Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, the AP and Telesco Dynamic, Assembling a Staff, Scouting, and a Peaceful Offseason
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00:00 Hi Raider Nation, my name is Shannon Carpenter and I am Hondo Carpenter's wife.
00:11 I just want you all to know, oh I don't work for Sports Illustrated, you all know that
00:14 he does, but I just want to clarify a couple of things.
00:18 Dexter would be joining me right now if he wasn't sleeping, but I am a Raiders fan.
00:23 I will be raising Dexter to be a Raiders fan, even though my husband is not, and it's okay,
00:28 he can't because it's his job, that's okay.
00:31 But I want to make one thing clear before my husband starts his podcast.
00:36 There have been times in our life that I would lay out dress socks for him with his dress
00:41 shoes and we would show up at our event and he would cross his legs and I would look down
00:46 and he would have on white shorty socks with his dress shoes.
00:51 And I would lean over and say, "Where the heck are the dress socks I gave you?"
00:56 He'd be like, "Well, these are more comfortable and I thought they'd look better."
01:00 So I want you to know that I went and I got him black socks for his black tennis shoes
01:09 and he will be wearing them appropriately next time.
01:12 So before my husband comes on and starts the podcast, I want all of Raider Nation out there
01:18 and I know you're out there listening or watching to join me in Raiders.
01:29 Good to see y'all this morning.
01:31 Here's my husband.
01:32 Oh, goodness sakes, a lot.
01:35 Sorry, Raider Nation, you think it's bad.
01:39 You think I got beef from you guys on social media about the black socks.
01:44 I got it worse from my wife.
01:45 Hi, everybody, I'm Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders
01:50 Insider Podcast.
01:51 That was my beautiful bride, Shannon.
01:54 She wanted to set the record straight on the black socks.
01:56 Boy, she was adamant about that.
01:58 It is great to have you here with us today.
02:00 We have so much to cover on this Sunday.
02:03 Obviously, a lot of football to go today, two big games.
02:06 We're going to talk about those ad nauseum, not really ad nauseum, that's not fair, but
02:11 we're going to certainly touch on them today.
02:12 We're going to talk Raiders ad nauseum.
02:15 I want to dig right in.
02:16 I want to talk to you about offensive coordinator.
02:21 One of the major candidates, Zach Robinson, who is from Rising Star, from Sean McVay's
02:28 staff, we were one of the first to tell you he was going to get an interview.
02:33 He never got a shot at an interview.
02:35 He took the Falcons job, so he's there.
02:40 There is a lot of things going on with the offensive coordinator's position.
02:44 I'm going to get to that, but not right away, because I've got other things that I think
02:49 are more germane for me to touch.
02:54 I've been telling you since before the season ended, if Antonio Pierce got the job and Patrick
03:06 Graham did not get a head coaching job, that he wanted to return and Antonio wanted him.
03:15 Nothing's changed.
03:16 I don't know what happened, but the last couple of days there's this resurgence of, I've been
03:22 telling you that from day one, have not wavered off of that.
03:24 I can tell you that is absolutely my position and it's never changed.
03:30 Patrick Graham is wanted here.
03:32 Patrick Graham will be here, unless Patrick Graham gets a head coaching job, he's going
03:38 to be here.
03:39 AP's wanted him.
03:40 AP relies on him and does a terrific job.
03:46 Next I want to talk about Tom Telesco, because I'm already beginning to hear some things.
03:53 I don't know that I would call it shifts.
03:58 I was told by someone within the organization that he was extremely impressed with what
04:06 Champ had done.
04:08 Extremely impressed with what Champ had done and how far the system was, how modern it
04:19 was.
04:22 I was told that that was all very impressive.
04:24 I was also told, you have to understand his previous owner, when the Raiders were in Oakland,
04:32 they had money issues.
04:33 In fact, I was told they pretty much always had money issues going back as far as the
04:40 LA days.
04:41 Obviously, I wasn't there.
04:43 I'm telling you what I was told, that money was just always an issue with the Raiders.
04:48 It always had been until they got to Vegas.
04:51 But it wasn't an issue that Al or Mark didn't want to spend it.
04:56 It was that the organization didn't have it.
04:59 Now that's not the case anymore.
05:03 Mark Davis has proven to his credit, and I do not think he gets enough credit for it,
05:09 he's willing to spend any amount of money for anything if it will make the Raiders better.
05:15 Again, I don't think Mark Davis gets enough credit for that.
05:18 I think that's an area where fans are, not all obviously, but I think a lot of people
05:24 are very unfair to him.
05:26 Now Spano's family, I don't know the intimacies of that.
05:33 I do know from somebody who would know 100% have knowledge of it, that since they have
05:40 moved to LA, money is not an issue.
05:44 Now this person doesn't have any knowledge of what it was like in San Diego.
05:49 But with the Bolts, it was, we're not going to spend a lot of money.
