The Myth of The Ex-Raiders
So LaMont Jordan signs with the Patriots and already folks are invoking the name of Randy Moss, as if there’s some unwritten cosmic law that says ex-Raiders will excel in New England.
You know, like Doug Gabriel, whom we traded to the Patriots for a draft pick in 2006, and who is now unemployed after subsequent stints with the Raiders (again) and Bengals.
Boy, the Patriots really pulled the wool over our eyes on that one, eh?
The Haters love to invoke Moss as an example of the Raiders getting fleeced by New England. An elite receiver traded for a fourth-round draft pick? What fools, those Raiders!
What the Haters to fail to mention is that Moss was worth less than a fourth-round draft pick to the Raiders, and apparently to the rest of the league as well. He was a flagrant traitor to the concepts of effort, competition and leadership, and was thus valued accordingly.
Which brings us to Jordan. There are three possibilities: (1) he continues to mope and underperform, and gets cut before the season starts; (2) he actually studies the playbook and regains his claim to functional mediocrity; or (3) he outperforms and gives the Haters a new talking point.
I doubt that Jordan will outperform, but for the sake of conversation, let’s say he does. Okay, so what? What does that tell us?
It tells us what Gary said here earlier about Jordan: “That's the thing with players that don't have any leadership abilities... they do pretty well on teams that don't need any leadership.”
This is exactly why Moss was valuable to New England, but to no one else. He’s the player equivalent of the bandwagon fan—no guts, all glory. He’ll never be the guy who got you there. He’s the guy who’s there because someone else got you there.
On that note, it's funny how Justin Fargas has managed to do what Jordan couldn’t—keep his nose to the grindstone and assert a winning attitude, under the same coaches, opportunities and circumstances afforded to Jordan.
So bon voyage, LaMont. Say hello to Randy. Enjoy the fruits of others’ labors while you can, because the Patriots party is coming to an end.
You know, like Doug Gabriel, whom we traded to the Patriots for a draft pick in 2006, and who is now unemployed after subsequent stints with the Raiders (again) and Bengals.
Boy, the Patriots really pulled the wool over our eyes on that one, eh?
The Haters love to invoke Moss as an example of the Raiders getting fleeced by New England. An elite receiver traded for a fourth-round draft pick? What fools, those Raiders!
What the Haters to fail to mention is that Moss was worth less than a fourth-round draft pick to the Raiders, and apparently to the rest of the league as well. He was a flagrant traitor to the concepts of effort, competition and leadership, and was thus valued accordingly.
Which brings us to Jordan. There are three possibilities: (1) he continues to mope and underperform, and gets cut before the season starts; (2) he actually studies the playbook and regains his claim to functional mediocrity; or (3) he outperforms and gives the Haters a new talking point.
I doubt that Jordan will outperform, but for the sake of conversation, let’s say he does. Okay, so what? What does that tell us?
It tells us what Gary said here earlier about Jordan: “That's the thing with players that don't have any leadership abilities... they do pretty well on teams that don't need any leadership.”
This is exactly why Moss was valuable to New England, but to no one else. He’s the player equivalent of the bandwagon fan—no guts, all glory. He’ll never be the guy who got you there. He’s the guy who’s there because someone else got you there.
On that note, it's funny how Justin Fargas has managed to do what Jordan couldn’t—keep his nose to the grindstone and assert a winning attitude, under the same coaches, opportunities and circumstances afforded to Jordan.
So bon voyage, LaMont. Say hello to Randy. Enjoy the fruits of others’ labors while you can, because the Patriots party is coming to an end.
posted by Raider Take at 9:49 PM
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