Gruden, Ruggs & Arnette: The cursed pick that puts the Raiders to shame
When it was announced that the 2020 Draft was to be held in Las Vegas, a welcome home party was planned for the Raiders, who left Oakland in 2019 and, in their new home, would begin the rebuilding of a team that has not won a single playoff game since they defeated the Tennessee Titans 41-24 on January 19, 2003 to qualify for Super Bowl XXXVII, which they would lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The curse of Las Vegas
In addition, the Raiders would have two first round picks, one of their own (#12 overall) and another acquired (#19 overall) by General Manager Mike Mayock after a trade in which they sent their best player, defensive end/outside linebacker Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears.
But it all began to look bleak when it was announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time in NFL history, the Draft would not be a live format, the wizard event was cancelled in Las Vegas and moved remotely to Commissioner Roger Goodell's home in New York.
On the sports front, the first two selections of that draft, made by the aforementioned Mayock and then brand new head coach Jon Gruden, were Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette.
The supposedly bright future
The two stars of the Raiders' new project in "Sin City" and the coach who was returning to put the "Silver and Black" back on top of the NFL, today none of the three are with the team anymore.
First it was the head coach, Jon Gruden, who resigned after the discovery of emails with racist, homophobic and misogynistic language he sent in 2011, then Henry Ruggs III who drove drunk and killed 23 year old Tina Tintor in a car accident and finally Damon Arnette, who appeared in a video with a gun and making death threats, which would have been a response to a user who sent him messages on social networks criticizing him.
The end of Mike Mayock?
There have been a series of bad decisions
These three characters were chosen by General Manager Mike Mayock, will he be the next to leave the organization?
"There have been a series of bad decisions over the last year or so, but we can't stand for the video of Damon with a gun threatening to take a life," Mayock said.
Those bad decisions could cost Mayock his job.
Post a Comment