The Raiders are not, and never will be, trend followers. They are trendsetters.
Al Davis brings in the most controversial players there are. He does not follow conventional thinking in terms of who he drafts, nor in who he signs in the offseason. Long known as a haven for castoffs, rejects, and malcontents, many formerly “washed-up” or “finished” players have found their way back to greatness in the open arms of the Silver and Black.
Jim Plunkett, Ronnie Lott, Bill Romanowski, and many other players (even the G.O.A.T., Jerry Rice) found their way to the Dark Side, and either won or got to taste victory again in some form. (They have also, without exception, commented during or after their tenure with Oakland how it’s different playing with the Raiders, from a fairness standpoint.)
Al Davis drafts who he wants to draft, not who the NFL thinks he should draft. Some may call it crazy or just plain not smart football, but you’ve got to admire a man and a team that bucks the trends, and consistently sets the NFL on its ear. The man is a gambler, and sometimes you’re going to win it all, and sometimes you’re going to lose your shirt.
The fans are trendsetters as well. Sure, there have been those who have “dressed up” at NFL games for many years. However, none have even come close to the level of which Raider fans have taken it. The Raiders’ ENTIRE fan base is famous. Going to a Raider game is an event, and there is nothing like it in the world, much less at any other NFL team’s venue.
The Raiders adopted the term “Nation”. This may be a point of contention, but there is no arguing that almost everything now is called “Nation”-this and “Nation”-that, and that started happening only after SB XXXVII when the world was once again exposed to the greatness of the Raider Nation. Practically every team in the NFL now blatantly copies the Raiders in one aspect or another—from playing “Hell’s Bells” on their PAs, to adopting black as their uniform’s primary color. It’s all latent hatred-envy at its finest.
Everyone loves to hate Al Davis. He plays the perfect villain to the typical goody-two-shoes compliant NFL owner. He’s sued the league, yeah, but he had good reason. He’s gone toe-to-toe with Oakland, but again, his organizations’ best interests were always at the heart of the matter. Players, both past and present, either love Al Davis or hate him.
The Hall of Fame is littered with Raiders players and coaches, so much so that many members of the voting committee have commented that there’s already too many and that they won’t vote any more in, even though they should by all rights be. (Take Mr. Flores, Kenny Stabler and Ray Guy for instance.)
The Chiefs and the Broncos even have Raider Week. That is no insult to the Raiders, that is pure hatred, borne by respect.
From the owner on down to the fan, Raider Nation is one unit. Loyalty is forever. It is bigger than a fan sport. The Raider-Way is a way of life, and unless you live it, you’ll never understand it.
The NFL needs a villain, and the Raiders, especially us Raider fans, do indeed relish the role, even if we won’t openly admit it. Bring it on!
GO RAIDERS!
12 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Umer Waris about 1 year ago
Well Spoken, fellow comrade from the Nation Of Raiders! Win or Lose, Raiders Till We Die!
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Tony marotti about 1 year ago
Years ago, if you beat us on the scoreboard we still kicked their ass on the field. My fondest memory is of Steve Wisnewski planting Alonzo Spellman on his ass before, during, and after the play. Once your in the Nation you can never leave win or lose. I love my Raiders and hats off to Al reguardless of anything he does.
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Philip Fitch about 1 year ago
Wow Mike49er, i guess it really pissed you off when i mentioned a few of the 49er greats. I have been a raider fan for over 40 years, so i have been around long enough to know that we own the 49ers head to head. Even in your super bowl run years we beat the niners. And you should pay more attention, i said the had some success as a raider, did not mention anything about winning a super bowl.
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MATT SNELL about 1 year ago
RAI-DERS RAI-DERS RAI-DERS ENOUGH SAID!!!!!!!!!
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Philip Fitch about 1 year ago
One more thing Mike49er, I was born in Oakland at lake Merritt hospital. Raised in the east bay in Albany, ca. Season ticket holder since 1980 in Oakland as well as LA, and before that my father had season tickets for the hole family. My first football game was at Keyzar Stadium, 49ers againts the Rams in 1962. I bet i know more about the Niners than you do Skippy, so don't give me that shit i never have been to a raider game. I bet i have gave away more Niner tickets away than you have attended. yeah i get Niner tickets to hand out to clients. The only Niner game i go to is when they are playing the raiders. Who wants t go to that crappy stadium in south Frisco anyway.
