Raiders rely on funny line
STANDOUT OFFENSIVE LINE FEATURES GIRTH, MIRTH
By Daniel Brown
Mercury News
URL:http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/4977818.htm
Jerry Rice celebrates a touchdown with lineman Frank Middleton (73) and Barry Sims (65).
If the Raiders are to advance to the Super Bowl, they will do so behind Grandpa, The Choirboy, The Rebel, The Traffic Cop and The Comedian.
This is more than an offensive line. It's a sitcom.
``We laugh all the time. I mean all the time -- practice, games, whenever,'' said guard Frank Middleton, the comedian. ``That's our personality. The more we laugh, the better we play.''
The Raiders' offensive line is 1,600 pounds of girth and mirth. The five players up front power an offense that led the NFL in total yards. With a victory over the Tennessee Titans at Network Associates Coliseum on Sunday, they could laugh all the way to San Diego for Super Bowl XXXVII.
It is tempting to refer to the unit with a generic phrase -- the offensive line -- but to do so belies the diverse personalities. ``We vary so much individually,'' said the grandpa, tackle Lincoln Kennedy, ``if we had a collective personality, it would be as a dysfunctional family.''
Opponents would hardly describe the Raiders' line as dysfunctional. The unit features two All-Pro selections (Kennedy and center Barret Robbins) and protected Rich Gannon so well that the quarterback posted a record 10 300-yard passing games.
The talkative quintet made sure Gannon gave his line kudos for his MVP season. And a mere pat on the back wouldn't do. They badgered the quarterback until he bought them substantial gifts. No one will disclose what the gifts were, but the quarterback may no longer be described as rich Gannon.
``They've already hit my pocketbook pretty bad, but, hey, that's what happens,'' said Gannon, who threw for 4,689 yards and was sacked just once every 17 pass attempts. ``That's the kind of money you're happy to spend. Believe me, they are all . . . very mindful that it is supposedly my job to reward them for their service.''
Far from anonymous, the Raiders' linemen continue to emerge as the team's media darlings. Middleton's often hilarious war of words with the brash-talking New York Jets last week threatened to drain the world of its ink supply.
The papers were merely getting a sampling of what the Raiders hear every day at the line of scrimmage. ``Never a dull moment,'' backup center Adam Treu said, ``although some of the coaches might wish there was a dull moment now and then.''
Even with all the talking, there is one thing that never passes the lips of an offensive lineman: a compliment.
``Nah, nah, nah, that wouldn't be right,'' Middleton said. ``If somebody does something really great, we might say, `Nice block.' But on the next play, we eat him up again. Giving a compliment would take all the fun out of our meetings.''
Middleton doles out the nicknames for his group. Kennedy, 31, is the Grandpa (or ``Pa-Pa'') because he has been with the team since 1996 and serves as the line's elder statesman. The Raiders turn to him on the field and off for advice.
``He always has information for us that's important for each play,'' tackle Barry Sims said. ``How much time is on the clock? What's the situation? We are always looking to him. Things can come up where he'll take over.''
Sims is The Choirboy. (``Every once in a while, he'll get dirty with you, but he's more a quiet guy,'' Middleton said.)
Mo Collins is The Rebel Without a Cause, according to Middleton, based on the guard's attempts at a surly demeanor. ``He's just always on the edge,'' Middleton said. When reporters engulfed other players in the locker room Wednesday, Collins sat unnoticed. ``Good,'' he said with a shrug. Collins also might be the cleanest player in the league: Teammates swear he takes four or five showers a day.
Robbins, the fiery captain, plays the role of Traffic Cop. He barks the signals at the line of scrimmage before each play. (Middleton joked that Robbins' real nickname should be The Jerk.) He has a tough job. Directing the action for Coach Bill Callahan's complex offense takes expertise.
``It's the only team I know where we change our blocking schemes every week,'' Middleton said. ``You can't go watch film of the Jets game, because we're not going to do the same thing. There aren't too many offensive lines that do that.
``Callahan always wants to give a new look. We think he's going to run out, but he is always coming up with new things because his brain is so far ahead of everybody else's.''
The linemen struggled with their performance and identity earlier this season during the Raiders' four-game losing streak. They tired of hearing how the Raiders' pass-happy offense was based on finesse.
A group that averages almost 6-foot-5 and 322 pounds, the largest in the AFC, does not take kindly to being described as finesse. The Raiders tried to flex their muscle by emphasizing the run, most notably in a 23-20 overtime loss to the 49ers. They attempted just 28 passes in that game.
``We wanted to prove the world wrong and we realized we couldn't do that,'' Middleton said. ``We had to play our own game and not worry about what everyone else said. We didn't want to play like Denver. Denver is finesse and they do all the fancy stuff. We wanted to be the grinders. We wanted to be better than them.''
The Raiders went back to relying on the pass and won five in a row. Gannon endured just eight sacks in those games and threw 204 passes.
Now, to get to the Super Bowl, the Raiders' line needs to hold up against the Titans, whose defensive linemen, at an average of 288 pounds, are the largest to face Oakland this season.
Middleton said he hopes that a funny thing happens on the way to San Diego.
``It's fun to have five guys with the same attitude,'' he said. ``If you let somebody beat your head in for four quarters, you're not going to have very much fun.'' |
