For legendary hip hop artist Too $hort, the are about far more than football. To him, a lifelong devotee to the franchise through all of their relocations and incarnations, they represent a lifestyle, a culture, a fashion statement, an ethos.Raider Nation encompa ses a unique love affair with a renegade football team and a way of life; one that has long been intertwined with rap music and acts from both the East and West Coast (New York’s own Chuck D rocking a Raiders hat in music videos, for instance). So a year ago, in a pandemic, with the Raiders embarking on their first season in Las Vegas and one that would be played entirely without fans Too $hort wanted to commemorate this latest (and final, one a sume) move, celebrate the bond shared by Raiders fans in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Vegas and around the world, and share what being a Raider fan meant to him.Thus was born.He would end up recruiting fellow hip hop icon Ice Cube (representing South Central LA) to join the track, and then also Vegas-born entertainer Ne-Yo to sign on it as well, linking all eras of Raider Nation. Too $hort is an uber-fan, who is planning his performing schedule around his ability to get to as Adam Pelech Women Jersey many big Raiders game as po sible. This project helps connect and explain the complicated lineage of this franchise, and it was only fitting that he and Cube shared the halftime stage together Monday night in what turned out to be an improbable and memorable Raiders comeback, Calvin De Haan Jersey upset victory that ended in overtime.”I always believe in Raider Nation, and that’s like two different things football and Raider Nation is two different entities,” he explained to me. “Raider Nation includes a lot of fans from LA and Oakland — a lot of fans from way back in the day, the original fans, and fans from all over the West Coast that didn’t have a team, or places that adjust to that Raider Nation vibe, and fans scattered all over the country. “In light of us moving to Vegas and upholding the Raider Nation energy, I decided to make a song not about football or the team or not about any city. We are all silver and black, we wear Raider colors everyday. If I’m not wearing silver and black, I’m wearing black. One of the go-to’s for Raider games growing up was blue jeans, a black shirt, black shoes and a black Raider hat. And I still dre s like that a lot — blue jeans, black shirt, black shoes, black hat. And in my mind every day that I put that on I look like a Raider … I don’t have to have Raider patch on or a hat on nothing. Just the colors.”Too $hort wanted to save his love letter to the team and its fans until it would be properly enjoyed. Which meant waiting out the pandemic season and savoring the day fans could pack the beautiful new stadium in Vegas. He hit up Ice Cube, seeing if he would like to collaborate, and got a quick response. “I was like man, I got this song, check it out,” Too $hort said. “And he heard it and I said, ‘I like this, I like this.’ And he put a verse on it.” The idea to put someone from Vegas on it led them to Ne-Yo, and a new anthem was born.”It may seem odd to many to champion a franchise that just left $hort’s hometown of Oakland for a second time, but Raider love is about more than that it seems, with the team and brand Al Davis created enduring long after his pa sing. “Being a Raider Derick Brassard Kids Jersey fan, if you can endure your team not having a winning season for 15 years, that has to give you some idea of love there, some unconditional love in there from a lot of people. And that new stadium Monday night, with 65,000 people was nothing but love. Those people, I don’t know what percent of them endured those 15 years, but the 15 years before that were spectacular.”Raider fans, and Raider Nation sticks together. The glue is also stuck together by the people who hate us. You’ve got people out there who hate the Raiders, and people in recent years who just say the Raiders suck. And there’s also people that hate the old Raiders from when we were good, and there’s other people who only hate Raider fans and don’t even have an opinion on the team. And we love it. We love it. We love all of that.”In Too $hort’s opinion, hardcore Raiders fans have always been Casey Cizikas Men Jersey willing to travel to see their team, so making Vegas the Mecca now makes sense. It’s close enough to Oakland and LA, and there are a ton of transplants from both cities who already made the fulltime move to Vegas before the franchise eventually