2008 Camp Musings
Training camp. It marks the end of summer and the launching pad to the start of another NFL season. It’s that time of year when the rust is supposed to come off, so when the games count, your players are ready to play for real. While it’s important to ramp up on the intensity, keeping those players healthy should be the number one goal of any NFL team.
So when they decide to hold practices with other NFL teams, I scratch my head and wonder if the schedulers really understand how important a healthy team is. You get 16 chances a season to bash your opponents into oblivion, so that you can earn the right to play for a championship.
The Raiders practice with the San Francisco 49ers is one of those situations that really is hard to understand. What real benefit do you get from practicing with another team, especially one that you’re set to face in the preseason that week?
I think back to 1994 when the Raiders decided to hold several practices with the Dallas Cowboys. Don Mosebar, a three time All-Pro center for the Raiders, got caught up in a pile of players, Raiders and Cowboys alike. In the middle of that pile, Cowboy’s defensive tackle Chad Hennings got his fingers inside Mosebar’s facemask and gouged out the eyeball of the 12-year veteran.
Just like that, Mosebar’s career was over. Freak accident or barbaric trench warfare, it could have been avoided altogether had there been no inter-team practice. These were players from opposing teams. Intensity got the best of Mosebar that day, and it cost the Raiders one of their all-time greats.
49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz summed it up best.
“This is pointless,” said the former Rams head coach.
Pointless indeed.
To Play or Not to Play
News out of camp that $55 million wide receiver Javon Walker almost hung up his cleats last week doesn’t really come as a shock. The 29-year old receiver has had a lot of distractions before playing a single down for the Raiders.
Getting beaten unconscious and left for dead in a Las Vegas gutter isn’t the best way to kick off a career with a new team. Practicing with his head in the clouds doesn’t make that situation any better.
Those distractions have irked Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin enough that Walker was being fast-tracked in the coach’s dog house. But as is the case with any $55 million that needs to be baby-sat, Kiffin (with or without the direction of his boss) straightened the matter out and Walker is “committed” to playing football again.
Hats off to Kiffin for at least voicing his displeasure.
"I'm not into the whole, you know, 'When the lights go on, I play well, 100%" Kiffin told the San Jose Mercury News. "That's not my deal. Trying to work him out of that mentality."
I say he’s out of the lineup by week 10 and inactive by week 12. Can you say “sounds like Jerry Porter all over again”?
Open Practice Sunday
Missed out on training camp this year. Don’t worry, everyone not on the Raiders payroll is in the same boat. Closed training camp has become the Raiders modus operandi as of late, but don’t fret. You can catch the team’s open practice at the Coliseum on Sunday as part of the Raider Nation Celebration.
The shin dig kicks off at noon, and you don’t need to pay a dime to get in.
So when they decide to hold practices with other NFL teams, I scratch my head and wonder if the schedulers really understand how important a healthy team is. You get 16 chances a season to bash your opponents into oblivion, so that you can earn the right to play for a championship.
The Raiders practice with the San Francisco 49ers is one of those situations that really is hard to understand. What real benefit do you get from practicing with another team, especially one that you’re set to face in the preseason that week?
I think back to 1994 when the Raiders decided to hold several practices with the Dallas Cowboys. Don Mosebar, a three time All-Pro center for the Raiders, got caught up in a pile of players, Raiders and Cowboys alike. In the middle of that pile, Cowboy’s defensive tackle Chad Hennings got his fingers inside Mosebar’s facemask and gouged out the eyeball of the 12-year veteran.
Just like that, Mosebar’s career was over. Freak accident or barbaric trench warfare, it could have been avoided altogether had there been no inter-team practice. These were players from opposing teams. Intensity got the best of Mosebar that day, and it cost the Raiders one of their all-time greats.
49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz summed it up best.
“This is pointless,” said the former Rams head coach.
Pointless indeed.
To Play or Not to Play
News out of camp that $55 million wide receiver Javon Walker almost hung up his cleats last week doesn’t really come as a shock. The 29-year old receiver has had a lot of distractions before playing a single down for the Raiders.
Getting beaten unconscious and left for dead in a Las Vegas gutter isn’t the best way to kick off a career with a new team. Practicing with his head in the clouds doesn’t make that situation any better.
Those distractions have irked Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin enough that Walker was being fast-tracked in the coach’s dog house. But as is the case with any $55 million that needs to be baby-sat, Kiffin (with or without the direction of his boss) straightened the matter out and Walker is “committed” to playing football again.
Hats off to Kiffin for at least voicing his displeasure.
"I'm not into the whole, you know, 'When the lights go on, I play well, 100%" Kiffin told the San Jose Mercury News. "That's not my deal. Trying to work him out of that mentality."
I say he’s out of the lineup by week 10 and inactive by week 12. Can you say “sounds like Jerry Porter all over again”?
Open Practice Sunday
Missed out on training camp this year. Don’t worry, everyone not on the Raiders payroll is in the same boat. Closed training camp has become the Raiders modus operandi as of late, but don’t fret. You can catch the team’s open practice at the Coliseum on Sunday as part of the Raider Nation Celebration.
The shin dig kicks off at noon, and you don’t need to pay a dime to get in.
Labels: 2008 Training Camp, Javon Walker, Lane Kiffin
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