day that Raiders training camp opens, and not whether or not Heyward-Bey is signed, or if JaMarcus can hold off Garcia, is just plain lazy.

I know, why doesn't Josh McDaniels bring him in to compete? Or is he happy with the duo of Kyle Orton and Chris Simms? Are Thigpen and Croyle really better than Michael Vick backing up Cassell? You'd be better off going back to transcribing Mike Shanahan press releases.

We'll see if he runs it. My guess is there'll be 20 emails for it, mostly from Denver, Kansas City, and San Diego, saying things like, "Of course the Raiders want Michael Vick. They're gangsters, blah blah blah Al Davis renegade blah blah blah if his 40 time is still blah blah blah wildcat."

It makes me want to puke.

UPDATE: From Jerry Mac's brand new Twitter page:

Nnamdi on Vick: ``Anytime there’s a criminal, or someone’s just gotten out of jail. Everyone says the Raiders are going to take him.”

Or, as our Permanent Man Crush might put it, the stories linking Michael Vick to the Raiders are apocryphal.

Hater of the Week: Aileen Yoo

Blogger Aileen Yoo from SFGate's blog The Scavenger serves up a boatload of condescension in a piece about Permanent Man Crush Nnamdi Asomugha:

Now, Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha reveals what he'd do if he weren't playing for godawful Oakland. In ESPN's ongoing "backup plan" feature, Asomugha, the highest-paid defensive back ever and quite the do-gooder, morphed into an ESPN TV sports analyst, going from meeting to meeting, and learning the tricks of the trade.

The comments on this post are pretty funny. Right off the bat, JSpicoli writes, "Hey Aileen. You are Godawful."

In her favor, she also noted that 49ers tight end Vernon Davis wants to be an interior decorator when he's done playing ball. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

A Quick Break From the Draft Talk...

Permanent Man Crush Nmamdi Asomugha has another admirer, and this time it's a columnist at Bloomberg. Scott Soshnick covers the 10 students of the East Oakland Youth Development Center that Nnamdi took to New York City for a tour of colleges and a meeting with Bill Clinton.

But adding to the legend? Check this out

To Brandon [one of the students], even a heart-to-heart with the former president couldn’t compare with the last-day surprise. Asomugha told the group his friend Natalie would be joining them for a planned stroll down Fifth Avenue. He neglected to mention that her last name was Portman.

Are you kidding me? Talk about Juice. Who cares about Bill Clinton. He takes these kids shopping with permanent John's List member Natalie Portman. She even looks good bald.

If that's not worth adding a #21 to the jersey collection, I don't know what is.

Nnamdi Dominates ESPN

Look, I don't know why ESPN.com only has two videos (that I can find, maybe I'm just looking wrong or not hard enough; there are a lot of podcasts and radio excerpts though) of Nnamdi Asomugha's two days in and around Bristol, CT. I watched him on the SportCenter Draft Special this afternoon break down the available corners in the draft with Trey Wingo, et. al. But all I kind are these two:





The first one is with Dana Jacobson, and if it featured any other player besides Nmamdi, it might come across as condescending, seeing as they ask him to pronounce other foreign names. But his class overcomes it. He could have gotten indignant, which might have been funny, but he handles himself well and even makes Jacobs look okay.

The second one I found courtesy of Bill Williamson, and it just figures that he would post a video of the Raiders star quarterback opining on whether or not the DENVER BRONCOS should trade up and draft Mark Sanchez. He says they should. Maybe it's reverse psychology? He wants them to waste the draft picks they got along with Kyle Orton on Sanchez, because everyone knows the boy genius develops late round QBs like Matt Cassell.

At least Wingo gives Nmamdi the props he deserves.

Cable Between the Lines

Interesting to read through the full transcript of Cable at the owners' meetings that Jerry posted the other day. Obviously, the JaMarcus stuff is a bit concerning, but I'll fall in line with our resident apologist and brush that aside for now as useful motivation for a 23-year-old who wears really fabulous furs.

First, he didn't seem particularly excited to talk about Javon Walker at all.

"Q: What have you decided to do with Javon Walker?

Cable: Oh, he’s still there.

Q: He’ll be on the team?

Cable: Yeah."

He goes on to chat a bit about his health, but it appears that Cable has a bit of a "show me" attitude and has not gone crazy expecting Javon to return to some glorious form.

Second, I'm glad to see Cable immediately named the "monster" as selfishness. But without doing an extensive search of Raider coach interviews over the past six years, I do have a sense of deja vu. Perhaps Cable is finally addressing it in a head-on fashion, but it seems that selfishness is an old problem that sticks around no matter how many Jerry Porters or Philip Buchanons you remove from the team. Kind of like penalties. Let's hope Cable has the power to change the culture.

