For a fan base that has seen just one winning record since the beginning of George W. Bush’s first term as president, Raiders fans sure do “know the game.” Armchair quarterbacks, fair weather fans and fantasy football GMs from around the Raider Nation have taken to social media to show their “intelligence.” Their latest crusade: Badmouthing Pro Bowl quarterback Derek Carr, the best signal caller the team has had since Jim Plunkett in 1983.
It’s ridiculous. Fans that know nothing about winning, sitting at home in their XXXL knockoff Raiders jersey bought from China on eBay have the nerve to question Carr’s toughness and his skills. Your ignorance is on display, Raider Nation, and it frames the entire fan base as lizard-brained morons.
Of course this isn’t entirely true. Most Raiders fans understand this team wasn’t very good to start the season. The problem is, the loudest on social media are usually the most moronic and THEY are the ones the rest of the NFL envisions when they think “Raider Nation.”
Yes, Carr hasn’t been great this season, but — other than injured Marshawn Lynch — who has? Amari Cooper, who was traded to the Dallas Cowboys yesterday, was as inconsistent as O.J. Simpson’s alibi back in 1994. Jordy Nelson is playing as old as Nancy Pelosi looks. Martavis Bryant is probably better off opening a dispensary in town since he’s been a virtual no-show BOTH times the Raiders have signed him in 2018.
The Raiders, as a whole, suck.
To attack Carr, a genuine gentleman, for looking frustrated after getting blasted, time and time again, in the Raiders’ miserable loss in London to Seattle, is idiotic. It’s like blaming the trees because it rained. Maybe the tree didn’t provide much cover, but it isn’t the reason for the rain.
Carr’s older brother, Darren, felt the need to defend his brother after a coward in the locker room used his anonymity to claim Carr is soft and has lost the respect of his teammates. The younger Carr’s response was perfect.
Hit 16 times in that game
Broken Pinky Finger (Throwing Hand)
Sprained Thumb (Throwing Hand)
Knee Sprain MCL Grade 2
High Ankle Sprain Grade 3
Concussion Grade 1
Chest / Ribs Bruised
3 Broken Bones in his Back
Broken Fibula Bone in Leg2 Missed Games (because they made him)
— Darren Carr (@DCarr75) October 23, 2018
Don’t even waste your time with this big bro. On the ground I yelled get me up get me. Then I got to the sideline and yelled again. Not one tear. Not one time. There is the Truth. People will click on it because it sounds crazy. But stop playing with me.
— Derek Carr (@derekcarrqb) October 23, 2018
Again, to clarify, a coward who doesn’t have the sack to identify himself publicly says Carr is soft and has lost the locker room.
The animosity towards Carr is idiotic. The guy who donates countless dollars to charity, dedicates himself to important community causes like Valley Children’s Healthcare, is having to explain himself to grown adults who wouldn’t know what a championship team looks like if it slapped them across the face.
I know it’s not the entire Raider Nation but, coupled with the O*kland City Council’s pending lawsuit, class has gone right out the door in the Bay Area for the Silver & Black as the team prepares to say goodbye to Brokeland.
Here in Vegas, we welcome Jon Gruden’s rebuild. We’ll happily welcome them here in Sin City while fair weather fans can go ahead and travel across the Bay Bridge to see the San Francisco 49ers suck it up instead. We have the Golden Knights and — if O*kland isn’t careful — we’ll own the A’s some time soon too. We already have their triple-A franchise.
Now, this isn’t an attempt to piss on O*kland, or Raiders fans. Just the idiots in the fan base who are so hung up on such irrelevant things like the Mack trade they come across as jilted exes, rooting for Mack (who they loved four months ago) to get hurt and the Bears to lose simply out of spite.
Now, rooting for the Bears to lose so the draft picks they landed from the Monsters of the Midway is understandable, but most of these pinheads haven’t even thought about that. These same fake fans are criticizing the front office for landing FIVE first round draft picks the next two seasons, three in 2019 alone. The maneuvering and fire sale has been nothing short of brilliant.
in the end, it’s just meatheads screaming.
Gruden is rebuilding the entire system from top to bottom. Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein, despite some loud idiotic fair weather Cubs fans, did the same thing back in 2011. Cubs fans, who — at the time — wouldn’t know a winning culture from the band Culture Club, blasted Epstein the first few years too. The Cubs lost, a lot, and they did a lot of payroll shedding to load up.
Then they drafted. Then they won. The end game is the same for the Raiders.
This is exactly what Gruden is doing. Sure, I feel sorry for some of the loyal O*kland-based fans but the Raider Nation isn’t just O*kland. It’s a worldwide brand. I don’t think the Raiders can get out of the Bay Area fast enough. Head to San Diego for a season while the new stadium is built, and then head to the bright lights of Las Vegas for good.
I have to believe Vegas will create a whole new level of class for Raiders fans. You can get on board, or jump off the bandwagon like so many fake Cubs fans did in 2011, or you can be supportive in a revolutionary rebuild that is beyond the intelligence of some.
The Cubs won a World Series in 2016, so five years for a rebuild is the norm. Gruden is speeding up that timetable with a massive collection of first round picks. I expect them to contend in 2020, and win a Super Bowl by 2023.
Give the team some time. Gruden knows what he’s doing. Trust the process or you don’t get to enjoy the reward.
Then again, if you ask me, Gruden’s next move should be getting rid of GM Reggie McKenzie. The man is about as good at finding consistent talent as Hellen Keller is at professional birdwatching.
