Raiders' Jerry Porter demands to get traded out of Oakland

[africas seed]

Raiders' Porter demands trade, sits out practiceAssociated Press


NAPA, Calif. -- The Art Shell era has just begun and Jerry Porter is already having problems with his new coach.

Jerry Porter
Wide Receiver
Oakland Raiders

Profile
2005 SEASON STATISTICS
Rec Yds TD Avg Long YAC
76 942 5 12.4 49 225
 

A day after publicly demanding a trade, Porter sat out practice Wednesday with a calf injury. While other injured players such as Ronald Curry were on the field with their teammates for part of practice, Porter was nowhere to be seen during workouts.


Porter declined to talk to reporters Wednesday, but Shell said the trade request was a "non-issue" and the team is unlikely to grant his request.


Porter told the San Francisco Chronicle in a story printed Wednesday that he has asked the Raiders to trade him. Porter described a strained relationship that began shortly after Shell took over the team in February, when Porter told the coaching staff he would do most of his offseason workouts in Florida and that "I don't like the way things are going around here."


Shell said there's nothing to "iron out" with Porter and that coaches and players don't always see "eye to eye."


"There's guys every year that might not want to be on a team, but, hey, part of this business is you play with who you've got," Shell said. "If we have somebody on this team that's here, whether he said he wants to be here or not, if he's doing what he's supposed to do, then we'll go to work."


Porter left Tuesday's morning practice wearing a belt adorned with huge gold dollar signs. He came out for the afternoon practice, but did not participate because of the calf injury.


Shell said he would check on Porter's status with the training staff Thursday.


"He wasn't out there, so we have to move forward," Shell said.


Porter is in the second year of a five-year deal worth $20 million, making it difficult for the Raiders to cut or trade him because of salary cap issues.


Porter was sidelined for much of training camp last year with a pulled hamstring, missing three weeks of practice and all four preseason games. He made it back for the season opener, but started slowly and did not catch his first touchdown pass until the seventh game.


"I wasn't here last year so I don't know that," Shell said. "It's always important that every player make practice. Practice makes you better. Every rep you get makes you better, so the quicker we can get any of our injured guys back the better off we'll be."


Porter, a second-round pick out of West Virginia in 2000, has 239 catches for 3,215 yards and 24 touchdowns in six seasons with the Raiders. He has never reached 1,000 yards receiving in a season, missing the mark narrowly with 998 yards in 2004 and 942 last season.


Porter, who led the team with 76 catches last season, is being counted on as the No. 2 receiver behind Randy Moss. The team has few proven options behind those two receivers.


Curry is coming back from his second straight season-ending injury to his left Achilles' tendon and has had more than five catches in a season only once in four years in the NFL.


Doug Gabriel, who has 71 catches for 1,122 yards in three seasons, is the other option.


Another possibility, Carlos Francis, had to be helped off the field Wednesday with a left hamstring injury and was to undergo an MRI. Francis injured the same hamstring on the first day of practice last year and missed most of camp.


"It was an unfortunate thing because Carlos has been working good in the offseason and the last couple of days," Shell said. "Hopefully it's not too serious."
 

[Wild_Elmo]

yeah this guy demands a fuckin trade every year

[Wild_Elmo]

This article shows how the conversation went




The Raiders' Jerry Porter, who wore a gold belt with dollars signs on the first day of camp, says he wants to be traded. Chronicle photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice


GUT CHECK
Jerry Porter is already testing coach Art Shell

Nancy Gay

Wednesday, July 26, 2006




Suffice to say, this is not the best way to make an impression on the new boss.

Let's say the new guy in charge wants you to stick around after work. The company is in pretty bad shape and the boss needs everyone to put in some extra time, to help get the business pointed in the right direction.

Raiders coach Art Shell, who is demanding effort, commitment and discipline now that he's taking over a franchise that death-spiraled to 13-35 the past three seasons, expected 100 percent attendance at every minicamp, meeting and organized team activity this past offseason.

He also hoped star employees -- Randy Moss, Jerry Porter, for instance -- would work out religiously at the facility, to set a positive tone. To be the examples.

From the start, Porter was adamant that wasn't going to happen.

Yes, believe what you have heard. There is a huge rift between Porter, the Raiders' sometimes spectacular, often annoying and always baffling wide receiver, and Shell, the Hall of Fame tackle and coach who couldn't care less if Porter has a nice spread this month in "Dubs Magazine."

On Tuesday, Porter spelled it out succinctly. He and Shell aren't on the same page.

Porter wants to be traded.

