Free agency: what we don't want.

I wanted to highlight what I believe would be possible mistakes in picking up free agents at needed positions. My focus is on character issues that players have that can be disruptive to our team. These are players that should never have been in the silver and black because they did not don on the uniform to be true Raiders. A recent example is Randy Moss. At best, he might have been an example to other receivers through his ability to be very talented, where other receivers could learn from his performance, but I doubt that you could get Murphy, Ford, or DHB, to say that Moss could show them anything. Moss was a person who fought with coaches and played for himself, no one else. He eloquently presented how self-centered he is when Favre threw a touchdown bomb that he could have caught, but stopped dead in his tracks to complain to the ref that he was interfered. Can you imagine how upset Favre must have been and the rest of the Vikings? He was immediately fired by the Vikings and put back up for free agency. He also fought with coaching at NE, and I believe this is one reason why they got rid of him. How can he be a true Raider when he said, "If they don't know how to use me they should trade me." Moss has expressed that he wants to be a Pat and cannot dedicate himself to other teams, as the Titans are currently experiencing. Cable made a smart move when he decided not to pick him up a second time.

Sapp was another player who was never really a Raider. He complained and complained, biting the hand that feeds him. How can someone like that really contribute to our team. Under the facade of genuine talent, I believe all he did was disrupt the team - clearly, he was no Seymore. Sapp is currently involved with the Bucs, and to me, Sapp was always a Buc, even when he was with the Raiders. Players like him only serve as disruptions in disguise.

Consider Ocho and Owens at the Bengals. These two wrs lately have been blaming each other for the problems the Bengals are experiencing. They have been tweeting each other saying that they are going to beat each other up, etc. No one doubts their talents and they are not being criticized for their talents. Ocho alluded to changing his name back to Johnson in the hope of Hue picking him up. Now that Hue has clarified he wants neither Ocho nor Owens, he is saying he never intended to change his name - How Immature! He is now saying he really wants to be a Bengal! Even Carson Palmer has complained about Ocho and has threatened the Bengals with retirement because he has been so disgruntled. Do the Raiders need such theatrical pranks that could disrupt the team as he has with the Bengals? Bringing in such purported talent did not work out for the Bengals even though they brought in two stellar receivers in Ocho and Owens, so that is not always the answer.

My point is that no matter what the talents of a player are, we do not need misleading disruptions like that. I'm not saying to avoid free agency, but I am saying to pay attention to the attitude of the player. A free agent can fill a true need as Seymore did. Ocho clearly stated he wanted to be traded first to NE, and if not NE then to Oakland. He wants to go to NE for the same reason that Moss wants to go back to NE - they want superbowl rings, particularly because they are older and are into it for themselves, not the team.

I want to conclude by saying that we should always try to get what we need through the draft because that is where the Tim Browns exist. It meant more to Tim to win with the Raiders than to win a ring with another team. That is why we blessed Tim with the sacred name of MR. RAIDER - because truer Raiders cannot be found. Drafted college players automatically commit their hearts to the silver and black, a most important element that is needed to play at their best on the field, unlike Moss, Sapp, or Ocho.

Signed, Silver&BlackPsycho