Leading Las Vegas: Captain Perryman finds home on defense

Ron Butler could sense the satisfaction coming from the other end of the telephone line when he answered a call from Raiders linebacker Denzel Perryman at the beginning of the season.

“Hey man, I think I’m going to be a captain. I think they’re voting me captain,” Perryman told his longtime agent, friend and confidant, triggering a joyous response in return.

“He’s a very emotional guy when he feels like people really respect him,” Butler said. “I could hear it in his voice. It was like ‘I accomplished that.’ … By him getting that honor, it really did a lot for him.”

At 29 and in his eighth NFL season, Perryman has found a home in the middle of the Raiders’ defense — and as a leader inside the locker rooms at Allegiant Stadium and their Henderson headquarters. The former Miami standout is a captain this season for the first time in his career, his gregarious personality embraced and emboldened by the men with whom he shares those close corners.

Also embraced is his play, worthy last year of Pro Bowl distinction amid a career-high 154 tackles in 15 starts, also a career high.

He’s missed two games this season with an ankle injury, but when he’s available on Sundays, Mondays or Thursdays, he brings what safety Duron Harmon terms as “aggressiveness and power” to his 11-man unit.

“Each and every week he has two or three big hits where he’s running down on people and putting facemasks on them. You’re just like ‘Woo, I’m glad I’m not the running back,” Harmon said. “He just does something to our team. He gets the energy going. And then you start playing with more energy. He’s a joy to have on the team.”

Finding Las Vegas

At 5 feet 11 inches, Perryman is 240 pounds of muscle on muscle. But there’s none he flexes more than the zygomaticus major, the muscle he uses to smile.

He’s seemingly always sporting one, mentioning that living in Las Vegas is like living in his native Miami.

“Just without the beaches,” he says. “And it’s a lot dryer.”

South Florida is steeped in football tradition. Perryman attended the same high school as former NFL stars Jonathan Vilma and Frank Gore, obliterating local competition en route to a scholarship from the Hurricanes, for whom Vilma and Gore also played.

His four years at Miami accounted for time well spent, and his 351 career tackles rank 1oth in program history. He was twice an All-ACC selection, picked in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. But a series of hamstring, ankle and knee injuries limited his availability and stymied his production.

He wouldn’t start more than 11 games in any of his six seasons with the franchise. His contract expired after the 2020 season — prompting a two-year agreement worth $6 million with the rebuilding Carolina Panthers, with whom he realized during training camp last year that he didn’t fit.

“Denzel is more of a laidback, fun guy. He’s going to demand everybody holds themselves accountable when you’re on that field and at practice. But I think (he relishes when) he can kind of just let his hair down and he doesn’t have to worry about always being that pro,” said Butler, who, like Perryman, also attended Coral Gables Senior High.

“When he was in North Carolina for that short stint, he realized ‘You know what, I can’t be myself here,’” Butler added. “Once he realized it, he told me that this isn’t ideal.”

Hence the trade last August to Las Vegas.

For just a sixth-round pick in 2022 NFL draft, the Raiders acquired one of their most disruptive defenders, teaming him in 2021 with his former defensive coordinator in Los Angeles, Gus Bradley. The transition was quick as Perryman staked his claim as the team’s starting inside linebacker and its top tackler.

“It was like that kid on Christmas when you open up those gifts under the tree,” Butler said. “He embraced it so well, and that’s why he was able to come out of the gate and just be dominant. … He just loves Vegas.”

And playing for the Raiders, who reciprocate the affection.

As coach Josh McDaniels explained, “He’s been a great leader, a really good mentor to our football team and a lot of guys on defense, a lot of guys in the locker room period.

“Obviously, he brings a significant contribution on the field too,” McDaniels added. “So, just fortunate that he’s here, fortunate that he’s a captain for us and look forward to his leadership here going down the stretch.”

Leading Las Vegas

Captaincy hasn’t changed Perryman one iota, which is why he was an ideal captain to begin with. He wore beanies in sweltering temperatures and cracked comical one-liners before he was designated a captain.

Still does and probably always will.

His authenticity resonates among his teammates like Harmon, who revealed that Perryman warmly welcomed him to Las Vegas in March when he signed with the Raiders as a free agent after seven years in New England and one apiece in Detroit and Atlanta.

“His energy doesn’t change. He’s the same person day in and day out,” Harmon said. “He’s funny. He’s a joy to be around. Everybody just gravitates to him because of how authentic he is, how real he is and how personable he is.”

Perryman understands that he’s perceived as a veteran by some of his younger teammates. An “O.G” of sorts, meaning an originator worthy of additional reverence and respect.

Just don’t tell call him that because “I still feel like I’m young.”

Looks and plays like it, too.

“It’s just being comfortable with who you are in general. Just being the same guy every day. Like I can’t be one guy this day and then come in the next day and be a different guy,” Perryman said. “Whether you have the C or not, you can still show that leadership role without being a captain or without having that patch. But getting voted amongst your peers, like your peers voted you captain — that’s pretty big.”

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.