"Yes. Absolutely. I've told them that," Porter said on the team's first day of practice at training camp in Napa. Which, coincidentally, did not include Porter during the afternoon workout because of what Shell described as a strained calf muscle.

That's right. Day 1.

What a slap in the face to Shell. To owner Al Davis -- who handed Porter a $13 million signing bonus in 2005 to re-sign with the team -- and everyone else in Silver and Black.

How did it get so bad?

Shortly after Shell was hired Feb. 13, a reprise by Davis in the hope his moribund franchise might regain some semblance of respectability, Porter was summoned into the new boss' office for a get-to-know-you meeting.

As Porter recalls it, the conclave -- with wide receivers coach Fred Biletnikoff present -- went something like this:

"They were asking me what I was going to do as far as the offseason program goes," said Porter, who apparently already was bristling at Shell's take-charge approach. "And I told them, 'I just bought a place in Florida, so I'm going to go down to Florida and work with a trainer.' "

Porter continued. "And this is Freddie B talking. He said, 'What's the matter, stud, you're not gonna stay here for the program?' And I'm saying, 'Nah, I've got to get away and charge my batteries.'

"And (Biletnikoff) says, 'Well, your battery's not charged?'

"And I'm like, 'No.' "

From here, as Porter remembers it, the dialogue grew more heated.

Biletnikoff: "Your batteries aren't already charged?"

Porter: "No, they're not."

Biletnikoff: "So, what's the problem?"

Porter: "Well, for one thing, I don't like the way things are going around here."

At that point, Porter recalls, the head coach intervened.

"And then Art chimes in, 'Who the f -- do you think you are?' " Porter recalled. "And then it starts from there. Art says, 'Who ... do you think you're talking to?'

"And that was that." Porter said.

Yup. That would do it.

Later Tuesday, Shell did not dispute Porter's recollection of their meeting, but he definitely had a response.

"The culture is changing," Shell said firmly, "and everybody has been on board and trying to get involved in the process of winning football games, and getting in here, working. You can't have inmates running the asylum.

"That's not gonna be. Not under me, and 99.9 percent of the players here feel that way. They want direction. We're going to give them direction. And I'm not going to back down off of that.

"A couple of the inmates have been trying to run the doggone culture around here. They've been running the program. And that's not gonna be anymore. I'm the head coach. I'm the guy in charge."

Porter, who tends to tease with his talent, and obliterate good will with his attitude, obviously has a problem with that.

But why in the heck would you say something so inflammatory -- "I don't like the way things are going around here" -- to a new head coach? What was he thinking?

"I just didn't. I'm not going to sit here and bring those issues up because I just don't like what (the issues) were about," said Porter, when asked to be more specific about why he's so unhappy. "But nothing can be done about it. I'm not the GM. So we had our little rift.

"Ever since then, (Shell) hasn't said anything to me, I haven't said anything to him."

Obviously, this can't continue.

Senior assistant Michael Lombardi, who essentially runs the football operation, would not comment. The Raiders really are stuck. Cutting Porter would be so satisfying to a lot of folks in the organization, but his salary-cap acceleration, $6.45 million toward the 2007 total, would be a killer.

Trading him also would cost the team plenty.

And really, where are the takers? It's not as if the Raiders haven't tried to move him before.

To his credit, Porter -- who relayed his message while showing off his perfect abs and wearing a faux gold-and-diamond-encrusted boxer's title belt adorned with 10-inch dollar signs -- did appear to work his butt off since the Raiders finished 4-12 in 2005. He attended the mandatory workouts and camps, dropped 23 pounds, and still has that size, speed and chiseled body that reminds you of Terrell Owens.

Porter doesn't have the cred, or the numbers, to be the royal pain Owens can be and force the issue with a stubborn owner.

In six NFL seasons, Porter has caught 239 passes for 24 touchdowns and 3,215 yards. He has led the Raiders in receiving yards only once, in 2004, with 998 yards.

A second-round pick out of West Virginia in 2000, he has not made a Pro Bowl team.

"They've asked for two No. 1's for me (in a trade)," Porter said his agent told him. "Why ... would you ask for a No. 1 for me, or ask for two No. 1s for me, when I wasn't even a No. 1?"

Maybe Porter answered his own question. And if he's watching from the Raiders' bench in September, he'll have plenty of time to ponder how all of this might have happened.

[Fuck Your Existence]

why in the fuck did he sign a 5 yr. contract when he became a free agent after he was acting like he wants outta Oakland so bad? Doesnt really matter though whos gonna get him or Moss the ball anyway?.....