Another Raider moment

[shooter2977]

Source: Al Davis talked Raiders WR Walker out of retiring
By Chris Mortensen
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: August 2, 2008, 2:27 PM ET
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Oakland Raiders receiver Javon Walker, struggling with his performance during training camp, told the team Thursday he intended to retire and offered to return his $11 million signing bonus.

According to a source, Raiders owner Al Davis persuaded Walker to remain with the team.



Walker
Walker signed a six-year, $55 million deal with Oakland in the offseason after a trying 2007 marked by knee injury.


Walker also was reportedly abducted, beaten and robbed near the Las Vegas Strip in June.

According to police, Walker was found unconscious on a side street shortly after dawn June 16.

He was hospitalized for two days with facial injuries and a concussion and told investigators that about $3,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of jewelry were taken.

Police released a grainy surveillance videotape June 24, identifying a man in it as a second suspect after the arrest of a first suspect.

In 72 career games during six seasons with the Packers and Broncos, Walker has 252 receptions for 3,815 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Chris Mortensen covers the NFL for ESPN. Information from The Associated Press
was used in this report.



And when i said this was a poor pickup i was crucified, the guy wants to quit and somehow AL(i've lost my mind) davis talks him into staying, He probably guaranteed him his entire contract and doubled his signing bonus to stay, THIS IS NOT GOOD

[SOBAY310]

Maybe I should be relieved L.A. doesn't have a team anymore. Less headaches.

[mytime]

Originally Posted by SOBAY310

Maybe I should be relieved L.A. doesn't have a team anymore. Less headaches.

You can have them back! All fox shows are Rams games.

[Wareagle34]

You may be on to something. If you guys give the Rams back to LA, then Arizona can give the Cardinals back to St. Lous. And maybe Atlanta can give the Falcons to Arizona, they would basically be getting the same football team they had.

[SOBAY310]

I loved the Rams. I even liked them for their first season in St. Louis. I was only around 15 or 16 years old then, and it took a while for me to understand that the owner basically said F-U to Los Angeles and then I stopped following them.

Of course they then went on a good tear for a few years.

[mytime]

Originally Posted by SOBAY310

I loved the Rams. I even liked them for their first season in St. Louis. I was only around 15 or 16 years old then, and it took a while for me to understand that the owner basically said F-U to Los Angeles and then I stopped following them.

Of course they then went on a good tear for a few years.

Yeah they did. I'm a 49ers fan so the rams are the enemy. Man I miss Steve Young.

[raiderfan]

Originally Posted by shooter2977

Source: Al Davis talked Raiders WR Walker out of retiring
By Chris Mortensen
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: August 2, 2008, 2:27 PM ET
Comment
Email
Print
Oakland Raiders receiver Javon Walker, struggling with his performance during training camp, told the team Thursday he intended to retire and offered to return his $11 million signing bonus.

According to a source, Raiders owner Al Davis persuaded Walker to remain with the team.



Walker
Walker signed a six-year, $55 million deal with Oakland in the offseason after a trying 2007 marked by knee injury.


Walker also was reportedly abducted, beaten and robbed near the Las Vegas Strip in June.

According to police, Walker was found unconscious on a side street shortly after dawn June 16.

He was hospitalized for two days with facial injuries and a concussion and told investigators that about $3,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of jewelry were taken.

Police released a grainy surveillance videotape June 24, identifying a man in it as a second suspect after the arrest of a first suspect.

In 72 career games during six seasons with the Packers and Broncos, Walker has 252 receptions for 3,815 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Chris Mortensen covers the NFL for ESPN. Information from The Associated Press
was used in this report.



And when i said this was a poor pickup i was crucified, the guy wants to quit and somehow AL(i've lost my mind) davis talks him into staying, He probably guaranteed him his entire contract and doubled his signing bonus to stay, THIS IS NOT GOOD

I just posted a response to this and similar articles in a raiders forum about 2 min ago. i read this when i got home last night -- drunk -- and forgot all about it until i read it again this morning!!! I don't even know how to respond to this.

I guess Walker had conversations throughout camp with Kiff and Kiff knew something was not right with him, mentally. Kiff called him in the office and Walker told him about his thoughts of retiring, and Kiff was floored (with walker only being 29yrs old). Kiff told him to think about it some more and got him in touch with Big Al. Big Al and Walker came to a resolution about the whole thing, and Walker is ready to get on with camp. Keep an eye on this one.

