Getty Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.
The Oakland Raiders just can’t seem to win people over.
Despite pulling off one of the biggest upsets of Week 4 in defeating the Indianapolis Colts on the road, 31-24, the topic isn’t about how the Raiders have righted the ship — instead, it’s about how dirty of a player Vontaze Burfict is.
As the media and fans have criticized Burfict, now Hall-of-Fame running back O.J. Simpson is jumping in on the topic. However, he’s taking a different stance on the subject. Instead of just focusing on Burfict, Simpson decided to blast head coach Jon Gruden for not only bringing Burfict in to Oakland, but also for how the Antonio Brown situation transpired.
As you may remember, it was Gruden who oversaw the personnel decisions in bringing both stars to the Raiders.
The biggest quote is obviously at the end of the video, when Simpson blames Gruden for bringing in guys with character issues.
“What about the Raiders though? Antonio Brown, Vontaze Burfict, who is making that decision? I’m sure coach Gruden assured every body in the organization that he could handle those guys, not! I’m just saying.”
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OJ Simpson’s Blame on Jon Gruden is Spot On
It’s actually an interesting and valid point that Simpson makes. While there’s obviously no excusing Burfict or Brown’s behavior, the Raiders knew these guys had character issues. Burfict was known for his repeated offenses of dirty hits during his seven years with the Cincinnati Bengals.
In the case of Brown, he forced his way out of the Pittsburgh Steelers and was even benched for their Week 17 tilt with a playoff berth still on the line at the end of the 2018 season due to his attitude issues.
All in all, Gruden was the man who gave the OK for these former Pro Bowlers to land in Oakland. Obviously, he deserves some of the blame for taking chances on two guys who won’t finish out the season with the Raiders.
Vontaze Burfict’s to Appeal Suspension
Despite the punishment the veteran linebacker plans to appeal the suspension, as his agent Lamont Smith told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
The Raiders’ defensive captain has dominated headlines since he was ejected from the Week 4 tilt in the second quarter for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Colts tight end Jack Doyle. The hit looks even worse on replays considering Doyle was on the ground and making his way up as Burfict made a head-to-head collision.
Due to the hit and Burfict’s past history of suspensions and fines related to illegal hits, the 29-year-old linebacker was given an unprecedented suspension — a 12-game suspension for the remainder of the regular season and including the playoffs. It is the longest suspension in NFL history for an on-field incident.
The Raiders signed Burfict to a one-year, $2 million deal in the offseason. If he doesn’t succeed in his appeal, he obviously won’t earn the majority of that money.
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