05:54 Now clearly they've made a change, a dispensational change, because they went to Harbaugh.
05:59 But the thing is, we're not going to spend a lot of money.
06:03 And so there were some things that Telesco wanted to do that couldn't.
06:06 So when I make this next statement, I want you to hear it in context.
06:12 I think he was surprised and very excited about the scouting and facilities that the
06:18 Raiders have, not because he didn't want it, not because he didn't think the Bolts didn't
06:22 need it, but he can't make people stroke a check.
06:26 And so I think he's getting them and he's understanding even more the mentality every
06:30 day.
06:31 Mark Davis does not spare a penny.
06:35 Now to his credit, remember when Telesco first got into the business, up until the Raiders
06:41 moved to Vegas, the Raiders were always known as the perennial franchise that didn't have
06:45 money.
06:46 That's how they were known.
06:49 And so he obviously knows things are different right now.
06:53 I mean, he gets that, but now he's seeing it firsthand.
06:57 So I want to talk to you, that has been a very pleasant surprise to him.
07:01 I will tell you this, because of the position that Champ and everyone else had the Raiders
07:09 scouting department, I believe, well, let me just say this.
07:15 I talked with someone who's not part of the Raiders organization, part of a different
07:19 organization who briefly spoke to Telesco since he's been here and told them, yeah,
07:28 I think this is going to be a very smooth transition.
07:31 This place is unbelievable.
07:32 And he was really bragging about the Raiders.
07:35 So I'm expecting the transition with him coming in and setting the direction to not be as
07:42 difficult.
07:43 Let me give you another reason why.
07:46 Him and AP have had extensive meetings, extensive meetings.
07:55 He has talked with staff about personnel.
07:59 He is letting the scouting department, and as you know, Champ is still here and he's
08:07 a warrior, man.
08:08 He's a worker.
08:09 They're working on the draft.
08:11 And then as they look through the roster, they may say, hey, at this position, I want
08:15 us to be looking for speed or this is the size dimensions I want.
08:21 I was told late yesterday, there had not even been one area of disagreement with him and
08:30 AP, that it was AP telling his philosophy, AP talking about the players he had, Tom coming
08:38 back saying, here's some things that I've learned.
08:43 And AP coming back, okay, that's really good.
08:46 Or him saying to AP, wow, I hadn't thought about that.
08:48 That's a player, coachman, that's good.
08:51 I've learned.
08:52 I've been told the Esprit de Corps, the unity has been phenomenal.
08:56 And that's the word that was used, phenomenal.
09:01 Both guys given plenty of opinion, both guys listening to the other.
09:05 I mean, they understand, and AP talked about this at his press conference.
09:10 They understand the chances are really good.
09:14 If AP gets fired, so is Tom Telesco.
09:18 They understand that.
09:19 They know what they're getting into.
09:21 And so you got to check yourself before you wreck yourself.
09:25 You got to put your ego at the door and come in here and be a team.
09:33 I think there has been a little bit of surprise.
09:35 I think people were wondering, is Telesco going to come in and try to be heavy handed
09:39 or is AP going to try to heavy handed him?
09:42 And it's been neither.
09:44 It's been two guys working on a team.
09:46 Both men openly sharing their opinion, both men openly discussing their opinions, and
09:54 then both men coming to a commonality of interest.
09:59 And I just was told it's been very, very, very good.
10:04 All right.
10:05 So now you go through and you look at staff.
10:09 So do we want to get this staff before we have a coordinator?
10:16 Do we want to, you know, what about the coordinator?
10:18 Obviously, Zach Robinson was out.
10:19 There's still a lot of names out there.
10:22 And I was told that there's one name nobody has.
10:24 I don't have, I don't know what it is that could possibly get an interview.
10:28 That was a rather large, big name.
10:32 A rather large, former head coach.
10:35 Person said, I'm not going to tell you who it is.
10:37 So I can truthfully tell you, I have no idea who it is.
10:41 But I was told that it was a very well-known former coach.
10:47 I will tell you, I got no idea who it is from that guy.
10:51 Okay.
10:52 Talking to another person, I kind of have an idea who it is, although they wouldn't
10:56 confirm it or deny it.
10:58 So I'm not going to give a name, but it's a former head coach.
11:03 Now moving forward, it is Telesco, I'm told, is spending a ton of time looking at the roster.
11:11 He is spending time looking up to the future, but it's so impressive where it is that he
11:17 is really blessed.
11:18 And that's the term I was told, blessed to have all of this time working on the roster.
11:27 And I am told that he is going through every single player with a fine tooth comb.
11:34 I'm also told that not only is he evaluating the players game film, he's looking at practice
11:43 film too.
11:46 And so he's very much familiarizing.
11:49 The Raiders are going to kind of know their roster, know what they need to do for free
11:52 agency on the roster.
