I finally had a smile on my face as John Mackey walked into my office for our meeting. He was similarly smiling as he climbed into the chair on the other side of my desk.
“We are damn lucky, Bear. Last second of the game to lose that damn thing, and that was with our kicker missing that field goal a few minutes earlier.”
My smile grew a little wider.
“I know it. There is no way we should have hung with them for that long. But it is over, and now we can concentrate on the off-season. Quite a Super Bowl, though, huh? Indy beating the Eagles 30-24. Was a pretty good game, and fun to be at.”
“Yah, I saw it. I wanted to go, but, well, you know…obligations to my company and such.” Mackey pulled a folder out of his briefcase and tossed it on my desk.
“Here is our balance sheet for the year. Not bad, Bear. We pulled in a $47,400,000 profit. Not too shabby at all.”
I nodded.
“Good to hear. Definitely better than losing money, anyway. Especially with the ticket revenue being lower than it could have been. Oh well, that is one of the things in our favor anyway, and why we are in position to be able to look at moving the team.”
“Yah, my team is going hard core into the stadium proposal. We will have a nice presentation ready when the time comes. So, now that the season is over, it is your time to shine again. Getting ready to make some moves?”
The smile left my face as I thought about all of the work that needed to be done.
“Yes, I am. There are a ton of evaluations I am going to have to make, starting with our staff. I have to see what is available for scouts out there, and I still haven’t made up my mind on our coaching staff. They did well, all things considered, but I am not sure if they are the type of guys we want on board.”
“Well, I trust your judgement, Bear. Going to be shopping some players around too?”
“Yah. I am hoping we can find some more takers, now. Moss’ stock may have dropped somewhat with his play at the end, but that may help our cause with the fans against any backlash they may dish out. But the cleaning will really start now. We may not have a very competitive team next year, depending on what moves I have to make, but if we can get a framework in place, I will be happy. Plus, I am excited for the draft. A real chance to bring in some players that we like. It will be a fun time, that is for sure.”
Mackey nodded.
“Good. Well, I will leave you to it. We have some big things happening shortly, and it will solidify our future for this team. Oh, and Bear? All in all, great start this year.”
He held out his hand and I shook it.
“Thanks, Mack. This is just the beginning.”
Team Summary:
2005 Summary for Oakland Raiders
Record: 10-8
Winning Pct.: .555
Oakland Raiders Team Rank
Rushes 407 29
Rushing Yards 1852 20
Yards Per Carry 4.55 3
Pass Attempts 513 21
Completions 300 21 (T)
Passing Yards 4139 1
Yards Per Attempt 8.06 2
3rd Down Conversions 39.8 24 (T)
Points Per Game 22.2 9
Turnovers 21 7 (T)
Turnover Margin +4 11 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 490 26 (T)
Rushing Yards 2099 24
Yards Per Carry 4.28 17 (T)
Pass Attempts 569 31
Completions 323 26
Passing Yards 3813 25
Yards Per Attempt 6.70 16 (T)
3rd Down Conversions 43.6 21
Points Per Game 22.0 26
Turnovers 25 18
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 27 at PIT 20
2 17 BUF 13
3 20 TBY 23
4 27 at HOU 30
5 30 at IND 24
6 24 DEN 7
7 27 NOS 26
8 19 at SDO 37
9 28 at CAR 23
11 31 SDO 28
12 14 at DEN 16
13 20 KCY 10
14 17 at ATL 32
15 20 TEN 3
16 21 at KCY 34
17 14 JAX 27
$$WC 27 at PIT 20
$$CS 27 at IND 30
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
5 Collins QB 510 300 4139 8.11 31 10
**Team --- 513 300 4139 8.06 31 10
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
34 Jordan RB 326 1563 4.79 8
**Team --- 407 1852 4.55 11
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
18 Moss WR 153 85 1528 17.9 352 12
34 Jordan RB 67 51 402 7.8 166 3
84 Porter WR 54 29 484 16.6 102 3
81 Curry WR 54 27 418 15.4 58 2
85 Gabriel WR 54 25 400 16.0 55 3
83 Anderson TE 34 24 212 8.8 60 2
87 Whitted WR 33 17 281 16.5 82 1