did. “(Monday) night, it didn’t feel like I was LA or Oakland or Vegas,” he said. “I felt like I was at a Raiders game in our new house.”And, in true Raider fashion challenging Al Davis who was seemingly always clashing with the league office either in court or in a boardroom Too $hort has some ideas about when the Allegiant Stadium was christened (both with fans and without), and about who it was against.”I’ll give you my conspiracy theories,” he continued. “Deep down inside on a personal level, the league is still mad at Al Davis and still mad at his antics and they don’t really like the Raider organization; we’re not their favorite team. So last year, last season, when we were scheduled to have the very first game in the new stadium they put us on the schedule with the savage , who surely on paper were going to kick our a s in our new stadium. A nice Drew Brees a s whipping. And we won game with no Bode Wilde Men Jersey fans in the stadium. “And this year, that was a setup, too. They hate us so much they tried to embarra s us and they did it again they put the schedule together and they thought Baltimore would kick our a s in the first game in the new stadium with fans. I really feel good about that.”Too $hort is far from done attending Raiders games this season, and he isn’t writing off their chances of winning at Pittsburgh this Sunday. While he declined to offer a definitive guarantee that they would prosper in Week 2, he in no way demurred when it came to their meeting with the , in LA, in Week 4.”Two weeks from now, on ‘Monday Night Football’, Chargers/Raiders in Los Angeles I predict that will be a home game for the Raiders,” he said. “And I will be there, and that stadium will be all black. After this season Chargers are going to go the and say, ‘We have to do something about the Raiders home game when we play the Raiders here. They made us buy tickets to two games just to go to one before, trying to make us not come. The Rams shoulda never let the Chargers share that stadium. We are going to have a Raider home game there.” Undoubtedly, Too $hort will be wearing his Raider Colors, again, on that evening. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Troy Aikman knows a little something about what it takes to build a winning franchise in the NFL, himself having three Super Bowl rings to prove it. He also knows what it’s like to be on the losing end of the spectrum though, beginning his NFL career with an 0-11 start and seeing the wheels fall off in his final four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. That said, when the Hall of Famer looks at two-time Pro Bowl quarterback , he believes he’s looking at the recipe for a quarterback built to lead the Cowboys back to a place they haven’t been since Aikman was under center — something he feels the team can’t afford to dawdle with in 2021.So as Prescott and the Cowboys ready themselves for a third go at contract negotiations — following the conclusion of the 2020 season — Aikman remains on the hill he’s stood atop for a long time now. The Hall of Famer isn’t exactly ready to identify what sum of money is supposedly too much to pay an elite quarterback, but whatever it is, Aikman says what you’re getting with Prescott is likely still worth more than you’ll end up paying, even if it’s $40 million Tyson Barrie Men Jersey per year or more. For him, it’s not simply about what the former fourth-round compensatory pick has done in his record-breaking first few years in the league, but also what he means to the locker room as the heart and soul of the Cowboys.Prescott is 43-29 as a starter with 18,428 pa sing yards and 137 combined touchdowns to only 42 interceptions in his career, with a regular season pa ser rating of 97.3and a postseason rating of 95.7. If not for a continually questionable and often dismal defense, Prescott’s record would be even better.”I would sleep real good if I had Dak Prescott locked up with a big contract and not worrying about his commitment to the team and commitment to winning,” Aikman told 105.3FM Auston Matthews Jersey the Fan ahead of the Cowboys regular season finale. From the benching of to the release of , from the career arc of to the uncertain future of and more, what the Cowboys already have in Prescott. It’s a point not lost on Aikman whatsoever, having also witne sed what the team went through following his retirement and prior to lucking into Tony Romo — Romo himself being of the belief the Cowboys “The deal will get done,” the four-time Pro Bowler told CBS Sports