Jason Jones is a blogger for the Sacremento Bee and he brings up a couple of points of concern. One is obviously, walker is struggling with something mentally. Could it be the death of his best friend Darent Williams from a couple of years ago? Secondly, and of most concern, Jones feels that when this leaks out into the Raiders locker room, it will not go over well with the other players. That they will label walker a quitter and he will not be accepted at all within the players circle. Kiffin has done an admirable job, imo, in weeding out bad players and bad attitudes. He does not need another Raiders locker room with dissention among the players. As i said above, this is something to keep an eye on.

[Pistol Pete]

Originally Posted by shooter2977

Source: Al Davis talked Raiders WR Walker out of retiring
By Chris Mortensen
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: August 2, 2008, 2:27 PM ET
Comment
Email
Print
Oakland Raiders receiver Javon Walker, struggling with his performance during training camp, told the team Thursday he intended to retire and offered to return his $11 million signing bonus.

According to a source, Raiders owner Al Davis persuaded Walker to remain with the team.



Walker
Walker signed a six-year, $55 million deal with Oakland in the offseason after a trying 2007 marked by knee injury.


Walker also was reportedly abducted, beaten and robbed near the Las Vegas Strip in June.

According to police, Walker was found unconscious on a side street shortly after dawn June 16.

He was hospitalized for two days with facial injuries and a concussion and told investigators that about $3,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of jewelry were taken.

Police released a grainy surveillance videotape June 24, identifying a man in it as a second suspect after the arrest of a first suspect.

In 72 career games during six seasons with the Packers and Broncos, Walker has 252 receptions for 3,815 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Chris Mortensen covers the NFL for ESPN. Information from The Associated Press
was used in this report.



And when i said this was a poor pickup i was crucified, the guy wants to quit and somehow AL(i've lost my mind) davis talks him into staying, He probably guaranteed him his entire contract and doubled his signing bonus to stay, THIS IS NOT GOOD

So what?

Do you think this is the first time a football player has had thoughts of retiring?

Didn't Michael Strahan do this last year?

What's Favre doing now?

And when you said this was a poor pick up..........Big deal!

This may or may not be a good acquisition. We won't know until the season gets going Nostradamus.

Raider fans are hoping he can play.

Others are hoping he fails.

Only one team wins the super bowl. Every other team were nothing but also rans. That includes Patriot fans and their great 17-0 season.

The Raiders needed wide receiver help and he was the only one available to them.

That's it.

You go with what you got and hope it's good enough. They are not loaded. They are building.

There is lots of youth, potential and upside to this team.

Javon Walker is not the savior nor the reason the team will or won't succeed.

However, should he play well it helps. If he doesn't it is not going to be the reason the team won't go to the Super Bowl or win it's division.

The guy obviously has issues. The warning signs were there.

However, like I said, there was no other receiver available to the team.

You roll the dice and hope for the best.

If Al didn't care, he would have done nothing. The fact he was willing to intervene and try to not only salvage the man's career but the man himself says a lot about Al Davis.

You find that stupid and I find that commendable.

[shooter2977]

Originally Posted by Pistol Pete

So what?

Do you think this is the first time a football player has had thoughts of retiring?

Didn't Michael Strahan do this last year?

What's Favre doing now?

And when you said this was a poor pick up..........Big deal!

This may or may not be a good acquisition. We won't know until the season gets going Nostradamus.
Raider fans are hoping he can play.

Others are hoping he fails.

Only one team wins the super bowl. Every other team were nothing but also rans. That includes Patriot fans and their great 17-0 season.

The Raiders needed wide receiver help and he was the only one available to them.

That's it.

You go with what you got and hope it's good enough. They are not loaded. They are building.

There is lots of youth, potential and upside to this team.

Javon Walker is not the savior nor the reason the team will or won't succeed.

However, should he play well it helps. If he doesn't it is not going to be the reason the team won't go to the Super Bowl or win it's division.

The guy obviously has issues. The warning signs were there.

However, like I said, there was no other receiver available to the team.

You roll the dice and hope for the best.

If Al didn't care, he would have done nothing. The fact he was willing to intervene and try to not only salvage the man's career but the man himself says a lot about Al Davis.