11:56 There's definitely guys that are going to be free agents that they want to retain.
12:00 Some, no.
12:03 But there are going to be guys and which guys are their guys, are they going to target?
12:07 Evidently, Telesco made it a huge deal about targeting our guys.
12:13 Now I'm going to tell you another Tom Telesco thing that I've had two people in the building
12:18 tell me that they really like about him is he's using the word our a lot.
12:27 And they go, you know what, he didn't come in.
12:30 You know, what have you guys done?
12:32 Okay, what's our this?
12:34 What's our that?
12:36 He's endeared himself to a lot of people just with that mentality.
12:41 So he's prioritizing free agents.
12:45 Now next thing he is, and I thought this was really interesting, at every position, and
12:53 I said to the person, what about he goes, every means every.
12:59 He is putting a massive, and that is the word that they use, massive value on speed.
13:07 Speed, speed, speed kills.
13:12 And that is a big deal to him.
13:15 Now I've already told you, I didn't expect Hunter Renfro to be back.
13:19 And so I'm going to use him as an example.
13:21 No one from within the organization has used Hunter as an example.
13:26 But because I've already told you, I expected him to move out, I can talk about Hunter.
13:30 And that way, I'm not talking about any other player.
13:37 Speed kills.
13:38 It's been the truth forever.
13:43 And so a guy like Hunter, that's a really good possession receiver, but not necessarily
13:47 the fastest guy in the world.
13:49 It opens the door for you to say, okay, this makes sense that he moves.
13:54 But there's plenty of speed on this roster.
13:56 I've talked to you about it last year, a lot of speed.
13:59 He wants to get faster.
14:01 He wants guys at every position, okay?
14:04 A 400 pound or a 350 pound defensive tackle, if you can get them just a little bit faster.
14:11 Now the Raiders have speed on their defensive line.
14:18 They've got some speed.
14:21 I will not be shocked if they go to get more, but they have speed there.
14:29 And so I think that's one of the things with Malcolm Coonson and Max Crosby that made them
14:35 the, going down the end, they had more pressures than any other tandem.
14:42 It's something that makes Tyree deadly.
14:44 It's something that everybody loved about Tyree last year was his speed, very, very
14:48 fast.
14:49 And you saw that develop and that's Telesco.
14:52 Speed, speed, speed, speed.
14:57 He wants speed and you gotta be strong.
15:01 I was told he absolutely has bought in 110%.
15:05 AP has preached, pounded the pulpit and won a disciple on the physicality.
15:13 So they're looking for speed and very physical guys.
15:18 They want the Raiders to be the Raiders of old that when they show up, you may win, but
15:26 you're going to feel it for two weeks.
15:28 Just the physicality.
15:29 And they believe that comes with speed and they believe that comes with physicality.
15:33 So that's kind of the Telesco.
15:36 And so he's going through evaluating.
15:41 Now I fully admit, I do not know what player this is.
15:45 I'm not going to pretend that I do because I don't, but I am also aware that there is
15:50 one particular player that he really liked for the Raiders a lot and may have presented,
16:00 "Hey, I think we could really use this guy X, Y, and Z."
16:06 I am told the conversations are not just him receiving, but he's given too.
16:13 And again, every single person I've talked to, and I talked with enough that would tell
16:17 me has been impressed with his giving of information and taking it.
16:23 Now, I've been told by people, he's doing a lot more taking because he's trying to find
16:30 out what AP and his staff are thinking.
16:35 He wants to know what the President's Scouts and Champ are thinking.
16:39 Well, every time he is disseminating information, which is not as much as taking, it's powerful
16:44 and it's really good.
16:45 So that's kind of what's going on inside the building right now.
16:50 Again, the OC position, what's going on there, the development of that.
16:55 Now a lot of people have asked me when I expect it to be named.
17:01 They could name it today, but I doubt it.
17:04 I do doubt it.
17:05 I would think Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest, I would think by Wednesday you have the staff
17:11 completely wrapped up.
17:13 But who knows?
17:17 I'm giving you this as Hondo opinion.
17:19 I've not been told this by the staff.
17:21 I know the NFL does not like a lot of movement announced during playoff games or game day.
17:28 That's not what they want.
17:29 It's not what they like.
17:32 And Mark Davis has clearly displayed one big differentiation between him and his father
17:40 is that his dad would purposely do things that he knew the NFL didn't like.
17:45 And I'm going to correct that.
17:48 I don't think that's fair to Al.
17:51 I don't think Al did things just because the NFL didn't like it.
17:56 I think Al just did things whenever he wanted and he didn't care if the Raiders liked it.
18:00 I think that's, I mean, if the NFL liked it, I think that's more fair.
18:04 And I desperately want to be fair to Al and I want to be fair to Mark and I want to be
18:08 fair to the organization.
18:10 All right.
18:13 Now, so I'm expecting that announcement to come again, between Monday and Wednesday.
