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.