There is still no Richard Seymour in Raiders camp. You guys can say what you want about Seymour, but that sack of Phillip Rivers on opening night last year where he split two offensive lineman and grabbed Rivers one handed by the shirt, bringing down all four players in a heap of bodies, was absolutely the most impressive sack I’ve ever seen in my life.
Let’s get real for a second here on this Richard Seymour situation. First of all, the whole trade at the beginning of last season was garbage. I mean it worked out really well for Oakland, but it was a bum deal for Seymour and it was a very wrong thing for the New England Patriots to do. They may have won a few championships in New England, but no Raiders fan would ever call them a classy organization. Not like Al Davis does.
Speaking of classy, Seymour is a classy guy; a classy guy with priorities He said as soon as he showed up in Oakland after the trade that his list goes faith, family, and football…in that order. Last year, his family lived in the Carolinas the whole time he was out working in Oakland. So just relax Raider Nation, Seymour is just catching up on some much needed family bonding.
If you’ll remember, just prior to the season starting, he took in his teenage nephew. He thought he was stable in New England, but he ended up having to uproot and move everybody. Cut him a little slack.
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I’m going to share with you a couple of things I fully believe. Number one—as opposed to popular opinion—if Seymour is holding out for a new contract, it is not about getting a ton of money, it is about getting a long-term deal for stability that will pay him decent money over the length of the contract. The second thing is that if a new deal does not get done by August, Seymour will sign his franchise tag contract and show up in Napa for Raiders boot camp.
Yes, I said boot camp…bear with me people. Let’s keep in mind that these workouts that are going on right now are all voluntary. The reason why Tom Cable doesn’t know how close a deal is to getting done is not because he is worried about it, as the mainstream media conglomerates would have you believe, it is because he is not Al Davis, he is not Seymour’s agent, and he is not Richard Seymour.
Ask yourself this question, does it really matter whether Seymour comes out to California in May or August? What is the difference for a guy who is a five-time Pro Bowler, a three-time first team All-Pro, and three-time Super Bowl champion defensive end? Oh, no…Somebody push the panic button, Richard Seymour needs these non-contact drills or else he’ll forget how to play football.
Seymour is a veteran who went through a very shaky offseason in 2009. He is entering his tenth year of pro football. He has worked hard and has an impressive résumé, and I think Raider Nation can afford to cut him a little slack and let him enjoy this time he has with his family before he is asked to come back out the Oakland and perform miracles every Sunday.
He says he is excited to be a part of the rich history with the Oakland Raiders. He says he wants to be in Oakland and help turn the franchise around. Richard Seymour said and I quote, “For me, putting on the Silver and Black, it definitely means a lot to me…it’s very special.” Seymour grew up being a Raiders fan, see Nation, you have something in common. Tom Cable has said that Seymour gave the Raiders exactly what they asked him to give last season. And I don’t know about you, but I believe all of those things. I believe them because I have no reason not to.
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Let’s not push the panic button yet. Let’s give Seymour his time off; it is well earned and deserved. Don’t listen to that part of yourself that doubts his commitment to this reclamation project. Don’t allow yourself to be sucked into the corporate media like ESPN, who for some odd reason has removed Seymour from the Raiders roster on their website. Listening to all this non-sense will make your head dizzy. Just listen to your good old buddy B.A. Armstrong, because he wouldn’t steer you wrong.
I say Richard Seymour will be at Raiders training camp in Napa when they start. This is not a holdout, holdout’s are generally for more money. You can’t make much more than the $12+ million that the Raiders have put out there for him via the franchise tag doing any other occupation in the world. This is about Richard Seymour enjoying his offseason, so just let him enjoy it already.
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