Randy And Art Talk...

[Angry Pope]

Moss growing on a Shell

Randy Moss seems to have impeccable timing when it comes to setting off stink bombs in the locker room. What he has said since coming to Oakland in a March 2005 trade has not been particularly incendiary -- especially when compared to some of his Minnesota nuggets, like "I play when I want to play."

It's all in the timing, as any flamboyant wide receiver knows.

Moss was cruising along in the summer of 2005, praised by everyone west of the Rockies as the ideal teammate and player, when he appeared with Bryant Gumbel on HBO and told the world that he smokes weed "every blue moon." And momentum was building for a new, improved Raiders campaign recently when - only days before the regular-season opener against San Diego - Moss expressed vague dissatisfaction with coach Art Shell and the Raiders.

A star player taking pot shots at his team, nearly unprompted, in the national media would drive some coaches to rage. Norv Turner always let Moss' weird comments slide; but then, that was Norv's way with the players. Art Shell, by contrast, knows when to come down hard with his giant hand. (For confirmation, ask Jerry Porter.)

So it has been a little surprising that Shell seems completely unruffled by Moss' latest interviews. He said so last week, in response to Moss' FOX Sports Radio spot. And he did so again Tuesday when asked about Moss' ESPN appearance.

"Randy and I talked. We had a nice discussion on Saturday," Shell said. "Like I told him, the radio interview, hey, if I had a problem with anything he had to say, then 'I would call you in and talk to you, and we'd sit down man to man and talk.' But I had no problem with what he had to say. But if you looked at what he said on ESPN, listened to everything he said, not just little small clips, listened to the whole thing, I think you would get an understanding of what he was saying a lot better than just the radio clip."

The only thing to which Shell took exception was Moss' suggestion that the coach has been too strict with his players.

"Everybody is treated like a man," Shell maintained. "There are certain rules and regulations that men have to abide by. If that means being on time for things, if that is a strict rule, then it is a strict rule. If it means cell phones are not allowed in the meeting rooms, then that is a strict rule. If there is no food to be (eaten) in the meeting room, then that is a strict rule. Things we are going to abide by. The rules are not strict. There are probably things that haven't been in place, that they haven't had to deal with in the past."

 

[Angry Pope]

GARY PETERSON

Showdown with Shell is inevitable

ALAMEDA - Raiders coach Art Shell insisted on Tuesday that he has no problem with Randy Moss. What he suggested, without intending to, is that he eventually will.

The Moss issue was one of many questions blow-darted Shell's way the day after Monday night's season-opening 27-0 loss to San Diego. He fielded them all cleanly, calmly and stoically. Even the ones about the rules.

Now, you may think it odd that a coach whose team was ax-handled in its opening game would spend any part of the next day discussing his position on, say, players eating during team meetings. You may wonder why it would matter under any circumstances.

It matters here and now mainly because recent Raiders teams have disintegrated when players decided to heed their own agendas instead of organizational directives. It especially matters because Moss has made it matter.

In two interviews last week, one with Fox Sports and one with ESPN, Moss expressed what seemed to be dissatisfaction with the team. It was no easy chore deciphering the source of his discontent. "It's fishy around here, man, so, actually, we're walking on eggshells around here, man," he told Fox.

Moss got a little closer to the point with ESPN.

"I think coach Art Shell just has a tight grasp on us, man. Knowing that you're a man, you're a certain age and this man is treating you like kids or a boy or whatnot. I'm not crying, I'm just going on what is brought to my attention. It might be small things like food, or full pads."

You know, rules.

Rules matter because no team, not even the study-by-the-light-of-the-juke-box Raiders of yore can operate in full anarchy mode. Those teams weren't exactly overburdened by restrictions. In fact, Mike Shanahan basically undermined his own authority during his time with the Raiders by telling players they couldn't sit on their helmets during practice. Jumped-up Jim Otto, that was a Raiders tradition. Shanahan never really recovered from that edict and lasted just 20 games as the team's head coach.

Still, those Raiders had some rules. They had to. Every team has to.

Shell, being a Raider of yore in good standing, understands this. Though he also made it clear he has no problem with Moss or anything he disgorged into a microphone last week.

"I told him, the radio interview, hey if I had a problem with anything he had to say then I would call (him) in and we'd sit down man to man and talk," Shell said. "But I had no problem with what he had to say."

