He just never has had the killer instinct to be that enforcer in the secondary which the
He just never has had the killer instinct to be that enforcer in the secondary, which the Raiders have so desperately needed over the past few years...Ok, the past decade...alright, since Ronnie Lott donned the Silver and Black.So, with Raider Nation expecting a Lott, Schweigert was doomed to disappoint. But think of all the safeties before him? Besides Rod Woodson and Eric Turner, name a safety over the past 15 years to wear the patched-eyed bandit on his helmet that didn't disappoint.Can anyone say that Schweigert was worse than Anthony Dorsett? How about Derrick Gibson? Sure, he was no Vann McElroy, but he wasn't one of those first guys either. Does anyone reading this think Calvin Branch was better? Ok, I'll give you Eddie Anderson, but that's a close call.Would you like to see the rest of the list? Patrick Bates, Chris Carr, Perry Carter, Rickie Dixon, Torin Dorn, Hiram Eugene, Johnie Harris, James Hasty, Derrick Hoskins, Carl Kidd, Dan Land, Albert Lewis, Lorenzo Lynch, Keyon Nash, Elvis Patterson, Reggie Tongue, James Trapp, Denard Walker, Lionel Washington, and Brock Williams, are the players listed as DB's who were notable or played for more than one season in the Raiders' secondary since Lott moved on to the Jets.Out of that bunch, I'd be willing to give you Dan Land and Albert Lewis as guys who were as good or better than Schweigert as a Raider. So, in 16 years, the Raiders have had four or five guys who were as good or better than Schweigert play safety. Better yet, none of those guys were even in the league over the past five years.The biggest complaint that I read and hear is that Schweigart couldn't tackle, yet in the only year that he's started all 16 games, he had 107 tackles.
That's a linebacker number! I also hear that he didn't take good angles to the tackle. Hmm, normally when you saw Schweigert looking out of position, it's because he was out of position for a strong safety or linebacker.People forget, or don't know, that with his speed, Schweigert covered a lot of ground, and that was his downfall with the Raiders. Many of the out of position tackles he was making were cover-ups for strong safeties like Derrick Gibson or linebackers like Sam Williams.The fact that his number was called so often should've been a sign to Raider Nation that this guy wasn't the problem. Instead, he's been booed andvilified on message boards as 'terrible.' If you must blame anyone for the lack of an enforcer in the secondary, blame the person who picked Michael Huff to be a strong safety.Yeah, I'm a Raiders fan that thinks highly of Stuart Schweigert, so? I'm not even going to remind everyone that he was the type of professional athlete that a fan could be proud of, with his community service, team first attitude, and willingness to meet with fans. So yeah, I'm a fan of his too.So long Stu, I hope that your career winds up being long, and that you don't come back to haunt the Raiders when it counts. I'll still root for you, other than games that the Raiders face you. Whatever you do, don't even think about running your mouth like Chris Carr or Jerry Porter, because then it won't matter what I think of you now.
If that happens, then I'll know that all of my good feelings about you will have been for nothing.Rob Calonge writes for Thoughts from the Darkside on MVN . More Raiders stories and articles by Rob can be found at . SANTA BARBARA, CA, Apr 23 (MARKET WIRE) -- The Santa Barbara International Marathon is pleased to announce itspartnership with Select Staffing to bring its inaugural event to SantaBarbara.Scheduled for December 4-6, 2009, the Select Staffing Santa BarbaraInternational Marathon offers three days of events for beginning toexpert/elite runners, community members, local and national charities,local corporations and organizations, children, and destinationmarathoners. Events include:--Lecture Series (featuring two-time Olympic Marathoner Ed Eyestone) onFriday--Health & Fitness Expo on Friday and Saturday--Children's Festival on Saturday--Health & Fitness Corporate and People's Relay on Sunday--Marathon on Sunday"Select Staffing is thrilled to join forces with such a terrificevent as this," said Steve Sorensen, Chairman and CEO of The SelectFamily of Staffing Companies. "We're even more excited because it's beingheld in Santa Barbara, the community we've been a part of since we werefounded here almost 25 years ago. Santa Barbara is a world-class city,and I know the Select Staffing Santa Barbara International Marathon willbe a world-class attraction.""We are honored to partner with Select Staffing, a long-standing member ofthe local community with a reputation for going the extra mile, to makeour inaugural Santa Barbara International Marathon a memorable event,"said chief organizer Rusty Snow.
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