Back in the day, Raiders Week had the state of Colorado on alert twice a year. Nothing boiled the fans and the Broncos more than the Raiders. That was when the Raiders were contending for titles. That was when the team had so many renegades that played dirty.
There was no in between for the Raiders. Either fans liked them or hated them. No NFL team generated hype or buzz than the Raiders when they came to town or when teams came to Los Angeles and Oakland back in the day.
Now, everyone in the country shows apathy towards the Raiders. No one in Colorado is fired up about the Broncos’ matchup with the winless Raiders on Sunday. This is what happens when the team is on pace to go 0-16. This is what happens when they haven’t made the playoffs since their Super Bowl appearance in January 2003. This is what happens when they fired seven coaches since Jon Gruden was traded to the Buccaneers.
It’s been 11 years of bad Raiders football. It does not look like it will end anytime soon. We know the Raiders will hire another new head coach. As for Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie, one has to think he’s gone after not drafting well and not getting anything right in free agency. If Jim Harbaugh is the next coach, there’s no way the incumbent general manager is coming back since the 49ers head coach would want personnel power along with being a head coach.
The Raiders’ next coaching hire should start and end with Harbaugh. They need him. He is high maintenance, but that’s what the Raiders need. They can’t be in a position where beggars can be choosers. They need a coach who knows how to win. They need a coach who will command respect. This 49ers coach has it.
Plus, he knows how to develop quarterbacks based on the success of Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick and with Derek Carr learning on the job as the Raiders quarterback, he is the right coach for the rookie quarterback.
What the Raiders need is a coach who has credibility. They can’t hire another young coach learning on the job. They can’t hire assistant coaches. They have to find a way to get him.
If Harbaugh is not the head coach, it will be the same old story for the Raiders next year and beyond.
It’s not fun to hate the Raiders when they stink. It’s not fun to acknowledge their existence after growing up hating them. For all my life, they have been a terrible team as a kid growing up in the 90s. They had success under Gruden in the late 90s to early 2000, but that was it.
It’s hard to hate any NFL team. Most teams don’t have to wear that black hat everyone wants to hate. Even the Patriots are hard to hate since they haven’t won a championship in quite some time now.
With the Raiders, it was easy to hate. They won. They had a crazy owner in Al Davis who would sue the NFL often. They had guys who played football the way it should be by being a dirty team. They would drive other team’s coaches crazy. Their fans would behave like hooligans at their home games or when they were on the road.
Those were the glory days. There was something special about beating the Raiders during Davis’ heyday. It was also fun to see them fall short of a championship goal. It was beautiful when they lost to Gruden’s Buccaneers in the Super Bowl at San Diego in January 2003.
Those days are missed now. Football is great when the Raiders do well. They were a signature brand for what they accomplished during their Commitment to Excellence days. They were a team that would get cities in other town to rally against when they came to town.
It’s no fun watching the Broncos play the Raiders when the Raiders stink. Rivalries are fun when both great teams play for something. That’s why it was refreshing to see the Chiefs do well last year. It was fun to watch the game and write about the game. There was pride by the Broncos fans when their team beat the Chiefs.
Beating the Chiefs is great and all, but beating the Raiders is that much better.
Maybe the Raiders will be back to their Commitment to Excellence days in our lifetime.
It would be nice so Raiders Week would be meaningful in Colorado for once.
Contact or Follow Leslie Monteiro: @LightRodWriter
Related Posts From Lightning Rod Sports
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