18:24 I expect the whole staff to be wrapped up by Wednesday.
18:29 Now I want to take you inside the interviews.
18:31 I've had people saying to me, do you think that there's just one guy?
18:36 No.
18:38 AP is sitting down with people.
18:43 Do I think he maybe thinks, yeah, I think this is probably where I'll end up.
18:47 But he is very open-minded.
18:49 One thing about AP that you, a lot of fans don't know.
18:53 I want to take you back to the Patriot when he played for the G-Men and they beat Tom
19:00 Brady when Tom Brady was undefeated.
19:04 During the week, the week before, you know, there's that buy time.
19:10 Pierce watches a ton of film.
19:14 He is a mentalist in that his mentality is the tape is going to show me everything if
19:22 I just watch enough of it.
19:23 And he's a big tape guy.
19:25 He's a studier.
19:27 I laugh at people that think he's just brawn and just physicality.
19:32 Yeah, he is all that.
19:33 He's toughest guy you're going to meet.
19:36 But he's also extremely intelligent.
19:40 He's very, very smart.
19:42 And people underestimate.
19:44 And I'm going to tell you, I do not do this, but I have heard people say and telling me,
19:51 I don't want AP, he's some Compton, whatever.
19:55 You know, almost like he's just rah, rah, he's just physicality.
19:59 Well, you got to have a brain for this game.
20:01 Well, you clearly don't know AP because that guy's a lot like Patrick Graham.
20:06 And Patrick Graham went to Yale.
20:08 Now, is he more, is he louder than Patrick Graham?
20:12 Yes.
20:13 Is he a much more, well, yeah, he played in the NFL, won a Super Bowl.
20:16 He is brawn, brute force brawn.
20:20 He is mobile, hostile and agile.
20:23 That doesn't mean the guy doesn't have a brain.
20:25 He's smart, man, that guy's smart.
20:27 I can tell you several times talking to him, his football acumen is very high.
20:33 And so he believes football tells its own story.
20:39 But a lot of people don't let it.
20:42 They'll go in with preconceived notions.
20:44 Okay, now listen, AP's had to deal with preconceived thoughts about him.
20:51 He talked on ESPN one time.
20:54 It may have been, it may have been Fox.
20:59 I think it was ESPN, but I, whatever.
21:02 He did a national TV interview one time where he talked about growing up, you know, on the
21:08 streets, not on the streets, but in the streets.
21:12 You know, I mean, he didn't live in the country.
21:15 He lived in the inner city and he had to make the decision.
21:21 I've got to separate myself from some people.
21:24 They're making decisions that I want to go in my life.
21:27 I can't go there.
21:28 It doesn't mean I don't love him.
21:29 Doesn't mean I don't care about him, but where I want to go, I can't be that.
21:36 Now he's never lost who he is.
21:39 I got to grab this real quick.
21:40 He never has lost who he is.
21:43 Okay.
21:44 Is he a Air Force One wearing guy?
21:49 Yeah.
21:50 And these aren't his, I'm just using as an example.
21:55 Is that who he is?
21:56 Yeah.
21:57 Is he a toughness guy?
21:58 Yeah.
21:59 But he is always his whole life had people underestimate him.
22:04 And every time he wins, because when you underestimate him, he makes you pay for it.
22:13 Now I'm going somewhere with this.
22:17 So he has always worked hard because everywhere he's gone, he wanted to prove he deserved
22:22 that opportunity.
22:24 And everywhere he's gone, he's proven to be worthy of the opportunity.
22:30 So he gets the NFL, earns a captainship, one of the best linebackers in the National Football
22:36 League of his era.
22:38 He's watching film of the Patriots game, getting ready to play the undefeated Patriots.
22:42 You may remember nobody gave him a chance.
22:46 And that defense was really good because they had a great defensive line and they were able
22:51 to get pressure on quarterbacks without having to blitz.
22:57 So AP begins to notice some tendencies and some things in Tom Brady and some things of
23:05 the Patriots that are very, very subtle.
23:10 Very, very, very subtle.
23:11 I mean, very subtle.
23:14 And he goes to the coaches, he points it out, he shows them, they see it.
23:22 And the Giants were able to just pound and frustrate New England.
23:30 I was told by someone who knows Tom Brady very well that that loss may be the most frustrating
23:38 of Tom Brady's career.
23:40 And all of that goes back to AP.
23:42 Just little nuances that he noticed.
23:44 And he brings it to the coaching staff on the field.
23:47 He's moving people.
23:48 He's adjusting.
23:49 He's calling things out.
23:53 And again, that's him.
23:57 And so he's watching a ton of film.
24:00 But now why does that make him in this OC search?
24:04 So y'all thought I was on a bunny show.
24:06 I wasn't.
24:07 This is all going to tie in.
24:08 AP is going into every interview.