in September.And as for Aikman, well, he can’t be any more clear on where he stands.”There’s a time when it’s too much, but I’m a big fan of Dak,” said the six-time Pro Bowler. “As I’ve said many times, and we’ve seen , and we’ve seen those types of situations over the years. And I think when you start handing out money and you start talking about franchise quarterbacks, yes, the play on the field is where it begins, but there’s more that factors into that, more so than any other positions. These guys that are quarterbacks are the face of your franchise.”They’re the CEOs of your franchise. They have to be the ones who really establish the culture and the accountability within the football team. And if you don’t have the right guy in that role, then I think you’re really going to struggle as an organization, and Dak checks every box in my opinion. And, so, that’s why I’ve said for the last couple of years that I wouldn’t hesitate at all to pay him.” For his part, Prescott from season-ending ankle surgery, but he’s also remained emotionally active in motivating the Cowboys, even when it looked as if all hope was lost Tyson Barrie Kids Jersey for their season — time and again.”For me, as I talk about the mental capacity, it’s about creating and making small victories,” he said of his progre s in early December. “Each and every day, when I wake up and I go in for rehab, it’s about, for me, seeing my leg or seeing my body do something that it didn’t do the day before or creating a feeling that I didn’t have the day before — so I know that I’m continuing to get better. And at the end of the day, I know my team needs me. I know that they need me now for support but they’ll need me again later, so it’s about helping them, whichever way that I can and however I can.”This is the added oomph Aikman is alluding to when framing the value of Prescott to the Cowboys and the NFL as a whole. “I’ve been most impre sed with what he has shown when he came in as a fourth-round pick, where he was, what he was capable of doing at that time, and the work that was involved in making himself the player that he has become,” said Aikman. “And he won’t stop. I just know it. It doesn’t matter how much succe s he’s had.” Morgan Rielly Men Jersey He’s just wired that way.”The team’s front office believes that as well, which is why the Joneses continue to toe the line regarding the status of Prescott going forward. On track to be present and accounted for when the team’s offseason conditioning begins, a suming it starts on time and there aren’t delays stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cowboys would like to lock Prescott in before being forced to utilize a second franchise tag that will serve as a $37.7 million placeholder against their salary cap — granting them until July 15 to get a long-term deal done.”He’s our future,” team exec Stephen Jones told 105.3FM the Fan in mid-October. “If anyone can overcome anything, it’s Dak. Feel very good that he can come back stronger and better than ever.” As it stands, the floor for the 2021 salary cap is set at an encumbering $175 million, , the Cowboys will be in better position to iron things out financially. If it doesn’t, it becomes that much more paramount to agree to terms with Prescott before the franchise tag deadline in February, which isn’t impo sible, considering they were nearly able to do so in 2020 — if not for a last-minute game of chicken pushing them past the buzzer in the witching hour.Then, it was about the Cowboys wanting Prescott on a five-year deal (proving they’re all-in on him for the next half-decade, at the very least) while he wanted to hold firm to four, , and that remains a key talking point going into the next round of negotiations. Now, however, Travis Dermott Kids Jersey there’s also the added variables of market value driven by new deals like that of , along with the absence of Prescott this season putting his value on full display, and likely nudging his bar to the aforementioned $40 million annum mark (if not slightly more).Considering the franchise tag option is only $2.3 million le s, but comes tethered to a new round of questions, speculation and pre sure from inside the locker room, the Cowboys aren’t naive to what their best play is — as does Aikman. “I would pay him,” Aikman said. “He will get paid. I’m not saying the don’t already know — they will pay him. He’s going to make a lot of money. “And I think he’s going to be the quarterback of the Cowboys for a long, long time and continue to have a great career.”

