Go West... Slowly

Word out of Oakland is that new star defensive tackle Richard Seymour has not reported directly to his new team from the dynastic Patriots... and well, who could blame him? In a day, you go from a Super Bowl contender with a 77-19 record in the past six seasons to a team that dreams of .500, only because the division looks to be kitteny soft... and has gone 24-72, the worst in the NFL, over that same six-year span. You'd balk, too. At least the weather will be nicer for him, and he's also not as likely to have to be working past the the holidays.

Now, Raiders coach Tom Cable says that Seymour wants to be a Raider, and who knows; maybe the 30-year-old All-Pro is just getting his affairs in order before going on a late-career vengeance run to show his old team what they've lost. But for a team as awful as the Raiders have been for nearly all of this century, trading a first-rounder is always Russian Roulette. And having the guy appear to be in any way uncommitted? Deadly.

Finally, there's this, on the off chance that Mr. Seymour (or one of his people) reads this blog. Next Monday night, the Chargers will come to Oakland for the annual opening weekend evisceration. They'll bring an 11-game winning streak with them, and my very strong keeper league hopes that LaDanian Tomlinson is going to have a monster bounce-back year. Every year, this game has been a disaster for the Raiders, and this year will not be any different, even with Shawne Merriman going all OJ on some MTV tool.

So, Richard? Feel free to take your time heading west. Get all of your affairs in order. Walk the streets. Write a journal. See a therapist, or a priest. Maybe renegotiate your contract, or ask for an extension. You really don't want to play in that MNF game anyway, right?