Oakland Raiders Style Crampers: Where Are They Now?

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Have you ever wondered what happened to some of the former Oakland Raiders who apparently "cramped the style of the Oakland Raiders" and were released, for example, in 2008, 2009, and 2010?

The list is long. The research is tedious, but it's worth the time to understand a selected group of men who were released from the team for one reason or another.

In 2008, there were at least 135 transactions involving, signing, re-signing, releasing players, and more decisions. More than 16 of the 2008 transactions were releases. A couple of players were released and re-signed again in a matter of days.

One such man who was released on Sept 9, '08 was again re-signed on Sept. 10, '08. Can someone tell us why you fire a man one day, and then re-hire him the next day? It probably had to do with the content and wording of his contract. Who knows?

Here is a Memorial Day list of some of the guys who have been released. The hope is that this list will prompt us to discover what happened to the former Raiders. Did some of them go on to do very well on other teams? Might there have been a few mistakes in some of those decisions to release a player?

Well, here is a partial list:

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Barry Sims

Dominic Rhodes

Stuart Schweigert

Duane Starks

Akbar Gbaja Biamila

Jonathan Palmer

LaMont Jordan

S. Greg Wesley

Ed Hartwell

Grant Irons

S. Jarrod Cooper

Greg Spires

K. Aaron Elling

William Joseph

Robert Thomas

Seth Wand, released Sept 9; re-signed Sept 10

Why is it important to research what happened to some of these former Oakland Raiders? There can be several answers.

1. Did they leave the NFL?

2. Did they do better with another NFL team?

3. Did they file lawsuits?

4. Did the Oakland Raiders file a law suit against them?

5. Is there a pattern suggesting the Raiders did the right thing in releasing a player who they perceived "cramped our style" at the time?

6. Is there a pattern suggesting that the decision to release some of those guys was an error and bad decision, somewhat shortsighted and too quick?

Well, as you would suspect, there is some work to be done. The main idea here is that decisions are made. Are they good ones? Are they bad ones?

Only time will tell.

Let's look at Duane Starks, for example. Here is a quote about his career:

"The Oakland Raiders signed Starks after the Patriots released him following the 2005 season. He played in only three games during the 2006 season, recording three tackles. He was inactive for the first three games of the Raiders' 2007 season, and released to make room for quarterback and first-round pick JaMarcus Russell . He was out of football the rest of the 2007 season.

"On April 15, 2008, Starks was re-signed by the Raiders on a one-year contract, but was released by the Raiders on May 13..."

Now when you look back at Starks and look forward at Russell, a researcher may wonder if the decisions were completely correct. Afterall, the Oakland Raiders released a man who once helped get a Super Bowl ring for the Baltimore Ravens, and drafted a man in 2007 who "cramped the style" of the Oakland Raiders in 2009.

Go Raiders! Don't let anybody "cramp your style" but rather build up a team that "cramps the opponent's style"!