So what are these Draconian covenants we've heard so much about?

"Everybody is treated like a man," Shell said. "There are certain rules and regulations that men have to abide by. If that means being on time for things, if that is a strict rule, then it is a strict rule. If it means cell phones are not allowed in the meeting rooms, then that is a strict rule. If there is no food (allowed) in the meeting room, then that is a strict rule. There are probably things (current Raiders) haven't had to deal with in the past."

You can see the potential, perhaps even the inevitability, of conflict here. On one hand you have Shell, convinced that he is asking nothing extraordinary of his players.

"They are not outlandish things," he said in his patient, quiet way. "They really aren't if you look at them. Be on time. Show up when you are supposed to show up. Come to work. Don't miss meetings. Those types of things."

On the other hand, you have Moss, who has dedicated his professional life to seeing how far past the line he can go. Or simply ignoring convention because it doesn't interest him. For example: In the second half of Monday's game, quarterback Aaron Brooks fired a ball in Moss' direction. Instead of making a heroic effort, which is probably what it would have taken to catch the pass, Moss simply watched it go whizzing past as if to say, "I can't, man, be bothered, man."

To this point in his career, Moss hasn't met the coach who could make him turn off his cell phone when he didn't feel like turning off his cell phone. Meanwhile, Shell has (correctly) identified discipline and chemistry as two of the Raiders' biggest problems. He has set about trying to change the culture, and you'd figure he has a fighting chance given that he and owner Al Davis have been buds since before either of them was in the Hall of Fame.

Thus, it is apparent to the unlicensed therapist in all our souls that however innocent the situation appears now, these two are on a collision course. And that since there is no place on any functional team for an emasculated head coach or a riotously unhappy receiver, there can be only one survivor.

If that.

 

[Angry Pope]

Porter denies sack celebration

SHELL, MOSS DISCUSS COMMENTS

Steve Corkran

Receiver Jerry Porter caused quite a stir for someone who didn't even suit up for the Raiders' game Monday night against the San Diego Chargers.

Porter pumped his fist and laughed when the Chargers sacked Aaron Brooks for the seventh time in their 27-0 victory, a blurb on the San Francisco Chronicle's Web site said.

Porter responded to the item in an interview with ESPN on Tuesday. He was unavailable for comment after the game and at the team's training facility Tuesday.

``The San Francisco Chronicle report was not true,'' Porter told ESPN. ``I wasn't even paying attention to the game. The fist-pumping was in response to some fans that were talking to me when I was sitting on the sidelines.''

Porter and Coach Art Shell have been at odds since Shell was hired in February, and Porter wasn't activated for the game. He watched from the sideline in street clothes.

Shell said Tuesday that he was unaware of the incident involving Porter during the game.

``I haven't heard anybody in our organization say anything about that, any teammate or anything,'' Shell said. ``If that did happen, then that's a big disappointment, from my standpoint. That would be disappointing and that's something, if he did that, then that's something he has to deal with, with his teammates, as well as other people.''

Shell kept active four receivers ahead of Porter, including Johnnie Morant, who has caught one pass in two-plus seasons in the NFL.

Shell said there's a chance Porter will be activated Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

``He's going to have to continue to work, just like he's been doing,'' Shell said. ``He's been out there working, trying to get things done. And he has to continue that, just like everybody else on this team.

``There's nothing etched in stone about the guys that were starting last night will be starters for the rest of the year. We've got to get the best football players on the field, whoever they may be.''

• Brooks sustained a bruised knee in the game, Shell said. The injury doesn't appear serious, though Brooks underwent an MRI exam as a precaution, Shell said.

• Shell said he spoke with receiver Randy Moss on Saturday in response to comments Moss made on a radio show Friday.

``We talked about that,'' Shell said. ``We talked about other things. Like I told him, the radio interview, hey, if I had a problem with anything he had to say, then I would call you in and talk to you, and we'd sit down man to man and talk. But I had no problem with what he had to say.''

Among other things, Moss said players were ``walking around on eggshells around here,'' that things were ``crazy'' within the organization and that he isn't ``thrilled with the way things are going on around here.''

On Sunday, Moss said in an ESPN interview that Shell doesn't treat his players like men and that some of Shell's rules are too strict. To that, Shell said things could be taken out of context if one didn't hear the entire interview.