Finally...Warren tell's it how it is!

by Joe_D on Oct 2, 2008 3:54 PM PDT Comment 15 comments

How dysfunctional are the Oakland Raiders? So dysfunctional that Warren Sapp warns anybody who asks him about signing there to stay far away.

Warren Sapp

Al Davis knows football -- it's just '60s and '70s football. That's what it is. He's thinking that Cliff Branch is outside and [Jim] Plunkett is dropping back and you can throw it 80 yards down the field -- deep ball, deep ball, deep ball.

-- Warren Sapp

"Nobody tells you how bad it is," the former defensive tackle said on Showtime's "Inside the NFL." " ... any person that calls me on the telephone, [I tell them] do not go anywhere near Oakland."

Sapp, who retired after the 2007 season -- his fourth with the Raiders -- said that Lane Kiffin, fired this week by owner Al Davis, never got a fair chance in Oakland.

"He came in there with a change of mentality. The whole system," Sapp said on "Inside the NFL." "He changed how the locker room looked because it was going to take that kind of overhaul for Oakland to become the proud franchise we all knew it was."

Sapp said Oakland won't change for the better until Davis doesn't own the team anymore.

"[Davis] is the common equation," Sapp said on "Inside the NFL." "You take him out, put him at home watching film or whatever he is doing -- you have a functioning football organization. But once he comes over the top, he goes and starts moving it around.

"Al Davis knows football -- it's just '60s and '70s football. That's what it is. He's thinking that Cliff Branch is outside and [Jim] Plunkett is dropping back and you can throw it 80 yards down the field -- deep ball, deep ball, deep ball."

Sapp even said that Davis would call in plays when Sapp was playing for the Raiders.

"I remember the first two weeks I was there, we played a preseason game. Somebody came up one time and said, 'We're going deep right here, dog.' I said, how do you know? He said, 'The phone just rang.'

"All the preparation that goes into a week of work is there, the practicing that you have to put in order to do these things, sometimes [Al Davis] messed with that part of it and that's what kills you," Sapp said on "Inside the NFL."

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No way!! He's a PHUICKIN LIAR!!! Free agents LOVE coming to Oakland

to play for the greatest owner and teame EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Bacon on Oct 2, 2008 5:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Yea, you get alot of free agents.

Of course, you overpay for all of them. An extra 7 or 8 million guaranteed does wonders to attract a free agent.

by Papamag on Oct 2, 2008 8:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sapp=hypocrytical asshole

I don’t mind Sapp being critical of the Raiders or Al Davis. But, then at the same time don’t complain about playing and telling others not to play there, all the while you are happily cashing your million dollar checks that Al Davis was signing - for 4 YEARS!!.

If Sapp had an ounce of creditability, then he would have done the honorable thing and ask to be waived or traded, or declined to accept money from such a “dysfunctional” organization. When you take that money from somebody you don’t like and from a place you don’t want to be, that can only mean on thing…You are a fat, greedy WHORE!

Your team is your child...You love it no matter what.

by TheRaiderWay on Oct 3, 2008 12:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

No, it makes him just like me and you

we’ve all had a job where we weren’t happy, but that doesn’t mean you up and quit. Sapp honored his contract, and if he had to endure Al Davis I’m glad he at least got paid along the way.

Stop blaming everyone but Al for his mistakes.

by RaiderPete on Oct 3, 2008 3:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, it doesn't make him like me

If I didn’t enjoy the place I was working the way Sapp came off, then I would resign and get another job, as simple as that.
Your work is part of your life, especially when you have choices like Sapp. And I would want to enjoy it and not be miserable no matter the amount of money.

Your team is your child...You love it no matter what.

by TheRaiderWay on Oct 3, 2008 11:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sapp is slowly making me sick at my stomach

To think he was one of my favorite Raiders.

"Whoever appeals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool or a coward. Whoever cannot take care of themselves without that law is both. For a wounded man shall say to his assailant, 'If I live, I will kill you. If I die, You are forgiven.' Such is the rule of honor." Omerta by Lamb of God

by KA1Z3R on Oct 3, 2008 4:05 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In this day and age

all ex-football players are trying to be “shock jocks” so that they can get on ESPN as an analyst. It is interesting his comments about throwing footballs down the field, old fashioned and all that. This about 4 days after Brett Favre shredded a team with long passes down the field. Of course everybody can talk now because the Raiders have been losing, and the press loves it. However, there is a ebb and flow to life, and the day will come, I know not when, but the Raiders will win again, and all these smart talkers will have to eat their words. I have said it a dozen times, the Raiders have been losing because they haven’t had a QB, from what I have seen recently, that problem will soon be resolved.

by Laoren on Oct 3, 2008 9:52 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

They haven't had a QB, Offensive Line, Receivers, and a good Defense. If it weren't for those

few things, Raiders would win, BABY!!!!!

by Bacon on Oct 3, 2008 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

When Al decides to change thats when we will see progress.

by Raider76 on Oct 3, 2008 11:22 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You've been waiting for 15 years

the only time the Raiders have had success was when Gruden was running the team.

If the Raiders are losing because they don’t have a QB, whose fault it that? Who makes the personel decisions? Who drafts the players? Who hires the coaches?

by RaiderPete on Oct 3, 2008 3:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I haven't been waiting 15 years

I was just making the observation that without a QB a team looks bad. No doubt Al was probably behind several of the botched QB picks, Wilson, Marinovich etc. Don’t fool yourself, it was not Gruden but Gannon who ran the Raiders offense in their winning years. As for bad defense, receivers, offensive line, it is amazing how good all of them look when you have a QB. Do you think the Patriots have all those great players and that is why they have won? Brady has made them all look better than they are.

by Laoren on Oct 4, 2008 8:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did Dilfer make the Ravens look better?

Did Brad Johnson make the Buc’s look better? Did Eli Manning make the Giants look better? The Brady’s and Mannings of the world are extremely rare. Sure, if you’re lucky enough to have one they’ll make your entire team light years better. But most teams don’t and you can’t sit around and wait until you do. It’s entirely possible to win in this league with an above average quarter back. Hell, it’s possible to win the this league with a below average quarterback, as long as he doesn’t turn the ball over (Kyle Orton).

As far as Gruden and Gannon go, I think you’ve got it backwards. Gannon was a career 57% completion passer (in the years in which he played 8 or more games) before coming to Oakland. His 4 years with Gruden? 59% in 99, 60% in 00, 65.8% in 01 and 67.6% in 02. Gruden turned a 34 year old 57% passer into a 63% passer in 4 years.

by RaiderPete on Oct 4, 2008 5:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs