Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden shocked the world on Wednesday when he claimed players were desperate to play for him.
Gruden sat down with FOX Sports analyst Howie Long and said that players have been calling him “dying” to play on the Oakland Raiders. (RELATED: NFL Coach Comes To Earth-Shattering Realization. Bears Fans Will Laugh Themselves Silly)
“I got a cell phone just like you and everybody else, and I get a lot of phone calls from people who are dying to come and play here,” Gruden claimed. “I’m just telling you, to have salary cap space, to have a chance to talk to the people that you really want to wear the silver and black and represent this team, that’s exciting.”
I can’t be the only person who’s at least a little bit skeptical about these claims. First off, never trust somebody who specifies where they’re getting phone calls. Of course people are calling Jon Gruden’s cell phone. It’s 2018.
But more importantly, Gruden’s Raiders are 1-6. That’s a worse record than the Cleveland Browns. They’re ranked 27th for scoring offense and 31st in scoring defense overall. Sure, there’s a deal in the works to move the Raiders to Las Vegas by 2020/ But I highly doubt any amount of casinos, concert halls, ritzy hotels, or strip clubs would motivate enough players to want to play for such an abysmal franchise.
Maybe Gruden will improve. Maybe management will smarten up and start to spread excellence. Even if they do, I’m gonna go out on a limb and highly doubt any rational person is legitimately dying to play in silver and black. It’s just not the case.