24:15 And this is what good managers do.
24:19 This might be my guy, even if I don't think he's my guy.
24:25 What can he teach me?
24:29 And he is sitting down with these people.
24:33 And I was told he's asked some very tough questions.
24:38 Very tough.
24:39 Not kind of tough.
24:41 Very tough questions.
24:45 Just OK.
24:51 We got her.
24:52 And very tough.
24:54 And because he wanted to see how people are going to answer him.
24:58 He didn't want to just dismiss people because things he had heard.
25:02 So he just said, hey, this is something about you I probably don't like.
25:07 Any explanation?
25:08 Now, I'm not going to get into why, but there are some situations in his life where people
25:17 probably didn't ask him for explanations and he had good ones.
25:21 And so he's I was told he has gone in like a sponge that's completely dry being thrown
25:29 into a pool.
25:31 And I've been told that he is listening to everybody.
25:36 He's going to win his heart.
25:40 And I asked the person the other day, who do you think?
25:42 And they and they said, you know, I kind of think this, but I'm not sure.
25:49 I'm not sure.
25:51 He he he has impressed a ton of people with how he's going at this.
25:59 Now, let me give you another example.
26:02 Patrick Graham should be a coach in the NFL.
26:05 It is a joke that he's not.
26:07 It's a joke.
26:08 Now, there still are a couple of openings.
26:12 So it could happen.
26:14 Patrick Graham is I will just say this about Patrick Graham.
26:19 I've been in a lot of rooms with a lot of smart people.
26:24 I got a few degrees myself.
26:27 I don't think that there is and I've Patrick Graham may be one of the smartest people you've
26:33 ever been around.
26:35 So at New England, he was getting a lot of talk as a potential head coach, a lot of talk.
26:41 So he goes to New York with the G-Men, where he has an, in my opinion, a moron for a head
26:47 coach and that coach puts the brakes on him.
26:50 The New England, excuse me, the the the New York Giant defense when he was there was terrible.
26:58 Not bad.
26:59 Terrible.
27:00 Horrible.
27:01 Bad.
27:02 So he gets hired here to the Raiders because Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler knew how good
27:13 he was.
27:15 But they also understood sometimes you fail in certain situations because of things you
27:20 don't control.
27:23 Okay.
27:25 And I talked about how great of a hire he was.
27:27 This guy should be a head coach.
27:29 After year one last summer, go back and watch.
27:31 This is what I love about the digital age.
27:33 It's all there.
27:35 Great hire this guy.
27:36 What do you mean our defense wasn't good this year, Hondo?
27:39 Get rid.
27:40 No, listen, this guy's the real deal.
27:41 Well, now everybody sees it.
27:44 You saw the defense was much improved the first part of the year.
27:46 Then when Josh was booted, it was the number one defense in the NFL.
27:51 The guy is a great coach.
27:53 Okay.
27:54 But if Josh and Dave didn't know him from previous, he may not have ever gotten another
27:59 chance as a DC in this business.
28:04 But they took time to find out the why.
28:06 Same thing that AP's doing.
28:08 He's interviewing people that have miserably failed.
28:11 And I laugh when I watch people on social media.
28:13 I don't want that guy.
28:14 He sucks.
28:15 Don't they ever even look at what he did in the last city?
28:19 And you're probably the ones that didn't like Patrick Graham.
28:23 So it's very smart.
28:27 Very smart what he's doing.
28:30 I'm very impressed.
28:31 Listen, I thought AP was the guy.
28:36 I was very open about that.
28:38 And let me tell you, he's done nothing but cement that thought process.
28:48 His epistemology of how he runs his team is outstanding.
28:54 He knows what he doesn't know.
28:59 He's not egotistical and not willing to admit it.
29:04 And then he's willing to go learn what he doesn't know from people who know it.
29:10 Terrific leadership.
29:12 Terrific leadership.
29:13 And he's brought it.
29:15 I think the marriage of him and Telesco is going as good as you can hope.
29:23 As good as you can hope.
29:26 And I think if you're sitting here today as a Raider, again, it may leak who it is.
29:30 I don't think so.
29:32 But I'm not saying it won't.
29:33 This is totally a Hondo opinion.
29:37 But watch the game.
29:39 The games.
29:40 Enjoy the games.
29:41 Enjoy some football.
29:43 Enjoy your offseason, Raider Nation.
29:45 You earned it.
29:48 And be really happy that you got the head coach that you do who's taking the ship in
29:55 the direction that he is.
29:57 I think you got to, if you're a Raider fan today, if you're a Raider fan today that's
30:02 just not happy, you're just probably not a happy person.
30:06 You're like the person that would win the lottery and you'd bitch because you had to
30:11 pay the tax.
30:13 I can't do anything about those kind of people.
30:16 You know, I had people, I put a picture of my new shoes up on social media.
30:20 I had people, you know, laughing about my socks and I'm good with that.