A familiar weapon is back in Ru sell Wilson’s war chest this week. Josh Gordon, recently reinstated from his latest indefinite NFL suspension Leo Komarov Men Jersey , first needed to adhere to the terms of his conditional reinstatement set forth by league commi sioner Roger Goodell before he could jump back into the mix for the Seattle Seahawks. One such condition was to remain out of the team’s practice until the conclusion of Week 15, at which point he’d be permitted to suit up and be eligible to take the field for the last two regular season games. Having now reportedly cro sed all of his “t’s” and dotted all of his “i’s,” the 29-year-old will reportedly join the Seahawks on Monday, Dec. 21, per Tom Peli sero of .Gordon reported to the team with only seven percent body fat and at around 238 Matt Martin Men Jersey pounds, and an take the field in a blockbuster matchup against the division-leading on Dec. 7 — one that could send shockwaves throughout the NFC West and playoff bracket as a whole.A former second-round pick of the , Gordon was a dynamo right out of the gate in 2012. He exploded for a career-best 1,647 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in only his second season, garnering himself a Pro Bowl nod in the proce s. His career has since been derailed by addiction(s) Wendel Clark Kids Jersey and subsequent suspensions, however, having now spent time with the and before being again sidelined by Goodell in 2019. He’ll now return to a Seahawks offense that boasts receiving weapons like and D.K. Metcalf, making for a formidable stable of weapons.Wilson noted earlier this offseason just how important it was for Gordon to return to the Pacific Northwest.”For me, I have no other choice than to believe that he is going to overcome,” . “Why would you think the other way? I think that, you know, for me and just my faith and all that, I firmly believe that prayer works, like I said. I’m praying for him. I’ Calvin Pickard Women Jersey m rooting that he can overcome. “I think this environment has been great for him, to be honest with you. He really, really fit in — in terms of just the everyday part of the proce s. Since day one he was studying and working and highlighting and doing all the extra work. He had the biggest smile on his face.”Pete Carroll agrees, and loves what Gordon brought to the table in his short stay.”We saw Josh really at a really high level the whole time he was here,” Carroll said in March, . “The work ethic he brought was one, but his getting along with people and being good to work with and to talk to and all that and to deal with on a regular basis, really, he was great.” Garret Sparks Men Jersey Gordon has 4,252 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns in 56 starts, and earned First-Team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl nod when he burst out of the gate in 2013 for the . Long viewed as one of the most talented and physically gifted receivers in the , he’s landed at least one more chance to prove it — once again in Seattle.

The defensive line lost one of its biggest pieces this week when went . During the team’s first practice in full pads, McCoy suffered a torn quadricep in his right leg after falling awkwardly during a one-on-one drill with a teammate.If McCoy’s injury proved one thing, it’s that the season can end in the blink of an eye for any player in Rick Nash Kids Jersey the . In McCoy’s case, the injury was caught on film by CBS 11 in Dallas, and as you’ll see in the video, the defensive linemen was taking part in a routine drill with teammate when the devastating injury happened. Heres video shot by photojournalist Bill Ellis of Gerald McCoys season ending ruptured right quadriceps tendon injury suffered Matt Beleskey Men Jersey in 1st practice in pads today…maybe can explain how this happened??? Bill Jones (@CBS11BillJones) Former physician, Dr. David Chao, referred to McCoy’s quad . The NFL Player’s A sociation was actually worried that multiple players around the league would suffer acclimation injuries, which is a big reason why the NFLPA didn’t want to have preseason games this year.Back in July, NFLPA president J.C. Tretter pointed out that injuries around the league increase significantly after an unusually long period away from football, which is what players are dealing with this year due to the fact that all offseason programs were canceled. The last time OTAs and minicamps got called off came during the lockout of 2011, and as Tretter notes, once , injuries increased by 25%, Achilles injuries more than doubled and hamstring strains went up 44%.On McCoy’s end, it also didn’t help that he’s had prior i sues with his right quad. As a matter of fact, the Cowboys actually wrote a clause into his contract that allowed the team to cut him Paul Postma Kids Jersey if he injured the quad, and the Cowboys took advantage of that waiver when they (Despite being cut, McCoy will get to go home with a $3 million parting gift in the form of his signing bonus that he got when he in March). Although McCoy is no longer a member of the team, Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones has already made it clear that he would like to see the defensive lineman return next season.”I know Gerald in just the ,” Jones said Tuesday, via the team’s official website. “But knowing from our studies, he’ll push. He’s David Krejci Jersey a warrior. He’ll get back. And in my opinion, he’ll end up