February 26th, 2007 06:51pm
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Robert Gallery’s name popped up a lot in Indianapolis. He hasn’t exactly become synonymous with Tony Mandarich, but he has come to represent the risks inherent in judging football players.
When the Raiders drafted Gallery with the No. 2 pick in 2004, the pick was almost universally lauded. Gallery has started ever since, but is viewed as merely adequate. He isn’t close to the superstar the Raiders and others envisioned as …
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February 25th, 2007 12:00pm
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Just when you think NFL football is the only game in town, you are reminded that other worlds exist – even right there in the Indiana Convention Center.
The Oakland Tribune’s Jerry McDonald and I were in the hallway chatting with Curtis Fuller, the Raiders’ new assistant special teams coach, on Saturday. Fuller has no idea how Lane Kiffin found him, but it could be a good move – the 28-year-old …
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February 24th, 2007 05:29pm
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The NFL scouting combine is an exercise in self-parody. You can’t walk 10 paces without bumping into a huddle full of NFL coaches and executives, many of them recognizable. It often seems like a TV commercial trying to pack in too many celebrity appearances. While ridiculous, it does give you that center-of-the-universe feeling.
A colleague of mine wound up talking to a sports agent on a connecting flight to Chicago; while …
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February 23rd, 2007 08:58pm
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First of all, my apologies for posting so late today. Here’s my excuse:
10:00 a.m. – Dolphins coach Cam Cameron
10:15 a.m. – Bears coach Lovie Smith
10:45 a.m. – Packers GM Ted Thompson
11:00 a.m. – Giants coach Tom Coughlin
11:15 a.m. – Vikings coach Brad Childress
11:30 a.m. – Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio
12:00 noon – Lions coach Rod Marinelli
12:15 p.m. – Chiefs coach Herm Edwards
12:30 p.m. – Colts coach Tony Dungy
12:45 p.m. – …
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February 22nd, 2007 04:50pm
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Welcome to Indianapolis. Here’s your stopwatch.
I’m wrapping up my first day at the 2007 NFL scouting combine, and it feels as though I’ve been here two weeks. The pace is swift, and will only get more frenetic over the next couple of days.
First, let me set the scene. Most of the organized activity takes place in one meeting hall of the Indiana Convention Center. The look is what you’d expect …
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February 20th, 2007 12:12pm
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First of all, a notification: I head to Indianapolis on Wednesday for the NFL scouting combine. I’ll be in the RCA Dome from Thursday through Sunday, and will be filling this blog space with daily reports on the news, nuances and nuttiness of the league’s annual draft-eligible cattle call. Now, on to today’s topic-
Score round 5 to Mike Lombardi.
When Art Shell publicly called out Lombardi back in November, it looked …
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February 9th, 2007 03:46pm
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It will be months, at least, before we find out whether the
bold Lane Kiffin experiment restores Al Davis’ position as the NFL’s maverick
genius or simply greases the Raiders’ descent from Gruden glory to gross
ineptitude.
In the meantime, I find the Raiders’ recent coaching transactions
very encouraging – for two reasons.
The first is pace. Tomorrow is Feb. 10, the date the Raiders
reached an agreement with Art Shell in 2006. When Feb. 10 dawns …
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February 5th, 2007 07:30pm
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In hiring Lane Kiffin as his new head coach, owner Al Davis
managed to bring a spark to what could have shaped up to be a chilly offseason
in Oakland.
Kiffin is highly inexperienced, and he never seemed like the
Raiders’ first choice. But the football fans of Oakland were hungry for a new approach – as
opposed to Whack-a-Mole coaches like Norv Turner or Art Shell, guys who manage
to pop up time and again …
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Phil Barber covers the Raiders for The Press Democrat, uncovering news and features despite the team’s best efforts to keep everything a secret. He’ll keep our online audience up-to-date and informed with his blog “Instant Raiders.”