Third, check out Cable's leader roll call:

"I know the core of the team. I know the Morrisons and the Howards and the Gerard Warrens and the Nnamdi Asomughas, the Hiram Eugenes, the Chris Johnsons, the Cooper Carlisles, the Justin Fargas, the Darren McFaddens, the Zach Millers, the Robert Gallerys."

I'm kind of surprised to see Gerard Warren named right after the LBs. Hiram Eugene? Sure, one can read into this one way too much, but it is interesting to read which guys are top of mind. Contrast this with Nnamdi's list of guys who care after the laughing locker room incident of 2008: "(Derrick) Burgess, Gibril (Wilson), who came from a different team . . . Tommy Kelly." The only overlap is Nnamdi himself.

And finally, good to see the love continue with Mr. Davis:

"Q: What’s it like working for Al Davis?

Cable: Awesome. Just awesome. I know all the stories, I’ve heard them. But I’ve been in there two years now, as an assistant and the interim head coach and head coach. The guy is amazing. He’s very set in his way. He is probably most responsible for the NFL being where it is. And he’s proud of that. I think that people take that confidence and that
belief in what he has that he has been able to accomplish and like to argue what that is. But to me it’s just been his wisdom and a partnership. What he told me when he hired me is We can only do it if we do it together…..I need for you to do this, this and this. What do you need from me? People say here’s this guy who dresses the same all the time and he is arrogant and this and that. That’s the perception, but that’s not who he really is. He’s a guy who loves his football team, is passionate about it. He’s a guy who has an unbelievable amount of knowledge. He’s a guy who if you allow . . . can teach you more than you ever thought possible."

What will be awesome is if Cable is saying similar things after the 2009 season.

Nnamdi Profiled in USA Today

There's a fantastic profile of Nnamdi Asomugha today, written by Jim Corbett, that says everything you need to know about why he's the CLOAK's permanent Man Crush.

Dan will pleased to know that in addition to kindling a bromance with Bill Clinton, Nmamdi learned a lot of his shutdown skills by digging into the Raiders film library to watch Lester Hayes.

Anyway, it's an inspiring story, and everyone who calls himself or herself a Raiders fan should read it.

Raider Season

The Raider offseason rolls on, and despite the lack of free agent signings it remains generally more interesting and positive than recent regular seasons. The loss of Marquis Cooper is clearly worse than anything that goes on during the regular season (even that Atlanta game last year), but it has given us more of a glimpse into the type of leader Tom Cable will be. Coupled with the strategy to hold onto our own proven free agents, I really like what I'm seeing from this latest Raider push to remake the locker room. It looks genuine.

It is sometimes difficult to understand why the Raiders of recent years have been so bad year after year, no matter the coaches, no matter the personnel. What is it about Al Davis that translates so directly into performance on the field. Poor talent acquisition? Yes, but there is quite a bit of talent on the team, and it wasn't long ago that Kerry Collins was throwing to Randy Moss and losing 11+ games per year. Defensive scheme limitations? Probably, but few would single out the defense as the bigger problem in recent years. An insistence on the vertical game? Maybe, but for two consecutive 11+ loss years the Raiders have been a zone-blocking, run-first team.

The answer is the same as the answer to the mystery of why the Raiders lead the league in penalties every year despite fielding completely different personnel led by completely different coaches. There is neither discipline nor accountability that translates through the organization to the players. Lane Kiffin calls it "dysfunction."

I like to think that the Raiders are being punished for signing the players I hate the most. In 2008 the trend continued with Javon Walker, a man who gained my dislike by participating in Drew Rosenhaus' great holdout scam of a few years ago, publicly feuded with my man Brett Favre, and then signed with the hated Broncos. This year we have dodged two bullets: Jerramy Stevens, alleged rapist, re-signed with the Bucs, and of course T.O. took his act to Siberia.

Hey Johnny, we need a safety and guess who's available?

Whether to avoid curse or dysfunction, repealing the "talent at all costs" approach of the past will help this team. Both Tim Kawakami and Bill Williamson make logical arguments centered on Al resisting the allure of T.O. A backhanded compliment from Kawakami is about the best Al can expect.

This year's Commitment to Excellence award went to Nnamdi and Justin Fargas. While they run in different social circles - Nnamdi hobnobs with Bill Clinton and Fargas with a guy who does inhale - these are the guys who will anchor the 2009 Raider locker room. It is interesting to see what Fargas had to say to Jason Jones about the upcoming year: "Probably the most exciting thing I can say going into this season is we have the same coach. We have direction as a team and we know where Coach (Tom) Cable is coming from, what he's trying to do with us and where we're trying to go."

Simple, but arguably missing since Gruden left.

It is likely that I am becoming too optimistic during the offseason, as usual. But you have to admit that when the 49ers are the other local team, Raider offseasons always look pretty good.

