Lane Kiffin vs. Raiders Gets Uglier

While most of us sane people have moved on, Lane Kiffin is still fighting the Raiders over what he claims is salary due to him; there will be a deposition in San Francisco Monday. To the common man, the legalites are pretty insignificant. The feud between Kiffin and Al Davis, however, is a whole different matter.

Most of the time, when Davis is involved in a dispute, we tend to believe the opposite party. In light of the letter the Raiders had provided the University of Tennessee prior to the hiring of Kiffin, however, we should probably rethink that in this instance.

The letter begins like this:

In January, 2007 the Oakland Raiders had just finished forty-seven years of professional football. The team played in five Super Bowls with four separate coaches and four separate quarterbacks. It is the only team in the history of the National Football League to have played in Super Bowls in four decades. During those illustrious decades, the team had the highest winning percentage in football, had many of the greatest players, many of the greatest coaches, and played in some of the greatest games with some of the greatest plays. In the past sever years the team slipped during the leadership of several coaches, including your new head coach, Lane Kiffin, and these coaches were terminated.

And continues from there to lay out a list of flaws in Kiffin's character.

You see, Davis has never gone to these lengths before. You can cry loss of senility all you want, but there's only one reason he would go above and beyond what he's ever done in his billion years on Earth to this point: He knows he's right. To reiterate, Davis has gone to extreme measures to pull off some really odd things in his time, but he's never gone through this. Usually when he fires a man, they just move on. Take Art Shell -- he's done it twice. This whole thing has a different feel, though. It seems like we're in virgin territory for the venerable owner.

Additionally, the circumstantial evidence against Kiffin is building. We have a kid who has been groomed in the limelight due to his prestigious football surname. He butts heads with his first employer (in as far as him being a head coach), and we all dismiss the "charges," because everyone thinks said employer has lost his marbles. He gets fired, and it's still the employer's fault. Next, this kid goes and takes an elite college football job ... and proceeds to discount his own credibility every chance he gets. He's actually made some pretty serious allegations -- in an attempt to win over the Rocky Top faithful in some sort of Michael Scott-like scheme -- only to back off when actually pressed by those with true collegiate pedigree. He's acting like a 19-year-old, really, instead of displaying his 33-year-old maturity. I often like to surmise to myself the difference between a "talker" and a "doer." Urban Meyer is a doer. Steve Spurrier is a doer. Hell, even Al Davis has been a doer.

It's very possible Lane Kiffin is just a talker. Simply put: It's easy to say what you are going to do, but can you really deliver?

I know it's weird, but it's far past the time to consider the above letter is very true, which would make Al Davis more credible than Lane Kiffin. We should know it is. Having a beloved (by others) wife can only get you so far, after all.

On a serious note, the story will progress Monday, when the depositions move forward. Personally, I think it's in Mr. Lane's best interests to just drop the charges and turn the page. Things aren't going his way right now. I'm starting to wonder how badly Tennessee will regret the hiring when all is said and done?

Hat Tip: PFT, where they delve into legalities a bit more