These Aren't Your Father's Raiders

They once stood for excellence and intimidation. Even their team colors, silver and black, were used as an all-encompassing adjective, that was to, all at once, describe their tenacity for winning and their refusal to let anything stand in the way of that.

They had a Mad Bomber as their QB, back in the day. And, later, one known as The Snake. And an owner that was perhaps just as mad, and just as much of a snake, if not more so. The QBs, Daryle Lamonica and Kenny Stabler (respectively), are long gone. So, too, is the owner -- though not in body. Just in spirit and, if you listen to the whispers, barely in mind.


The Mad Bomber, Lamonica, looking for a target 40 yards downfield

Al Davis and his Commitment to Excellence. Once he prowled the sidelines as the team's head coach. Then he dabbled as the AFL's commissioner before returning to Oakland to manage the franchise. Then he was a thorn in NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle's side, moving his franchise to Los Angeles and back to Oakland, and generally making life miserable for the commish. Oh, and along the way, his Raiders won some championships and threatened to win others.

Normally, an opening week matchup of the Lions and Raiders would mean a tune up for the Silver and Black, before they move on to bigger and better dragons to slay on their way to the playoffs.

Not this season.

The Raiders may still be committed to excellence, but there's a big difference between saying it and doing it. No longer does the NFL team in Oakland possess the same deadly mix of talent, ne'er-do-wells, and players with chips on their shoulders to be a successful unit. Well, actually, they still have some ne'er-do-wells and guys with chips (i.e. Mike Williams and Daunte Culpepper), but the talent level is low, very low. Some would tell you that the Oakland Raiders, if all goes according to plan, might very well be the worst team in all of pro football.

Da Raiders -- the worst team!

Could be.

They're so bad (they were 2-14 last season), that it's probably only their home field advantage, and the Lions' terrible road history, that will make them favorites -- or else they might be considered underdogs to the Lions, who were 3-13 last season and who are 24-72 since 2001.

But they have the heralded rookie QB JaMarcus Russell. He won't start Sunday (that will most likely be Culpepper), and may not play much, if at all, this season. But he's the quarterback of the future for the Raiders, and finally they have someone around whom to build a team.

That's not the way they used to do it in Raider Nation. There wasn't "one guy" that was The Franchise. The Raiders were a collection, an eclectic bunch of misanthropes who beat the snot out of you every Sunday and sneered and laughed about it. For years they had the best all-time winning percentage on Monday Night Football -- a testament to how they thrived on the spotlight.

They were the bald-headed Otis Sistrunk and the goose-necked Ted Hendricks and the graceful Cliff Branch and the sticky Fred Biletnikoff. They were the ugly yardage of Marv Hubbard and the maiming hits of Jack Tatum. And they were, at one time, the bull-nosed linebacker play of one Matt Millen.

That was then.

Today, the Raiders are none of that. They are just another bad football team who are most likely already playing out the string. They are neither intimidating nor brash nor abrasive. They wear silver and black, but now those are just colors, not a means to an end.

But they had their time, once. Which is still more than I can say for the Lions, post-1957.