Briefly Catching Up on the Offseason

Haven't had a lot of time to post lately, but it's not for lack of interest. Was discussing the Nnamdi signing with Unk today, and we got to thinking that if you selectively go back in time to late December when the Raiders had two games remaining, it's been a pretty good run. Won the two games, JaMarcus played very well, kept the coach who put it together, assembled a reasonable (experienced) staff, signed Chris Johnson, signed Shane Lechler, signed Nnamdi.

Not bad.

I'm rooting for Cable. Sure, it's in my own self interest given that Sundays will be miserable for me if he fails, but I found his enthusiasm for the Raiders at his press conference endearing. He's a lifetime Raider fan, which counts for something. And the fact that all our big free agents are returning (recognizing that money is involved here) means that guys want to play for him.

Obviously I'm thrilled with the signings. I'm not sure it's even worth discussing. Sure, a remarkable amount of money and cap space was spent, but for two guys considered the best at their positions (per All Pro selections), pay them. Mr. Mackey is discussing Nnamdi's signing on ESPN's NFL Live right now, and just watching the Nnamdi highlights has me fired up for next season.

Came across this interesting Schefter blog entry. I was wondering how long it would take for Porter to come back after stealing a bunch of Jacksonville's money. If he returns and the Raiders draft a WR early, we could end up with a record number of #2 / #3 WRs: Walker, Carter, Higgins, Schilens, Porter, and a developing rookie.

Fittingly, John Clayton is now discussing the inevitable release of Marvin Harrison.

Al Can Still Sign

The coaching search may have devolved into a convoluted process that became the target of much ridicule, but Al has succeeded beyond expectations in terms of signing key in-house free agents.

Bronco-buster Chris Johnson a week ago, All-Pro Shane Lechler yesterday, and CLOAK man-crush NNAMDI ASOMUGHA today.

Three years and at least $45 million. A similarly good investment may be a black #21 jersey.

Rather than commenting on a bunch of posts...

So why did Nnamdi wear the socks? Yeah, this is sort of a "deck chairs on the Titanic" sort of thing, but when your team leader shows disregard for a basic rule I'm not sure it helps this whole undisciplined and laughing-in-the-losing-locker-room culture. I wish he would hold his teammates accountable. He's the only one with the stature to do so.

To Sllaacs' comment, I can't imagine the Raiders have reached their nadir if they haven't already. Next someone is sure to set fire to the Raider Port-a-Potty.

We always hear about how guys don't care enough. On defense, who are these guys? Nnamdi names Burgess, Wilson, and Kelly as guys who do care. That leaves Warren and Edwards on the D-line, all the LBs, and Johnson and Huff/Eugene in the defensive backfield. In my opinion you shouldn't need more than two leaders in a position group to pull the other guys up and make them accountable. So is Nnamdi's comment an indictment of Kirk Morrison and potentially Thomas Howard? They are two of the guys I see actually making plays out there. And if I'm reading too deeply into the comment, how many guys does it take to demand some accountability out of teammates?

Nnamdi is Frustrated.

Permanent CLOAK man-crush Nnamdi Asomugha had nothing nice to say after last night's game, as related by Jerry Mac:

"We're not close, and it's clear that we're not close. We don't play good football, we don't play sound football, we've been undisciplined,'' Asomugha said, measuring every word. "We wonder why we don't get prime time games and this is why.

"We were on Monday night against Denver and we got blown out. Now we come here and we got blown out. You just wonder how many people care and how many people are upset . . . we were all over the place and it's stuff you guys don't even know. Just blown assignments, blown coverages . . . that's where we are right now. We're not close.''

The only guy I can remember speaking out like this after getting debacled is Tim Brown, during the Bugel Era. The Raiders managed to keep him, and go on a five-year run of respectability ending in three division titles and a Super Bowl appearance. I'm not hopeful that can be repeated.

Was Shanahan Right?

I have long maintained that Mike Shanahan, with his beady eyes and small mouth that rarely moves, is closely related to Satan. He is well known for having taken over a talent laden (LA) Raiders club from legendary coach Tom Flores in 1988 and running it into the ground while trying to change a "Just Win Baby" culture that gave players the benefit of every doubt and bred a locker room completely lacking in self discipline. The culture clash was summed up by Howie Long's complaint that Shanny did not allow players to sit on their helmets on the sideline. When combined with a mediocre record this gave Al plenty of cause with which to fire him.

On Wednesday, Mike Shanahan showed a previously undisplayed ability to speak the truth when he said of CLOAK man-crush Nnamdi Asomugha, "He is the most underrated football player, to me, that I have ever been around. For people not to talk about him as the top corner in the NFL...to me, is a crime."

Cynicism set temporarily aside, Shanahan's ability to tell the truth opens a large can of worms and reminds me of a comment that a despondent Unk made when I visited him in Kingsburg in October:

"Maybe Shanahan was right."