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Bill Manning about 1 year ago
I've been a fan for 20 years or so, have defended my team agains any and all comers (I live in New England), but I take issue with this Al is a genius and can never be wrong crap. I used to think Al was great doing his own thing thumbing his nose at the league, but his decision making over the past 7 years has been extremely questionable. Maybe he'll suddenly pull the rabbit out of the hat and turn out a great team, but that's what we've been expecting for a long while. Instead of a great young team built through patient careful drafting, we continually tried to patch together a winning team with aged and/or discontented veterans that other teams had passed on. What did that get us? A winning percentage below 20% over the last 5 years.
As to this we scare people stuff well maybe if they are being scared of being hit in the head with a d-cell, but a team with 6 wins in 2 years doesn't scare anyone.
Phillip if your apartment was burning down and the fire department showed up with buckets of water to fight it would you still admire their willingness to 'buck the trend' and not use fire hoses??
Well enough sarcasm, here's to hoping I'm dead wrong and D-mac is the greatest weapon ever to set foot on the field. Guess we'll all know in 6 months :)
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Chris C. about 1 year ago
Hey Phillip,
Man, I love you bro since you're a fellow Raider fan, but this ain't gonna do much to improve our image with the likes of Mike49er (like it matters) when I point out that YOU PLAGIARIZED THIS.
Here's the original location of this article which I wrote:
http://mvn.com/nfl-chiefs/2008/04/05/why-do-you-hate-the-oakland-raiders/
It's reply #38. I posted under the handle of "It's the Raider Way", so you even plagiarized that in "your" article's title! LOL!
Again, it's no big deal, but you should be glad I don't get paid to write for a living or anything (I'm just a fan like you). Sorry to break up your little party here because I'm sure you're going to catch a rash of you-know-what for this, but you brought it on yourself.
And to Mike49er: So much negative energy, man. I was just talking up my team. Granted, Lott and Romo may not have been the best examples to give of those players who came to the Raiders and actually found success, but they did maintain respectable numbers for their efforts with Oakland and, at least in Romo's case (as well as Rice's, etc.), attended a Superbowl. That of course is along the way with Division titles, playoff wins, all to get there, so I think you see what I meant.
But you clearly illustrate exactly what I was trying to convey when I stated that unless you're a Raider, you just wouldn't understand. Look at how much hate you have for us! You prove my point with your response here.
~ GO RAIDERS! ~
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Philip Fitch about 1 year ago
This post was not aimed for the just of late. It's the overall factor on how Al operates his football team. I will be the first to tell you that we don't scare football teams anymore. And that's why people get down on the raiders because they had so many years of getting pushed around by the raiders. I don't want to get into all the facts like the raiders are the only team to go to the super bowl in 4 different decades and such. The raiders will rise again, how far they will take it we shall see. The NFL is a far much better league when the raiders are good.
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Mike about 1 year ago
LOL. Why do those pesky, loser 49-er fans feel compelled to post on Raider Blogs? I'm glad you shut his trap for him. He sounds like some 22 yr old know-it-all. Only a young bonehead would take the time to bash a 4-12 team, when his team is 5-11. lol.
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matt carney about 1 year ago
Wow....Phil you did steal your material.. I went to that post chris talked about and your stuff is almost word for word what he wrote, pretty desperate....Go raiders!!
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Raider Card Addict about 1 year ago
Ok, everyone, the truth is out....Mike is a closet Raider fan, he just doesn't admit it.
If you look at his comment, he says nothing of value, but seems to be an expert on the Raiders organization. For all we know, he might be Al Davis in disguise.
But we know two things, from what he's said. First of all, he does live in east bay.
And, he can't write a single article singing the praises of the whiner empire.....either because he can't think of anything witty, intellegent, or, for that matter, positive to say.
He could defend the 9ers, in several articles, like, should they bring back Drunkenmiller, or go with Grbac, since Smith is worthless. But instead, he spends his time, wasting it, trying to find fault in dedicated fans.
Go ahead, you can come out of the closet now.
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jeff zablotsky about 1 year ago
nice job Fitch! and you as well Chirs. let's keep in mind "TEAM" that all great minds think alike ! and that metal sharp'n metal ! go RAIDERS and every hunderth monkey !!!!
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