OK…OK…
I know I just finished with one column and within an hour I’m working on another, and you’re probably as tired of me as my ex-wife.
But when I looked up at my new high definition screen and noticed on the ESPN ticker that safety Roy Williams had been released by the Dallas Cowboys, I began to
Salivate!
With the struggles currently endured by every AFC team, one thing has remained constant. The Oakland Raiders face two of the National Football League’s best tight end’s, (Antonio Gates in San Diego and Tony Gonzalez in Kansas City) on a bi-annual basis.
That kiddies, is four games a year, where our defense has to contend with quality talent running amuck in the middle of our defensive secondary. It’s gone on far too long, (especially in the case of Gonzalez) and our recent attempts to quell our opposition’s major advantage have fallen short of the result that we all desire.
The prospective signing of Roy Williams could be the equivalent of setting off a nuclear bomb in the division. Make no mistake of this.
I know we were all very excited at this time last year to obtain DeAngelo Hall. His disastrous acquisition cost us a fortune financially, not to mention three draft picks that could have saved us a mint money wise, and could have given us three players who were willing and eager to contribute something besides adding to the opposition’s highlight reel.
By that’s in the past…
Today, should bold action be taken, the Oakland Raiders could find a cure to a huge part of what ails them, being victimized by Gonzalez and Gates. Should this occur, 3-4 more victories should be within reach each year.
I’ve always made a point to speak for myself and not other fans. But I know for a fact that many of you reading this will agree with the following sentiment…
I’m freaking sick of losing!
More than that, I’m sick of losing to teams we
#1 used to dominate.
Did you know that we once went 10 seasons without a single loss to the Denver Broncos? or that we once shut out the San Diego Chargers three times in two years? Things like that are long forgotten by most, but not by me. This is a big part of why it hurts so much to sit in the stands at The Coliseum and watch people who only claim to have knowledge of the Raiders tradition and history act like their perpetual failure is in any way acceptable
And #2 have no business losing to.
How many times over the past few years have we lost to a lousy Kansas City team? How many attempts did it take us to defeat the expansion Houston Texans? Or for that matter the Baltimore Ravens, Who have been up and down?
As a matter of fact, four of the five the head coaches who lost to Oakland in 2008 (Herman Edwards in Kansas City, Eric Mangini in New York, Mike Shanahan in Denver and Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay) lost their jobs this off-season!
If those in charge at 1220 Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda are truly serious about turning this thing around, then they will take a serious run at obtaining Roy Williams.
Lets take a look at his accomplishments.
Helped Oklahoma to a national title in 2000 as a sophomore.
In his junior year, he was the recipient of both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s best defensive player and the Jim Thorpe Trophy for being named the best defensive back in the country.
A strength and speed development complex at OU has been named in his honor.
As a pro, he is a five-time Pro Bowler, making 506 career tackles, 19 interceptions and six-and-a-half sacks in six seasons, and is notorious for knocking the daylights out of opposing ball carriers. The “Roy Williams Rule,” (since we all love Raiders with rules named for them) prohibits the use of “horse-collar” tackling.
Williams also has Bay Area ties.
He is a 1998 graduate of Union City’s James Logan High School, and his cousin Renel Brooks-Moon, is a morning DJ at 98.1 KISS FM, the public address announcer at Pac Bell pack for the San Francisco Giants baseball team and has done TV work for the Oakland Raiders. It makes me wonder, as I watch the ESPN ticker, why this deal hasn’t been done already…
Six days a week, Krunch is known as Jim McCullough, author of Pride & Poise: The Oakland Raiders of the American Football League. Please visit his website www.raidershistory.net or email at raidershistory@yahoo.com
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