**Team --- 513 300 4139 13.7 981 31
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
55 Clark ILB 122 48 2.0 0 0 4
53 Foreman ILB 72 33 0.5 0 0 10
22 Hill CB 67 20 0.0 2 3 13
36 Gibson S 62 20 0.0 0 0 5
30 Schweigert S 61 32 1.0 0 4 8
54 Williams OLB 51 14 5.0 1 1 1
98 Hamilton DE 41 12 8.0 26 0 0
59 Grant OLB 39 21 1.0 5 0 3
27 Washington CB 34 14 0.0 0 3 10
45 Robinson S 31 10 0.0 0 0 2
91 Burgess DE 31 13 6.0 14 0 0
25 Walker CB 29 6 0.0 0 0 2
26 Routt CB 28 12 0.0 0 0 2
92 Washington DT 27 8 1.0 4 0 0
52 Morrison ILB 26 10 0.0 0 0 3
33 Taylor CB 25 4 0.0 0 0 1
51 Brayton OLB 25 6 0.0 0 0 1
99 Sapp DT 19 14 2.0 7 0 0
**Team --- 896 316 37.0 75 11 66
Season Awards:
2005 Awards List
Award Player Team
Player of the Year Fred Taylor JAX
Front Office Bowl MVP Peyton Manning IND
Coach of the Year Not Yet Awarded
Legend of the Game Not Yet Awarded
Offensive Player of the Year Fred Taylor JAX
Defensive Player of the Year Brian Urlacher CHI
Offensive Rookie of the Year Cadillac Williams TBY
Defensive Rookie of the Year Demarcus Ware DAL
All-League First Team Quarterback Michael Vick ATL
All-League First Team Running Back Fred Taylor JAX
All-League First Team Fullback Fred Beasley SFO
All-League First Team Tight End Alge Crumpler ATL
**All-League First Team Wide Receiver Randy Moss OAK
All-League First Team Wide Receiver Andre Johnson HOU
All-League First Team Center Mike Flynn BAL
All-League First Team Offensive Guard Rick DeMulling DET
All-League First Team Offensive Guard Steve Hutchinson SEA
All-League First Team Offensive Tackle Tra Thomas PHI
All-League First Team Offensive Tackle Willie Roaf KCY
All-League First Team Punter Craig Hentrich TEN
All-League First Team Kicker Adam Vinatieri NED
All-League First Team Defensive End Jason Taylor MIA
All-League First Team Defensive End Simeon Rice TBY
All-League First Team Defensive Tackle Seth Payne HOU
All-League First Team Defensive Tackle Cornelius Griffin WAS
All-League First Team Inside Linebacker Brian Urlacher CHI
All-League First Team Outside Linebacker LaVar Arrington WAS
All-League First Team Outside Linebacker Julian Peterson SFO
All-League First Team Cornerback Chris McAlister BAL
All-League First Team Cornerback Mike McKenzie NOS
All-League First Team Safety Donovin Darius JAX
All-League First Team Safety Sammy Knight KCY
All-League Second Team Quarterback Daunte Culpepper MIN
All-League Second Team Running Back Edgerrin James IND
All-League Second Team Fullback Jim Kleinsasser MIN
All-League Second Team Tight End Bubba Franks GBY
All-League Second Team Wide Receiver Rashaun Woods SFO
All-League Second Team Wide Receiver Terrell Owens PHI
All-League Second Team Center Todd McClure ATL
All-League Second Team Offensive Guard Mike Wahle CAR
All-League Second Team Offensive Guard Chris Gray SEA
All-League Second Team Offensive Tackle Marvel Smith PIT
All-League Second Team Offensive Tackle Flozell Adams DAL
All-League Second Team Punter Mitch Berger NOS
All-League Second Team Kicker Matt Stover BAL
All-League Second Team Defensive End Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila GBY
All-League Second Team Defensive End Kevin Carter MIA
All-League Second Team Defensive Tackle Jimmy Kennedy STL
All-League Second Team Defensive Tackle Russell Davis ARI
All-League Second Team Inside Linebacker Ray Lewis BAL
All-League Second Team Outside Linebacker Keith Bulluck TEN
All-League Second Team Outside Linebacker Derrick Brooks TBY
All-League Second Team Cornerback Patrick Surtain KCY
All-League Second Team Cornerback Sam Madison MIA
All-League Second Team Safety Tony Parrish SFO
All-League Second Team Safety Darren Sharper MIN
**League's Fastest Man Randy Moss OAK
League's Strongest Man John Tait CHI
Balance Sheet:
Television Contract: $34,200,000
Ticket Revenue: $46,010,000
Suite Revenue: $23,020,000
Concessions: $3,970,000
Parking: $2,400,000
Advertising: $14,590,000
Total Revenues: $124,190,000
Player Salaries: $42,310,000
Player Bonuses: $4,780,000
Training: $6,540,000
Coaching: $13,140,000
Scouting: $4,800,000
Maintenance: $5,220,000
Stadium Payments: $0
Total Costs: $76,790,000
Profit: $47,400,000