Raiders Drop Ball... Again

As it has happened all too many times in the recent past, the Oakland Raiders have dropped the ball, and again, it's the quarterback position.

At first, the rumor was that the Raiders were going to reunite their all-world wide receiver Randy Moss with his hookup from Minnesota, Daunte Culpepper. I didn't think that this was a bad idea, considering the success that the tandem had when they were together playing in front of the big Hefty Bag.

All of the signs were there. Culpepper was unhappy in Minnesota (and vice-versa), and Kerry Collins had apparently worn out his welcome in Silver and Black. It seemed like a no-brainer.

That idea didn't work out, as Culpepper decided to go east of Minnesota instead of west, and he signed with the Miami Dolphins.

After that, Drew Brees became expendable in San Diego, as the Chargers decided to put the future of the club in the hands of Phillip Rivers. Brees was dragged through the press his first season or two, but then turned things around for himself in '04. Last year was a bit of a down year for the Chargers, but Brees wasn't the one at fault.

The Raiders should have jumped at Brees. He's got a great arm, he's elevated his game dramatically over the past two seasons, he's young, and I'm sure that he would have loved to play against his old team twice a season, as athletes that change teams always try to prove to their former club that they made a mistake by letting them go.

Instead, the Raiders let him pass them by, and they settled for Aaron Brooks from the Saints.

It seems that ever since Jim Plunkett retired, the Raiders have more than struggled at the quartereback position, with the exception of Rich Gannon. Let's just think of a few. There was Jay Schroeder, a big, strong kid with an awesome arm, and he had a minimum amount of success with Washington. He turned out to be a bad quarterback with a great arm. And, speaking of such, that takes us to Jeff George.

This was basically the same story. George could throw the ball a country mile, but he couldn't run an offense. His best years were with Atlanta, but he failed miserably in his other stops, one of which was Oakland.

There was also the head case from USC, Todd Marinovich. He was supposed to be the next southpaw savior of the team. I think that Al Davis was having Kenny Stabler flashbacks when he saw Marinovich. He turned out to be a flaky flash in the pan and didn't stay too long.

And let's not forget Vince Evans. Another grand scheme to salvage the franchise. We saw how well that worked. I rest my case.

Which brings us to Brooks. several years ago Brooks appeared to be an up-and-coming young quarterback who needed a team around him. I've watched him several times over the last four or five years, and from what I saw of him this season, this seems to be a quarterback who's game is going backwards, not forwards. The Saints got some players to fill the supporting roles, including wideout Joe Horn, who would probably be considered as one of the best receivers in the league if he played just about anywhere but New Orleans.

I was able to watch the Saints a few times this season, in addition to seeing clips of their play from week to week. Aaron Brooks made some very questionable decisions this season, and made some plays that left me scratching my head.

You may want to give him a pass because of all of the turmoil that New Orleans had to endure throughout the season due to hurricane Katrina. If that's your argument, I'll give it to you, because no National Football League team should have to tolerate some of the things that the Saints had to during their season.

Brooks was obviously frustrated last year, and that frustration came to a head as he was quoted in the press at one point claiming that he was going to quit if there was one more change made to the Saints' practice and game schedules.

I haven't been impressed with Brooks for a couple of years now. I will keep an open mind. I have been following sports long enough to know that sometimes all that a struggling player needs is a change of scenery (see Eddie Lee Whitman's departure from the Yankees), and I won't hammer Brooks until at least the third week of the season. I just hope that this isn't going to be another Jay Schroeder or Jeff George era.