Pre-Season Game 1 Notes

• It was the first game of the pre-season, but any win is better than last year. The reclamation has begun.

• Don’t read too much into the pre-season though. Oakland was 4-1 last year before the games really counted and Edgerrin James, Anquan Boldin, and Matt Leinart saw limited action.

• Games balls to Adimchinobe Echemandu, Hiram Eugene, Mike Williams and the Raiders offensive line.

• When was the last time you heard “game ball” and “offensive line” mentioned in the same sentence?

• Props to Neil Rackers for hitting a 59-yard field goal from the dirt right as the 1st half ended.

• Speaking of Echemandu, the former Cal running back would make a nice Nigerian Nightmare II. His 75 yards on 17 carries was one of the bright spots on offense. Here’s hoping he sticks

• Johnnie Lee Higgins had 2 catches for 59 yards (including a big 50-yarder), but he also dropped a sure catch on a bullet from Dante Culpepper late in the game. Those are the plays the coaches are watching.

• After fumbling his first snap in Silver in Black, Culpepper showed flashes of why he’s a former Pro Bowler. The guy can still throw darts.

• Nice tackle by kicker Tyler Fredrickson on Steve Breston with 2 minutes to play.

• The defense looked solid, except for that Kurt Warner to Bryant Johnson 59-yard TD.

• Nice sell job by Tyler Brayton on his would be 80-yard interception return for a TD. Replay clearly showed the ball hit the ground before Brayton caught it, but give him an ! for effort.

• All three Raider quarterbacks who saw action were average. Walter’s TD pass to Mike Williams in the 2nd quarter had some nice touch. We all saw what Walter could do with some time to throw (8-for-11). Culpepper showed off his gun, but he has lots of work to do. Jury’s still out on McCown, who’s TD drive was penalty aided.

• Nice to see the TE getting mixed into the passing game again. John Madsen and Zach Miller combined for 4 catches.

• 2nd year linebacker Ricky Brown led the Raiders with 7 tackles. Rookie Jay Richardson had 3 tackles and a big sack.

• Welcome to the Black Hole Dominic Rhodes.

• Williams TD catch looked a looked a lot like that Randy Moss guy, only Williams came down with the ball in the end zone.

Camp Notes: Day 15

• Don't read too much into Josh McCown's stat at QB on Saturday. Daunte Culpepper has been peppering receivers in camp since signing his 1-year deal with the Raiders.

• Not that Raider fans should get too excited about the preseason anyway, but the offense has a way to go, before you can call it a cohesive unit.

• The one offensive bright spot in camp continues to be TE Zach Miller

• JaMarcus Russell has reportedly purchased a home in the Oakland Hills, but he won't be moving in until his deal with the Raiders is done.

• Derrick Burgess will not play in Saturday's game against the Arizona Cardinals. The Pro-Bowl defender returned to practice this week, but the Raiders don't want to rush him into live action. They would prefer to give his surgically repaired hernia more time to heal.

• CB Stanford Routt injured his right knee on Thursday, allowing Chris Carr to pick up some reps at nickle back.


Around the Nation--

ESPN.com: Notorious image sticks with these Raiders

ESPN.com: Culpepper making Raiders regret draft-day decision?

Gene Upshaw: Labor Legend

Gene Upshaw

OK, so I took some heat earlier this summer for my portrayal of Gene Upshaw as the good guy in the debate over NFLPA pension plans. I still think Upshaw is the good guy here.

I found this outstanding article posted by ESPN.com Tuesday Morning Quarterback columist Gregg Easterbrook. Here are some of the most relevant points pertaining to Upshaw and the NFLPA...

The foremost responsibilities of a labor union are to maximize wages and jobs; on these scores, the NFLPA numbers among the most-accomplished unions ever. Consider NFL wage trends since 1993, when the salary-cap system and current collective-bargaining format were adopted. Stated in today's dollars -- all money figures in this section are converted to 2007 dollars -- in 1993, the salary cap was $47 million. This year, the NFL salary cap is $109 million. That's a 132-percent increase in per-team player spending over 14 years, roughly a 10-percent annual improvement.

Easterbrook addresses the debate over the NFLPA's accomplishments:

...remember that pro football free agency did not pop out of the air, it was won by the union. Once free agency was achieved, the NFLPA resumed collective bargaining and decided to abandon confrontation for cooperative negotiation. Fourteen years of cooperative negotiation have proven a better model for NFL players, including the retired players, than the confrontation that came before -- much higher pay, no lost wages from strikes or lockouts. The proof is in the pudding: Why are ESPN, CBS, Fox and NBC willing to pay astounding sums for NFL broadcast rights? Labor peace assures the networks a steady supply of quality games.

and the coup de grace...

Beginning at age 55, current players will receive $5,600 per year for life, per NFL season played. So the average player who's in the league three seasons will get a $16,800 annual pension; a five-year performer gets a $28,000 pension and a 10-year veteran gets $56,000 annually. The start year of 55 is sooner than most corporate and public-sector pensions. And the key point is that they are pensions for only a few years of employment.