30:24 I can take that.
30:26 Just, okay, you know what?
30:27 I'm an old man.
30:28 I'm 52 fixing to be 53.
30:32 There are just some things to me, I like to wear white short socks.
30:36 When I was growing up as a boy and all of you guys who are watching over 50, you can
30:40 put a big amen in the comment section.
30:46 We used to laugh on our dads who would wear black dress socks.
30:48 They'd come home from work, take off their suit, put on their tennis shoes and they had
30:55 on their black socks.
30:56 So I always wore white socks.
30:58 I would wear white socks when I'm in a suit.
31:00 In fact, I do most of the time if my wife doesn't pick out my suit and sometimes I'm
31:04 able to sneak them in even when she does.
31:06 So somebody made a comment to me yesterday, "Wear your black socks."
31:09 I'm like, "I'm not wearing black dress socks."
31:12 And I learned, anklets.
31:16 I had no idea that there were black anklets.
31:19 That's not true.
31:20 I do remember seeing some, but I thought they were just short black dress socks.
31:24 I didn't know they were black regular socks.
31:29 I don't care.
31:30 Make all the shots at me.
31:31 I don't care.
31:32 I don't care.
31:33 It doesn't bother me.
31:34 I'm a big boy.
31:35 I can handle it.
31:37 But I watch some people on social media who are just miserable human beings.
31:40 And you know what?
31:42 I feel bad for you.
31:45 You feel bad for him.
31:47 Now last night I am at a meal with someone and a diehard fan.
32:00 And the person says to me, "Tell me why I believe in the organization this time."
32:11 Now listen, I want to make this clear to you.
32:14 My job is not to pump you up full of Viagra for your soul, nor is it meant to depress
32:22 you with downers and inject your spirit with downers.
32:28 My job is to report to you what's going on with the Raiders, put that information on
32:34 a platter and serve it, allow you to eat it, digest it, and then disseminate it how you
32:40 choose.
32:41 You may be excited.
32:42 That's your choice.
32:43 I'm going to tell you a story.
32:46 And it's an embarrassing story.
32:49 But it's something I learned from my dad.
32:53 And my dad went on to become, I mean, he was, even at the time of this story I'm about to
32:57 tell you, he was my best friend.
33:01 Loved my dad.
33:02 My friends loved my dad.
33:04 My brothers and sisters loved my dad.
33:06 I mean, I don't know very many people that didn't.
33:11 And so I was 16 years old and I went to a party.
33:17 And I was not a partier.
33:19 Many of you have heard the story.
33:21 I was born allergic to cigarette smoke and cigar smoke and just about any smoke.
33:28 In fact, I'm an outdoorsman.
33:29 So when I have campfires, I'm constantly moving to stay away from the smoke.
33:34 I was just not a big partier.
33:36 I certainly am a social person.
33:39 I love to be around people.
33:41 I was a lot of times the designated driver.
33:44 But I'm 16 years old.
33:47 And a buddy of mine, I'm not going to name him because we're still friends and I know
33:50 he watches the podcast from time to time, but a buddy of mine gave me this drink and
33:54 he says, it's really like pop.
33:56 And he goes, it's called Bartles and James.
34:00 And it was a wine color at the time.
34:01 If you Google it, you kids under 50, they used to have some great commercial.
34:04 Hi, I'm Bartles and I'm James.
34:07 And they would talk about their things.
34:09 So we're just sitting around.
34:10 You're a 16 year old kid, you know.
34:13 And I started drinking those.
34:16 They were good.
34:18 And before I knew it, I had, they came in a four pack.
34:23 And let's just say I had drank my share of four packs.
34:25 I'm not going to get into how much because I'm not bragging about it.
34:29 But I knew I've never been drunk before.
34:36 This is probably what drunk is.
34:39 So I snuck into the back room.
34:41 It was the person that was having the party, a teenager, to their parents room.
34:46 You know, used to be most parents had a phone sitting on the nightstand and I just grabbed
34:50 the phone and I call my dad.
34:52 Now I'm shaking because my dad was a strong man, good man, honorable man, was not an abuser
34:59 in the least bit, but he was a disciplinarian.
35:05 And I said, dad, this is Hondo.
35:07 He goes, hey, what are you doing, son?
35:08 What's up, buddy?
35:09 I said, dad, I know you're going to be angry and want to kill me, but I'm going to take
35:14 my shot.
35:15 And he goes, what's wrong?
35:17 I said, dad, I went to a party and I drank a massive amount of borrows and Jane told
35:24 him what it was, how many?
35:26 I said, dad, I'm not feeling good.
35:28 And I think I'm drunk.
35:29 I've never been drunk before, but I think I'm drunk.
35:32 And I said, dad, I know you're going to be angry with me, but I don't want to kill anybody.
35:42 I don't want to get in a car wreck and ruin mom's car.