You find that stupid and I find that commendable.

First off calm down killer, did someone kick your dog? is that where all your anger is coming from?

I just pointed this out b/c i thought it was bad pick up for the raiders which happen to be my favortie team, last time i checked I was allowed to give my opinion, unless you changed that rule on this forum then calm the fuck down

[Pistol Pete]

Originally Posted by shooter2977

First off calm down killer, did someone kick your dog? is that where all your anger is coming from?

I just pointed this out b/c i thought it was bad pick up for the raiders which happen to be my favortie team, last time i checked I was allowed to give my opinion, unless you changed that rule on this forum then calm the fuck down

Funny thing about sports. We sports fans (which is short for fanatic) become so passionate we lose touch of reality.

Kick my dog? Yeah. You said something about my Raiders which I took negative.

Seems to be fasionable nowadays for sports media types and fans of other teams to take shots at the Raiders and Al Davis.

They poke fun at the team's record, play, fans, and call Davis old, out of touch, game has passed him by, etc.

Guys like me who have been fans since the 60s make take it a little too serious (see the part about fans).

However, feelings are not right or wrong, they are just that, feelings.

And, my feeling was you kicked my dog.

If you are a Raider fan as you say you are then take comfort in the fact you have a team that is building with young talent and the future is very bright.

Jamarcus Russel has the kind of strong arm talent not seen since John Elway.

Shoule be develop like people think he will, the Raiders will be solid contenders for a decade.

It all starts at the quarterback position. With a dominant quarterback you win. It dosn't get any more simple than that.

While you are correct in saying Javon Walker is struggling, Darren Mcfadden is opening up eyes with his performance in camp.

His speed, hands and performance so far are reminding fans of Bo Jackson and Nap Kaufmann. Those 2 guys were threats anytime and everytime they touched the ball.

Can Michael Bush achieve the promise so many thought before his injury? Many think so and with the trio of Mcfadden, Fargas and Bush, this team is solid at the running game.

That bodes well for a young quarterback like JRuss who will need that running game to keep the pressure off.

The offensive line is still a question mark but coach Tom Cable did a great job last year and most folks are hoping he can get a repeat performance with this year's bunch.

Questions still remain about Kwame Harris pass blocking. Not his run blocking though and that's where the team strength is.

If the team can run and most think it will, the safeties will have to cheat and receivers will be one on one.

What receivers? Well, that's where the hope Javon Walker can return to form. If not, well, we'll see.

Defensively Asomougha is becoming the best corner in the league and paired with Deangelo Hall form a twosome some liken to Mike Hayes and Lester Hayes.

Let's not annoint them yet but that is a positive.

Huff should benefit from Gibril Wilson's presence and the weakness of Stu Schweigert's poor angles and tackling won't be missed.

The run defense is still a question mark. The Raiders have a lot of bodies to throw at that position. The hope is they will find the right match to shore up a defense that was horrific to say the least in stopping the run.

The linebacking corps is young, talented and getting better. Morrison and Howard form as fine a duo as any and they should get better. Maybe, pro bowl type players some day.

Most important this year is their schedule. A lot of folks think 8-8 is possible and I am shooting higher.

Not only do I think 9-7 possible but 10-6 a reasonable goal and expectation.

So don't get too shook up about Walker. He was the best available of a weak group.

We'll see.

PS: If you like Raider stuff, check out Raiderfans.net. It's a site devoted to Raiders.

[SOBAY310]

Originally Posted by shooter2977

First off calm down killer, did someone kick your dog? is that where all your anger is coming from?

I just pointed this out b/c i thought it was bad pick up for the raiders which happen to be my favortie team, last time i checked I was allowed to give my opinion, unless you changed that rule on this forum then calm the fuck down

Calzone, why is everyone PMS'ng on this forum nowadays? Geezus!

[shooter2977]

Originally Posted by SOBAY310

Calzone, why is everyone PMS'ng on this forum nowadays? Geezus!

I have no idea, it's starting to get very annoying and frustrating

[mikeymo]

I can't believe we have so many posts in here about the Raiders!!???
Personally, I've always liked them, probably more to do with the brand then anything. I don't buy into J.Russell but at least it's a fresh approach. I'll give them a chance this year until they prove me wrong AGAIN!