How to Sack

With the Raiders set to christen the 2005 NFL season on Thursday night against the Patriots, I am inspired to post this visual lesson in sacking the quarterback, courtesy of Raiders legend Ben Davidson.

As this photo attests, there are four stages to the classic Raiders sack:

1. Launch
2. Impact
3. Choke
4. Slam

Now, we in the Raider Nation were supposed to rejoice when Warren Sapp came to town. But when was the last time you saw the fearsome Mr. Sapp demonstrate the art of the sack with such ferocity, agility and elegance? In fact, when when was the last time you saw anyone do it, on the Raiders or any other team? Today, the quarterback sack is just a rote, boring and inelegant exercise. Today, a sack is a statistic. In Mr. Davidson's day, it was an event.

If you wonder why we Raiders fans are so sentimental about the 1970s, it's because we haven't seen anything like it since. It's like Bach or Baudelaire or Picasso. Well, not quite. But you get the drift.