35:45 And so I know I'm going to have a big punishment, but can you come get me?
35:51 He said, where are you at?
35:52 So I told him what friend's house.
35:53 He said, I'll be there in 10 minutes.
35:55 So my dad comes pulling in and he gives everybody at the party.
35:59 Now, I know a lot of you are going to hate me for this one.
36:02 And my friends still mock me for this today.
36:05 He tells everybody, we got two choices.
36:09 I want all the alcohol poured out.
36:12 There's 20, 25 teenagers there.
36:15 He said, and either somebody that hasn't drank is going to drive you home or I'm going to
36:20 drive all you home or I'm going to call the cops.
36:22 So I can take you home or somebody here that hasn't drank can take you home.
36:27 Or if you want to fight me, I'll just call the police and I'll get MIPs, which is minor
36:31 possession.
36:35 So everybody chose, besides I have the cops, party's over.
36:39 And so now it's probably 1.32 o'clock in the morning.
36:44 And he hadn't said a word to me.
36:47 And I know I'm in trouble.
36:49 I'm in big trouble.
36:51 So we stopped at a 24 hour restaurant and we pull in and I'm like, oh my God, he's going
37:00 to kill me.
37:01 And we walk in and he orders us both a cup of coffee.
37:06 I okay, not a coffee drinker, I'm a pop drinker, but okay, I'll tell you, I just kept my mouth
37:12 shut and he orders us both dinner.
37:15 Now it's 1.32 o'clock in the morning.
37:20 And we sat there for several hours and he just talked about hunting, fishing, football,
37:28 life.
37:30 He never brought up, I'm sitting there drunk.
37:37 And it got about 5.36 o'clock in the morning.
37:40 So we'd been there a long time.
37:42 We had dessert even.
37:45 And he looked at me and he said, I have never been more proud of you in my life because
37:56 what you did is stupid.
37:59 But the fact that you recognized it and you were willing to face discipline from me rather
38:06 than to hurt human beings and destroy property.
38:10 And he looked over and at that point, it was only the second time in my life I'd seen my
38:18 father cry.
38:19 The first one was at his mom's funeral, my grandma.
38:23 And tears just started pouring out of his eyes.
38:26 And he said to me, I love you.
38:30 And today you prove to me that I'm raising a man, not a son.
38:37 My son's becoming a man.
38:38 You're not a kid anymore because you made an adult decision.
38:41 And he said to me, if you drink one more drop of alcohol before you graduate, you will be
38:49 grounded other than school and work the rest of the time you live in my house.
38:59 But I want you to know as far as I'm concerned, I've never been prouder.
39:05 And we will never discuss this again.
39:08 It's over.
39:10 You did the right thing.
39:12 And I'm proud of you.
39:14 And this mountain of a man, now I wouldn't think he was that big.
39:17 He was probably 6'5", 250.
39:19 But at the time, even though I was a big guy, I was his size, maybe a little bit bigger
39:25 at that time.
39:26 But we reached over and we had this huge hug at the table, just huge hug.
39:34 And we get home.
39:37 And years later, I'm talking, I'm giving a public speech, public.
39:43 I'm talking in the public.
39:46 And I tell that story.
39:49 And I'll never forget this.
39:50 He looked at me afterwards and he said, I told you we were never going to discuss it.
39:55 I said, well, okay, dad, we're older.
39:59 I didn't think that you would mind.
40:01 And he said, son, thank God that when we ask forgiveness, he forgives and forgets.
40:10 He said, but we don't have to keep living your failures.
40:14 He goes, that's what grace is.
40:16 You were repentant.
40:17 I said, I know, dad.
40:18 I said, I know.
40:19 But I hope it can help other people.
40:21 Now my dad's gone now.
40:22 We're coming up on 10 years.
40:28 But I never forget.
40:30 And so I never told that story again until he's gone.
40:32 And now that he's gone, I tell it.
40:33 But here's my point.
40:37 You Raider fans have a love of your franchise that just is abnormal in the NFL.
40:44 When I say abnormal, it doesn't mean wrong.
40:48 It's just different.
40:50 If you would ever walk out into those tailgates, it's different.
40:57 I mean, it is just rows of food and music.
41:04 It's people from other teams.
41:06 There's no, I had someone from another team say, if I came to a Raider game, should I
41:11 be afraid to tailgate?
41:12 I'm afraid of what?
41:13 I said, they're just some of the greatest people in the world you'll ever meet.
41:20 You guys have such a love affair with your team.
41:29 Do I think Mark Davis handled all, going back to over the five years that I've covered this
41:35 team?
41:36 Do I think he handled it the way I would have?
41:38 No.
41:39 The man that guys put in all the effort in, he listened to you on AP.
41:46 I'm sorry.
41:48 I think it's time some of y'all, and I know you're wounded from the hurt and you have
41:54 a right to be.
