Raider Nation: We Are Responsible for This Mess

I'm a Raider for life; but let me tell you a story.

I knew someone once who partied all day long, but still held up at work and was on the fast track. But as it does with so many people, it got ahead of him. For a long time I supported him, helped him back to his feet, cheered his successes. But over time I came to understand that I was making this possible; I was what they call an enabler.

I'm still here for my boy, but now I understand there's a difference between supporting someone and helping them destroy themselves. He's got to accept his failures—no more excuses—and change the things he's doing that are destroying himself, and until then he can't count on me for support.

Well, here I go again. Al Davis is destroying his franchise and his well earned reputation. He says his mistake is hiring Lane Kiffin? 12 years of dysfunction in an organization always stems from one thing—the leadership. At this point it's not even Al's fault...it's ours.  We've been supporting this, justifying it, rationalizing.

Having been through this with my friend, I know a lot of you will say I'm selling out.  It's okay; come around in your own way.  Just ask yourself what is the point when you realize that Al Davis is destroying the Raiders you love, and be prepared to act when that happens.

I'll be back, Raiders, and I sure as @#$% am not going to be rooting for some other team; but I can't support this anymore.  Every cheer, every post in support of the Raiders, every ticket purchased or game watched on television justifies the coaching carousel, the dysfunction, and ensures we'll be watching it again. 

And before you say it will get better, ask yourself this: Who is going to come in here and coach next?  Which marquee player is going to want to get drafted by this team, when nearly every player who leaves talks about how horrible it is?  This organization is in shambles.

Last year my buddy hit rock bottom.  All of his friends had abandoned him, his fiance left him, and he lost his job.  He had nothing, and there he was, willing to cut the BS and see his problem for what it was—a hole he dug for himself.  When he called me to tell me about all of the failures he's made in life, and asked for help, I was there 100 percent.

He was down, to be sure, but it's never about winning and losing; it's about support, thick or thin.  I had told him when he was ready to accept his life for what it was I'd be there, and I lived up to that promise.  He got help, got his degrees worked out, just got a great job...

There's light at the end for those willing to take their failures to task.  But you don't get there while people are helping you to fail.  So Al, and the rest of the Raiders (and the whole NFL for that matter): I'm out, but I'm waiting.

When you are ready to accept how badly you've been running this thing, and are ready to get some proper help, I'm waiting on the sidelines to support you through every bad and good season ahead of you.

But before that can happen, you have got to accept that the problem with the Raiders is not the coach, the media, the league, the city of Oakland, or anything else. 

It's the owner.