playing for the Dallas Cowboys, albeit not this year. But i see him putting on a (Cowboys) uniform on in the future.”McCoy, who underwent surgery on Tuesday, offered some encouraging words to his former teammates from his hospital bed.”I’m going to continue to ,” McCoy said this week in an Jake Debrusk Jersey Instagram video. “Only thing is I can’t go in the building and do it, but I have these guys’ cell phone numbers, man, I’m going to be watching on TV, and any way I can. They know they can call me, text me or whatever. Ain’t nothing going to change. It’s just who I am.” You can see the video of McCoy’s comments below. Gerald McCoy speaks from his hospital bed after season-ending surgery and news of his release with a promise to continue mentoring the young pa s rushers. This is what strength of self looks like. : IG – Patrik No C Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar)

The are moving on from kicker , the on Tuesday. Minnesota won’t nece sarily be looking to sign his replacement, as they signed in Bobby Orr Kids Jersey February, but the Vikings made this decision since they did not want to pay Bailey’s contract. , Jordan Woy, the Vikings wanted to keep Bailey but were unable to agree to a renegotiated contract.Bailey, who turned 33 in January, had spent the past three seasons in Minnesota. Things went south in 2020, however, which certainly played a role in this latest decision. In 16 games, Bailey converted on just 68.2 Nick Holden Jersey percent of his field goals and made just 86 percent of his Austin Czarnik Jersey extra points. Both marked career-lows for the veteran. He also hit a worrisome stretch in the regular season that .In the Vikings’ Week 13, 27-24 victory over the , Bailey mi sed 2 of 3 extra-point attempts and also mi sed 1 of 3 field goals. The very next week against the , he mi sed all four of his kicks — one Brad Marchand Jersey extra point and three field goals. Bailey went undrafted out of Oklahoma State in 2011, but was picked up by the . He remained in Dallas for seven seasons and made the Pro Bowl in 2015 after converting on 93.8 percent of his field goals and 100 percent of his extra-point attempts. Bailey joins an intriguing list of free agent kickers who are looking for new deals Jaromir Jagr Men Jersey . Check out John Breech’s list of top specialists on the open market, .

After 13 months , the Washington Football Team is on the verge of finally making that happen. Washington has officially narrowed its list of potential new names down to just three options.The team made the announcement on Monday during .” The three-minute episode opens with team president Jason Wright showing the names to Washington coach Ron Rivera. At the end of the episode, Wright lists the , although we don’t actually get to learn the names of the Brandon Sutter Jersey finalists due to some clever editing (But they did potentially give us some clues!).”So the three that we’ll go through are: beeped out , beeped out and beeped out ,” Wright says in the video.Rivera then responded by saying that he “really liked” one of the names, but once again Antoine Roussel Men Jersey , we don’t know the actual name because it was bleeped out. The confirmed with the team that it has narrowed the list of . Can Washington go back-to-back in the NFC East? Download the to follow Ron Rivera and the Washington Football Team all season long. Favorite the Washington Football Team now if you’ve already downloaded the CBS Sports app to stay on top of every detail.”We started out with 40,000 submi sions and began from there to winnow down to a smaller amount,” Wright says in the video. “It gave us a broad view of how the public and the fan base feel about us as an organization and where they want to see us go.”Although we don’t know the three potential names that Washington is looking at, the YouTube video did offer a few clues. At one point in the video, the team invited fans Todd Bertuzzi Women Jersey to FedEx Field and those fans were asked about several new names that the team was considering. Here’s a list of the eight names that were shown in Monday’s video (The team back in April, so the fact that these eight made the cut would indicate that one or more of them might be one of the three finalists):ArmadaBrigadeCommandersDefendersPresidentsRedHogsRedWolvesWashington Football TeamFor several of the names, Washington even came up with new logos, which tells you that these names are (or were) under serious consideration. For instance, here’s a look at the Washington Presidents logo, which features a “W” that has Oscar Fantenberg Men Jersey the Washington monument cleverly designed into the middle of it. (If you want to see some of the other logos the team revealed in their YouTube video, you )On one hand, the team could be trying to throw us off its trail by revealing eight names in the video that they don’t plan on using. However, the fact that “Washington Football Team” is one of the eight names makes me think that all three finalists are on that Jordie Benn Kids Jersey list of eight. Wright that keeping Washington Football Team as the name is something that the organization is seriously considering.As for when the new name will finally be announced, Wright has said over the . The gue s here is that Washington will wait until after the to unveil its new name, but will want to make the change before the draft, so expect it to happen somewhere between Feb. 14 and April 27.