41:55 But I'm going to challenge you, just all of you.
42:02 I didn't want AP.
42:03 I wanted somebody more experienced.
42:04 Okay.
42:05 I wanted a champ.
42:06 And I think you could make a legitimate argument.
42:07 Well, I don't think it was right to get rid of Derek Carr.
42:12 Okay.
42:13 Well, I wanted champ or I wanted Ed Dobbs.
42:17 I didn't want Tom Telesco.
42:18 Okay.
42:19 I wanted Harbaugh.
42:20 Okay.
42:21 Your franchise now, in the five years that I've been here, is in the best shape that
42:37 it's been.
42:40 It's poised now.
42:42 It's poised.
42:45 I can tell you that Tom Telesco, and I know this for a fact, Tom Telesco and Antonio
42:55 Pierce had no plans for a rebuild.
43:01 It's a let's go forward.
43:04 They were in '08 and '19.
43:07 This franchise is moving forward.
43:11 And you know, at some point, greater football for a lot of you has to go back and being
43:19 fun.
43:20 And I know what your next answer is going to be, then win a Super Bowl.
43:23 I agree.
43:25 I agree.
43:29 But at least now you have legitimate hope that you're at least on the right road, going
43:34 in the right direction.
43:39 Enjoy this.
43:43 Let the Raiders bring you some excitement.
43:49 Demonstrate a little grace.
43:53 Enjoy yourself.
43:54 Get yourself, and I don't get paid for this.
43:57 These were a gift to me from somebody connected to the organization.
44:02 Get yourself a pair of Air Force Ones and wear them with pride.
44:06 You know, I've had a lot of people try to teach me what the Air Force One means.
44:12 And I've been told it was a symbol of hardworking people in Compton and Oakland who just got
44:18 up and went to work.
44:21 And that I was told it was a symbol of people from the gang era.
44:25 Okay.
44:26 Whatever it is.
44:29 To me, it just represents, you know, I'll wear them because they don't say Raiders.
44:36 And it's inappropriate as a media member to have a fandom.
44:39 And I'm not.
44:40 I always have people say, "Come on, secretly, what's your team?"
44:42 I'm telling you the God's honest truth.
44:45 What if you know me to just not, "This is what I think."
44:47 No, I root for good people.
44:49 Now I cover the Raiders.
44:51 I know a ton of these people.
44:54 I've said this to you before.
44:56 Of all the organizations I have covered from college to pro, in multiple different sports,
45:03 I have never met a better collection of good people than I have at the Las Vegas Raiders,
45:07 top to bottom.
45:10 Fans are phenomenal.
45:12 The security staff, the janitors, the PR, the management people on the side of football,
45:19 not the side of football.
45:21 There were two people on last year's team that I didn't care for.
45:26 One I started, I liked them at first because I gave them the benefit of the doubt, but
45:30 ended up not liking them.
45:32 And one I never liked when he was hired to the staff because I had relationship and knew
45:37 exactly what I thought of him.
45:40 Neither are there.
45:41 Neither are there.
45:42 It's good people.
45:47 You got people that love your organization and understand it now.
45:55 You got Raiders running the Raiders.
46:03 Take a breath.
46:05 Enjoy it.
46:07 Enjoy your off season.
46:08 You know what?
46:09 I don't know what happens tomorrow.
46:13 I don't know if the Raiders go 15-2, 14-3, 9-8 next year.
46:22 I have no clue.
46:26 Once everything pans out, I look at the roster, I'll make predictions, but I don't know.
46:30 But I do know some of you have been so hurt, you're just mad at everything.
46:38 Take a break from it.
46:39 Just take a deep breath.
46:42 You're a Raider.
46:45 Enjoy that.
46:47 Show some grace to the organization.
46:50 Give it a chance to show you and have some fun.
46:53 All right, everybody.
46:54 I'm Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast,
46:59 part of the Fans First Sports Network.
47:00 Now remember, I do two podcasts a day.
47:02 I do this long one and then I do another where it's very short.
47:09 It's five to 10 minutes and it's only available on audio.
47:11 So this big podcast is every day on audio on Spotify or on Apple.
47:17 But you can go there and get my second one, it's real short, and I think that you'll enjoy
47:22 it.
47:23 Remember, you can follow me on IG, HondoSR.
47:25 You can find me on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HondoCarpenter.
47:31 All our articles, we had eight or nine articles yesterday, we're going to have the same amount
47:35 today.
47:37 All of our articles are up at si.com/NFL/Raiders.
47:43 Also while you're there in the upper right-hand corner, click on the newsletter.
47:46 You won't get spammed.
47:48 We're going to send you three emails a week with all of our stories.
47:50 You'll never miss another big story.
47:52 Again, we don't sell your information.
47:53 It's a great way to go.
47:54 Until then, appreciate you all.
47:56 Enjoy some football today.