Getty Raiders RBs Josh Jacobs & Bo Jackson.
There might not be any other team in the NFL that puts as much effort into honoring their team legends as the Las Vegas Raiders do. The team has always made it a point to keep their all-time great players involved and many have worked for the team through the years. The Raiders thought of a new way to honor their best players by having current players rep the jerseys of legendary players who played the same positions.
There are so many great picks but the best has to be Henry Ruggs rocking the Cliff Branch jersey and Josh Jacobs donning Bo Jackson’s. Bryan Edwards wearing Tim Brown’s jersey and Damon Arnette wearing Lester Hayes’ are also pretty great. We can’t forget to mention Erik Harris as Willie Brown, Rodney Hudson as Jim Otto and Hunter Renfrow as Fred Biletnikoff.
Quarterback Derek Carr was the first to run with this idea as he was seen wearing a Ken Stabler jersey at practice early in training camp.
Bringing Back Old Jersey Was Jon Gruden’s Call
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is definitely a history buff when it comes to football and he loves his team legend. Apparently, the whole idea of players wearing the jerseys of legends was his idea.
“I got pretty lucky,” tight end Foster Moreau told reporters on Monday. “Coach kind of told us yesterday that we’re going to break out some of the old jerseys. Gruden wants to bring back old players, loves to keep the Raider tradition going. To that today I got Raymond Chester, which was pretty cool. We also had Darren in a Todd Christensen and we had Witten in the 87 Ghost [Dave Casper]. But it was pretty cool. Pretty cool to don those guys’ jerseys. A little change of pace for us. We had a pretty good day out there.”
Waller as Christensen is interesting and Witten as Casper is perfect.
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Jacobs Doesn’t Want to Give Bo Jackson Jersey Back
Though Bo Jackson only played four seasons with the Raiders and never had a season where he rushed for over 1,000 yards, he’s one of the most revered team legends ever. Josh Jacobs is perhaps the most exciting running back the team has acquired since the days of Bo. Apparently he was so hyped to wear Jackson’s jersey that he didn’t even want to give it back.
“[Josh Jacobs] got Bo Jackson, Bo Knows, he was pretty pumped about that. I think he snuck his jersey shirt out, I don’t think he gave that one back,” said fullback Alec Ingold. “And I had Mark Van Eeghen, another legendary fullback from the 70s. Really cool to get to exemplify what Raiders have been in the past and hopefully bring some of that legendary success into the future.”
Jacobs isn’t as fast as Jackson but he certainly runs with the same kind of power. He has the potential to be as beloved by the Raiders fan base as Jackson is one day.
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