Graney: Leadership for Raiders must now be collective effort
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
— Lao Tzu
That’s what the Raiders need most right now. To collectively heal. To rely on each other and not lean exclusively on any single leader, not even Derek Carr.
He says it’s tough to even check his phone because, for heaven’s sake, another controversy or tragedy or self-inflicted drama by someone just might be broadcast to the world.
“I mean,” said the Raiders quarterback, “it feels like there has been something every week.”
Close to it.
Recite the script
The resignation of Jon Gruden as head coach. The awful car crash involving wide receiver Henry Ruggs and the death of Tina Tintor. The fallout of Ruggs being charged with multiple felonies and released by the Raiders. The cutting of Damon Arnette once a social media video surfaced of the cornerback brandishing firearms and threatening to kill someone.
And most recently, Thursday’s filing of a lawsuit by Gruden against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell.
You can recite the script. For the Raiders, they hope such forgettable moments for some become teaching moments for others.
The Raiders team that meets Kansas City in prime time on Sunday night at Allegiant Stadium sure has done its share of learning the past month.
You don’t forget but eventually move forward. Playing in the NFL is difficult enough. Winning is incredibly hard. That the Raiders denied last week’s listless 23-16 loss to the Giants had anything to do with a lack of focus stemming from the Ruggs situation wasn’t believable.
But days and weeks eventually pass. The league’s other 31 teams, as defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson said Wednesday, don’t care.
Carr said there have been conversations, reflection by players about what has occurred and how best to deal with it. He is certain a majority are trying to be responsible men because, as Carr insists, it’s always a matter of becoming better or worse.
“I talk a lot of football, obviously, and I correct things and I’m always talking, but I also to try and just talk about life with my teammates too,” Carr said. “That doesn’t just stop with our jobs. We’re going to be dads and husbands and sons and things like that a lot longer than we are going to be football players.
“And that’s why I think it’s important, in the time that we are in, to make sure that you are doing things the right way.”
That has become a common theme for the Raiders in the wake of such off-field chaos, specifically following the Ruggs incident. It shook the entire organization. But while Carr’s voice is one of the most respected on the roster, it can’t be just him directing the need for change.
Leading at this point must come from all corners of a locker room, from veterans to young players alike. No opinion should be dismissed. One encouraging sign: Few if any have suggested Ruggs made a mistake. Instead, they have talked about those irresponsible choices leading to that devastating moment.
People make their own beds and choices. Ruggs did. It’s now on the Raiders to gain the clarity they need to move on.
It should be a collective effort.
Teachable moment
“At the end of the day, we’re all grown-ass men,” Jefferson said. “Guys will do what they want. I’m not going to tell a 22-year-old man what to do. I have small children. (Ruggs) has a child. I know my decisions can affect and put in jeopardy my family, my occupation. You just have to be smart. No excuses nowadays.
“We have to come in and handle our business now. We’re professionals. It’s a lesson for everybody — once you step on that field, you have to be where your feet are at.”
And … “Nothing good happens after 12 a.m.”
Ah. Another teachable moment.
Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.