Originally dismissed as the bitter ramblings of my Raider mentor still waiting for this team to show him some signs of competitiveness, perhaps it deserves consideration today. If in the face of the current housing meltdown we can question the validity of claiming a fundamental right for every American to own a home, surely we can question the Raider approach to player discipline in year six of an arguably worse meltdown of Raider football.

Fittingly, as I sat down to write this entry, my lovely wife was reminiscing over one of her favorite teams of all time, the notoriously undisciplined 1990's Dallas Cowboys. As the NFL Network show told stories of Michael Irvin missing the team flight to away games, I wondered how they managed to become so successful. Three reasons immediately leapt to mind:

1. Talent (i.e., good personnel decisions)
2. On-field leadership
3. Coaching continuity

That we are only in year six rather than year twenty of a Raider meltdown is owed to a short, simultaneous visit by the above three points to Alameda in the late 1990's / early 2000's.

So was Shanahan right? I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes and no. Discipline certainly helps when every team is closely matched and looking for every edge to win each week. But discipline will never be a part of the Raider culture as long as Al Davis is alive. Therefore, we'll continue to pine for that uncommon combination of talent, on-field leadership, and coaching continuity that has eluded us these past six years. Two good offseason hires could go a long way towards making that a reality. (Read: Hope; also, Delusion).

As for this week's comments, do we believe that Shanny will avoid 21 tomorrow or do we worry that he's prepping to make a free agent run at Nnamdi? In a double entendre that only with him might I believe was intentional, Nnamdi said, "He’s lying. He’s coming for me."

Cy Young

I interrupt this year's installment of the Bay Area Professional Football Debacle Challenge (I think a good acronym for that would be BAD Football, but I really can't be bothered to massage the words to make it work) to say congratulations to Tim Lincecum, 2008 National League Cy Young Award winner. As a Raiders-Giants fan, it is often hard to believe that my teams were blowing their respective league championship games earlier this very decade. The fall has been painful, with very few bright spots.

Tim Lincecum is a bright spot, and he's only 24. Nnamdi Asomugha is a bright spot. He's signed only through this season...

Oops - this was supposed to be a positive post. It is nice to see recognition given to a West Coast team that didn't come close to the playoffs. Perhaps the same will be in store for Nnamdi come Pro Bowl time.

Nnamdi Plays the Timmy Role

There was a time when John's main man would stand up to Al Davis when things weren't going the way he thought was right. Tim Brown had the "moral authority," you might say, to do so.

The only man in the Raiders locker room with that authority today is Nnamdi Asomugha, and it appears he is letting Al know he doesn't like the way things are going, particularly as it relates to DeAngelo Hall being cut. One might argue that Nnamdi is the reason it happened, but with his locker tagged with the words, "Franchised forever!" here are some of the things he had to say (as seen on NBC Sports):

"There's some things that have been going on - some shakeups - that I just haven't agreed with."

"I'm not allowed to speak on it because we're just supposed to shut up and play."

According to a report from John Clayton, Al showed up at the offices in Alameda the other day with a list of 10-15 players who are not performing up to standards. Creeping Death has indeed begun his journey through the Raider locker room.

Every Day Is Like Sunday

The dreary catchiness of the edited NFL ad version of that song rings in my head every week, the relevance of Johnny's explanation to this Raider season reinforcing its power in my head.

It's depressing.

Desperate for a reason to keep watching this year - beyond the obligation I have to our four loyal readers - I may have found it co-anchoring sports news tonight with Raj Mathai: Nnamdi Asomugha. The fact that he has not yet been voted as a starter at the Pro Bowl is beginning to look a lot like the fact that Lester Hayes is still inexplicably absent from Canton.

Warren Sapp, continuing his hate-him-and-love-him relationship with me, had some incredible things to say about Nnamdi on NFL Network. And suffering through Raider "highlights" tonight it seems that Nnamdi's stop for a 7-yard loss was one of the only high points of the game. So I'll watch for Nnamdi.

And there will probably be quite a few more depressing Sundays.

Still Watching

Nnamdi is worth watching. I echo John's plea to Al Davis to Lock Him Up. Honestly, would we be any worse off cutting every single other player who could help us save cap money in order to keep him for life?

Chaz Schilens may also be worth watching after beating our old buddy Fabian on a deep post. But then some terrible play calling and execution blew a 2nd and goal from the 3 opportunity.

And then I was going to point out how good it is to see Thomas Howard showing some emotion after a big stop on a screen. Then the Raiders happened.

Gibril - not Kiffin's signing - blew a tackle and let Ray Rice steal a lot more yards from Willis McGahee en route to a first down on 3rd and 17. And now, the Raiders add to their laughingstock reel with a highlight sure to be played over and over and over and over this week - Joe Flacco beats Ricky Brown on a deep route. On a deep route.

At least McGahee's TD was called back for holding.