Tom RobinsonWith all the chaos coming down in Oakland with the Raiders this week, my thoughts turned to Ronald Curry, for whom the phrase "star-crossed" should have been invented.
If he hadn't begun to wonder long ago, Curry has to be perplexed as to which power in the universe - and I don't mean Al Davis - he torqued off years ago.
I've always said Hampton High's Curry was the best high school athlete I've ever seen, and we all know how many brilliant ones have come out of this region in just the past 20 years.
Talent to dream of and die for. Smooth as the day was long. Multiple state football champion. All-American in football and basketball. Potential NBA player - or so the talk went - right out of high school. That was Curry the Crabber.
And yet Curry has become almost better known as a cautionary tale about how nothing in life, especially in sports, is ever guaranteed.
Think of it all.
First, Curry made that controversial college-decision switch - Virginia to North Carolina - becoming a permanent U.Va. sworn enemy. He insisted on playing football (quarterback) and basketball (point guard) for the Tar Heels - and wound up doing both inconsistently.
When it was finally time to turn pro, Curry was drafted in the seventh round by Oakland - and converted to wide receiver.
Fair enough; he was a tremendous natural athlete, he could learn.
But he struggled two years to pick up that position - then tore an Achilles' tendon in 2004 and again 2005. Healthy again, somewhat, the past two years, Curry caught 117
passes for more than 1,400 yards - and the Raiders won six stinking games.
Now he's got this: an owner holding a bizarre news conference to disparage his fired coach, Lane Kiffin, in an arrogant, bullying, amazingly unprofessional attempt to not pay off Kiffin's contract.
Meanwhile here's Curry, still just 29, who has caught only three balls in four games this season - not sure what's wrong there. And who has a contract that sticks him in Oakland for three more years, unless Davis fires him first at some point "for cause."
It's more than enough to make you wonder what Chesapeake's DeAngelo Hall was thinking - besides "Oh man, am I gonna be rich!" - when he committed to enter the Bay Area zoo over the winter.
A Pro Bowl cornerback, Hall forced a trade from Atlanta and checked into the black Raider hole for seven years.
Naturally, Hall spoke glowingly of Davis' business and football mind after he signed, but you would too if you'd just been handed $24 million-plus guaranteed.
Especially now, over-compensation has to be the only way anyone would sign up to play with this franchise while Davis continues to careen it into the turf.
I heard some NFL expert, a former Raider executive in fact, on the radio Wednesday call Oakland the "Hotel California" of the NFL. Fitting? Well, you know the lyric:
"We are all just prisoners here of our own device."
Right or wrong, here's how I imagine Curry and Hall - down in a basement, dank and wet, desperately rattling their chains.
Tom Robinson, 757-446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com
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Curry
I have been a huge fan of Curry. I think Davis can still find those late round gems in the draft. But seriously, have you seen how many passes Curry has dropped this year? I have seen Curry make some phenomenal catches over the years, but he has dropped at least three first downs this year. A professional athlete, can't put the blame on the only professional sports organization that gave him a chance.
Curry
Wow, Curry? Of all the players who deserve better on the Raiders, you've chosen Curry? I guess I can understand, he's a local kid who did a lot of fantastic things. I've been a long time Raider fan growing up in California and I've witnessed some great receivers come and go from Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, Mervyn Fernandez, to Jerry Porter (jokingly). I've heard many of the so called experts say the Raiders have the worst group of receivers in the league. This may or may not be true. I believe in the latter. They do have some talent there. Unfortunately, Curry has not developed into a number one receiver, maybe not even a number two. He's dropped as many balls as he's caught so far and I can only hope in the near future he shows some of the brilliance that you've described.
Curry
Curry was definately a favorite and an up and coming player. After his second heel injury, he does not seem to be the same player. I'm not sure why a leg injury would effect his hands but his hands are a problem. Last year he dropped alot of balls. His hand placement was off which is really basic stuff. I was hoping last year was a fluke but at this rate, he is not going to see alot of balls come his way if he doesn't regain his old form.
Great Article
With all the hype surrounding Michael Vick, many forget about Ronald Curry, but not me. I played against him back in 1998 and this guy was unbelievable. Not many players can throw multiple touchdown passes, rush the ball for a touchdown, intercept a pass for a touchdown, and return a punt for a touchdown all in the same game. I believe it's just another case of a player attending the wrong university much like Tony DeSue and Lamont Still back in the early 90's.
Curry
I am as big a fan of Ron Curry as anyone, I agree he has great potential and natural talent. But let's be honest here, he has been horrible this year. He may only have a few catches, but for each catch he's had several balls hit him in the hands and bounce off...If the raiders had more depth at WR Curry wouldn't even be on the field right now the way he is playing.
I hope he can pull it together and have a good year but right now I'm not very optimistic that is going to happen.
Curry's Season
I'm a long time Raiders fan, and a huge fan of Ronald Curry. You said you're not sure why he's only caught 3 balls this year. I can explain it. First, they're a run focused team, and haven't passed much, but more worrying is the fact that Curry is really having an off year. The fans are really frustrated with him, dropping balls, having balls bouncing off his chest, and 'alligator arming,' balls. He just hasn't looked like himself this year. But hey, it's early in the season, let's hope he can get back in form. I think you're way off on the Al Davis press conference. He was forced by Kiffin to give the media his side of the story, after Kiffin had been leaking 'distortions,' to the media for the last year. Davis had written proof and brought it out. Unfortunately too many of you media types are so biased against Mr. Davis that you don't listen with an open mind.