I came across this post on a Raiders forum. I can say that I 100% agree with it. It is exactly how I feel, at this point, after being a fan since 1968. Do any of you feel like this about the Steelers? Any fans of other teams that visit here feel the same?
Let's be brutally honest
I have to admit something. I am not as huge of a "Raiders fan" as I used to be. I'm wondering if other long-term fans feel the same way.
For years, decades actually, I would not miss watching a game. I "lived" when the Raiders won, and "died" a little when they lost. I started following the Raiders in 1967, watching their first Super Bowl appearance with my dad on TV and started rooting for the team. They were different. They were bad asses, which I loved. From 1967 to 2002, they were winning a lot more than they ever lost. In the 70s they were probably the winningest team in professional football. In the 80s, with two Super Bowl victories, they had dominant teams in the first half of the decade. Jim Plunkett, Marcus Allen and Howie Long were GREAT Raiders, as was Cliff Branch. In the early 2000s, they returned to dominance with Rich Gannon and Tim Brown leading the way.
And then the Raiders faded into mediocrity. Year after year of losing seasons, with an occasional winning season interspersed with all of the losing. Jamarcus Russell. Damon Arnette. Henry Ruggs. The list goes on and on. Players were paid big dollars or drafted high, but never performed. Coaching changes. Personnel changes. Things changed, but the team's prospects didn't.
They became a perennial loser. The NFL has became "corporate." Nearly every team is the same. The Raiders really don't have an identity, at least not an identity that is that much different from other teams. The Raiders don't play anyone in the Coliseum, where you got up close with players and fans. Now, the Raiders play in a fancy new stadium. Don't get me wrong, I still love the Raiders and I'm glad the Raiders finally have a stadium they can be proud of, but something has changed within me. Maybe I've grown up. Maybe I see life a little differently, but it's just not the same.
Sure, I watch the games when I can, but I am not going to shell out a couple hundred dollars for the ability to see the team play every week. Why spend so much to be disappointed so often? Besides, whether I watch or not, they will win or lose, and life goes on. Sure, I enjoy watching the games, but I don't care anymore if I watch every game like I did up until the past couple of years. I think the last jersey I bought was Derek Carr's. Most likely it was one of the all-time Raiders'. I'm not even sure if I want to shell out a couple of thousand dollars to travel to Vegas to sit in the stadium in a good seat, after I sat in the Black Hole in the Coliseum so many times.
To me, Derek Carr after his injury couldn't carry the jock strap of the all-time Raider greats who stood in the pocket, took a hit to the jaw and willed their teams to win. He played it safe. I know we've all been over this, but this is a microcosm of the NFL as a whole now. Very very few players love the game anywhere close to how much they love the money, I believe. When those of us who are a little older played football, we played purely for the love of the game. I always felt that the old-time Raiders did, too. They LOVED playing football and they LOVED playing for the Silver and Black. Of course, teams change their rosters so much anymore all you have is a few players who are with the same team each and every year. They are the "stars" getting the mega million dollar contracts. I used to know all of the players' numbers, stats, college and age. One almost needs a program anymore to know names of half the players because the roster changes season to season, even month to month so much.
What is this team's identity? It's basically become New England west. I want this team to win, I really do. But with the salary cap, the balance within the league, the NFL has got what it wanted -- a bland product in which the worst team in the league is not that much worse than the best team. Sure, there's high scoring, but where is the defense? You might see one or two teams that put a great defense on the field, but a great defense anymore typically only gets a few stops each game against even the worst teams in the league. The rules are designed so that offenses rule, defenses struggle. The only difference between one team and another is that the best teams have a couple more elite players and a few more very good players. Every team looks much like the other. Other than the uniforms and the teams' histories, is there that much difference between the Raiders and the Steelers or the Cardinals for that matter?
I'm just putting this out there, getting a few thoughts off my chest this morning.
I still love the Raiders. I still bleed a little Silver and Black. Maybe I would feel differently if they start winning again, but even then I think it will be different. Maybe fans who have been following the Raiders just a few years don't see it, but I bet anything that long-time Raider fans do. I'm wondering if you feel the same.
Thanks everyone.
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Bully Basher Champion!
Originally Posted by DuckHodges