Corporate or government employees in traditional plans get their pensions in return for decades of work. The average NFL player who will get $16,800 per annum starting at age 55 worked three years and clocked out for his final time at age 26. "Retired" has never been the right word for former pro athletes, since most players leaving the NFL don't retire, rather, go to some other career for most of their adult lives. Current-player benefits also include an annuity that if invested conservatively would provide roughly another $5,000 annually beginning at 55, and a 401(k) with $20,000 in annual matching payments for those smart enough to use it. Thus even the average player who stays in the NFL only three seasons can put himself in solid long-term financial position if he makes smart choices.

Doesn't Major League Baseball promise retirees a lot more? Yes and no. A currently retiring 10-year MLB player will qualify for a $175,000 pension, versus $56,000 for the 10-year NFL player. But the MLB pension does not start until age 62, so the 10-year NFL veteran is $392,000 ahead on the day the baseball benefits begin. Because the NFL employs many more players than MLB, football's benefits are spread to a larger group of pensioners. Finally, the NFL pension fund is in better financial shape than its MLB counterpart. The NFL fund has $1.1 billion in the bank, while the MLB pension system has roughly $1 billion in unfunded liabilities.

For older NFL retirees, pension benefits are generally about half the level of those for current players. An NFL athlete who retired before 1982 gets $3,000 per year per season played, so a five-year older retired player draws $15,000 annually, a 10-season older player draws $30,000. But bear in mind, many older retired players had few or no pension rights in their contracts, and left the NFL expecting little or nothing when they aged. Before 1959, there were no NFL pensions. A system established for those retiring in the 1960s and 1970s originally paid only about $1,000 per season played and did not kick in unless the veteran had five seasons -- with an average three-season career, the typical player never vested. Retroactive pension increases in the 1993, 1998, 2002 and 2006 contracts upped the older player's pension from $1,000 to $3,000 annually per year played and eliminated the five-year floor. So older players generally get only half what current players will get. But that amount is more than double what older players received before 1993.

As for the whiners...

The older players you've seen quoted denouncing the current union -- Herb Adderley, DeLamielleure, Ditka, Bernie Parrish and others -- never won significant pension rights when they were active members with NFLPA voting power. The big pension increases for older players have come since the advent of cooperative bargaining, while the earlier fist-shaking approach, which the old timers extol, failed to win decent pensions. Older players such as Ditka who today pound the table saying the union should be confrontational are overlooking that it was the cooperative years that got the older players practically everything they have. Had the union remained confrontational, NFL income would not have risen so spectacularly, and there would have been less revenue to assign to the older retirees.

So let these idiots blame Gene Upshaw until they are blue in the face. No labor leader has done more for the constiuents that he represents or the industry that his constinuents make their living in. Are my views tainted by the fact that he was a Raidedr? Absolutely not. He's done plenty for the players. Give the guy some credit, and don't believe everything you see thrown at you by grown men who didn't have the common sense to save for a rainy day.

Easterbrook's entire article can be found here

Raiders & Russell need to figure our gaurantees

JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders are reported to be miles apart in reaching a deal, and until the Raiders are prepared to include basic gaurantees into a deal for the rookie QB, it may take awhile before Russell signs.

ESPN's John Clayton reports:

"JaMarcus Russell's holdout could go well into the exhibition season. The Raiders don't want to pay the standard guarantees given to top picks. Russell wants the typical deal, which includes skill and injury guarantees. The guarantees would likely be in excess of $30 million. Expect a subtle, behind-the-scenes battle in which each side will leak out why the other is wrong in its bargaining position. If Russell can't get a market deal, he will continue his holdout."

Russell's camp indicated to the Raiders back in May that there were certain expectations they had in terms of compensation, and if the Raiders were unprepared to match those demands, they shouldn't draft him.

Granted, posturing by players, agents and teams is part of the courtship process, but by all accounts, the gaurantees that Russell seeks are standard fare. The deal the Raiders have reportedly offered is equal to the deal Alex Smith received two years ago from the 49ers.

If this guy is the face of the franchise, the Raiders need to resolve this issue soon. Daunte Culpepper gives the Raiders some leverage, but Russell is the guy the Raiders want to build around. Nickle and diming your franchise player just doesn't make sense, especially if you're trying to offer up less than the going rate for talent in the NFL.

Camp Musings - Day 7

• Lane Kiffin continues to impress when it comes to dealing with the media. He’s as cool as a cucumber in front of the press. His responses are forthright and to the point. No beating around the bush, or dodging questions.

• As for Kiffin on the field, preparation and fundamentals continue to be the focus of his workouts.

• Continuing a storied tradition of innovation, the Raiders have invited kicker Li Chaoran of China to training camp for a week. With the league always looking to expand and China being the country with the largest population in the world, it was only a matter of time before some figured out to start marketing the game by inviting a national to camp.

• On the national theme, the Raiders have Alfredo Flores of Mexico and Larry Lishey of Sweden in camp as guest coaches. Both promote football in the coaching ranks abroad.

• RB ReShard Lee was waived after injuring a knee earlier in the week.

• Daunte Culpepper showed no signs of the injury that hampered him last season in the afternoon practice. Culpepper hit Will Buchanon for a 50-yard TD pass.

• Practices are being spaced out farther than last year, which has received rave reviews from players. Down time between practices has given the team more down time to recover.

• Al Davis’ proposal to create a quarterback award in honor of Bill Walsh was timely and yet another reminder of Davis’ brand of loyalty. Davis and Walsh maintained a friendship that sadly ended on Monday with Walsh’s passing. Too bad for Walsh that his own team couldn’t think up the idea on their own.