What can I say man we all know we need a GM. The CBA needs to be fixed & it starts with a hard cap on rookie salaries. It makes very little sense for unproven players to make more then league stars.

I don’t know whether it’s laziness, ignorance, or complacency once these bible-belters are handed more money than they’ve ever imagined, but there is something’s off.

The following Raiders made it to the pro-bowl more than any others.
Jim Otto (Miami) 12 Pro Bowls
Tim Brown (Notre Dame) 9
Howie Long (Villanova) 8
Steve Wisniewski (Penn St.) 8
Art Shell (Md – Eastern Shore) 8

Do you see any players from the deep south? No, because there aren’t any.

Florida didn’t count and yet you’re including people that attended Florida, Florida State and Central Florida. Secondly, I see you’ve included players that we didn’t draft. Sign the right talent regardless of school and you won’t have a problem. I count seven people we didn’t draft on that list. You’ve also included someone that has made the Pro Bowl multiple times.

but looking at the colleges that are sending players into the NFL who eventually end up in pro-bowls is starting to fascinate me. To really do the study right, I’ll need to see what high school the attended. I suspect many of the exceptional athletes coming out of the deep south are not from there originally.

Draft a good lineman from “the deep south” and maybe that person will develop into a Pro Bowl player. If we took Oher, he would have made the Pro Bowl.

By the way, singling out positions and saying things like “no player from the Deep South has ever made it to a Pro Bowl as a Raider” is a bad example. If no one from a particular school made the Pro Bowl on our team, it doesn’t mean the school sucks.

Yeah, they’re terrible. LaRon Landry, Bradie James, Alan Faneca, Kevin Mawae and Joseph Addai suck.

Russell and some dude named Vernon Gholston from the Jets. Atleast the others try. Fuckin Robbers.

We just have to stop making the same mistakes.

bottom line – Ohio is not in the deep south; so Mitchell is not as suspect as he might otherwise be.

It’s all kinds of F-ed up atm.

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You’re basically saying that Spikes will become the greatest linebacker of all time, right?

With some interesting statistics to back up his position. I have family from the deep south, and I believe there’s definitely something to it. I believe Jamarcus is perhaps the perfect example: when you come from a small town, the ideals are no doubt different for the most part (always exceptions of course); i.e. fishing is generally a high priority activity.

Not like ambitious fishing, either, like Marlin or Tuna, or Snook and Redfish on the East Coast Bays of Fla, but worm fishin’ for catfish in the local hole, watching your pole in the water, whilst taking in the scenery. It’s generally quite okay to spend the entire day doing exactly that. There are other dynamics, I’ve no doubt SOB will delve deeply into, but not until he’s produced the same quality research he has thus far to back his position.

My example may be a generic one, but I believe it 100% plays into the dynamics of a qb like Russell. Possibly why when you give them millions, and they can buy their mothers beautiful, grandiose homes, and buy themselves furs and bling (mom, too) they feel they’ve arrived, and have no desire to be great. Read the David White article on the Brees and Gannon similarities and how they’ve been motivated by being cut after leading their respective teams to the playoffs and replaced for Rivers and Grbac. Gannon haters still say he lost in the playoffs for KC; it was very much Elvis Grbac. But these guys were always too short, too small, not quick enough (not Brees, but making the point) not textbook delivery, this, that. It motivates winners to prove the critics wrong. Jamarcus, and many guys from this demographic are put on a pedestal from their performances since a kid, and this carries through when they’re hyped by all, and projected number one pick across the board. Many forget, almost everyone was projecting Jamarcus first pick overall, and not just because the Raiders were first pick; we all were fooled to some extent. I wanted to believe, but know better now.

Motivation to be great comes from within, and never from the almighty dollar. Some have it, some don’t, and it appears, at least in the Raiders history of picking players from SOB’s explicit empirical evidence that uncannily supports the theory, that at least in our case, it appears to deserve at least consideration by logical standards, whether one finds it offensive, or not.

I find my brother, who remains a fireman in the great “deep south” state we know as Louisiana, to be much less concerned with becoming the best fireman there ever was; rather, he enjoys that he holds a pillar of the community status, in a very small community, that remains largely to itself. I know, personal experience only lends so much credence to any theory, but the data Blanda has accumulated is staggering. Oh, and my brother is white! LMAO!

I’m researching where I heard it now, and could be mistaken on this point, but I think where the kids are from and where they decide to attend college has everything to do with remaining among and therein representative the cultural demographic of the area. In fact, straight from Wikipedia really quick. He played basketball and football in Cali., as a kid, not a small town, or in the deep south:

Biography
Asomugha was raised in Los Angeles, California. He attended and played high school basketball and football at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California and Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California before transferring to and graduating from Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California.

[edit] College career
Asomugha went to college at the University of California, Berkeley, where he finished his career with 187 tackles, three sacks, 19 stops for losses, eight interceptions, three touchdowns, 15 pass deflections, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble in 41 games as a free safety. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Finance.

[edit] Professional career
Asomugha was the second Cal player to be drafted in the first round (31st overall) of the 2003 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders after Kyle Boller was taken by the Baltimore Ravens. He was moved to cornerback and made his first two career interceptions against the Cleveland Browns on October 8, 2006. He got his third interception four weeks later against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He returned this interception 24 yards for a touchdown. Though the team suffered through a 2-14 season, Asomugha’s 2006 campaign was his finest yet. In his fourth year, he finished the season with 50 tackles, eight interceptions, a sack, a forced fumble and one touchdown. His interception total tied him for second highest total in the National Football League along with four other players (including former Oakland Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson). Asomugha was invited to the 2007 Pro Bowl as an alternate in Honolulu, Hawaii but because of late notice he was not able to attend the annual all-star game 1. He also received the Oakland Raiders “Commitment to Excellence” Award and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player in 2006. Asomugha was selected onto Dr. Z’s Sports Illustrated 2006 All-Pro team 2 as well as The Associated Press 2006 All-Pro Team.3

"If your only ambition in life, is to be a better person; well, that's just the best ambition you can have..." Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew

Asomugha was raised in Los Angeles, California. He attended and played high school basketball and football at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California and Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California before transferring to and graduating from Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California.

As for your other desire; Mississippi is absolutely under quarantine until their unhygienic plague is addressed.