NFL

At Lane Kiffin Press Conference, Raiders Executive, Reporter Nearly Come to Blows

Posted Sep 22, 2008 9:03PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Raiders, NFL Media Watch, NFL Video

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The video below comes from the press conference that Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin had today. And what looks at first like an ordinary press conference (at least, as ordinary as it can get for a coach who doesn't know if he's going to be fired today or not) turns into a near-fistfight:

At the end of the video, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News nearly gets into a fight with Raiders executive John Herrera, who is probably the closest person in the organization to owner Al Davis. Kawakami gives his side of what happened here.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains that the fight was fallout from the widely held belief that Herrera distributed an article critical of Kiffin to members of the local media. Bottom line: The Raiders' owner and his top deputy are doing their best to undermine the coach, while the coach waits to get fired and the media nearly come to blows with team executives. Yeah, I'd say they've got a real healthy thing going on in Oakland.

Tags: Lane+Kiffin, LaneKiffin

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

9-23-2008 @ 12:42AM

Spoonman said...

As always, professional on the part of the Raiders.

Wait, there is a flaw in the above statement. The professional Raiders is a paradox.

Good job Al Davis, with yet another loser Raiders team, while being the joke of the rest of the NFL. Great job paying out $150 million guaranteed to a handful of scrubs who couldn't cut it on other teams.

I honestly pray for your team, while never being a fan. Perhaps you might accidentally be relevant, there has been plenty of time for that.

9-23-2008 @ 12:54AM

Chris Troutman said...

looks fine to me

9-23-2008 @ 2:31AM

Had Enough said...

The Raiders are a (bad) joke.
I've been a fan for 25 years, but I won't be watching as long as Davis is around. He's run that team into a laughing stock.
i hope Kiffen follows suit with Shanahan & 'Chucky' and finds success away from the madhouse.

9-23-2008 @ 4:06PM

nster64 said...

It just goes to show that having a lot of money does not guarantee a lot of class. Herrera-what a classless, arrogant, piece of horse manure. Gene (Upshaw) would be completely ashamed of Herrera (Mr. Jackass of the press conference). Who loses out in the end? The simple Raider fan. Good luck people, you're in for hell of a ride this year.

9-23-2008 @ 6:52AM

Steve said...

Nice editing, AOL. The headline refers to "maina". Is it possible you meant "mania"? That's what happens when you ship out all your work to IndiaOnline.

9-23-2008 @ 7:21AM

Skippy said...

Why hire Kiffen in the first place if you're not going to let him coach? If Al wanted a puppet, he should've just hired Ryan. Or, hell, keep Shell.

The only guy who's happy about this is...Matt Millen! Hell, he looks good by comparison.

9-23-2008 @ 8:49AM

chilco said...

Hiring Lane Kiffin as head coach is like electing Barack Obama to be president of the United States. Neither has a clue as to how big the job really is.

9-23-2008 @ 12:34PM

terrance calhoun said...

wow and bush is smart bush his dad and regan have been drug dealers and dumb asses while in office and mccain is another old wht fool for everything that the repubs dont stand for they have vailated homos in office abortion is up in the last 8 yrs having sex with office boys sending jobs over seas giving companies big tax breaks lying about the war to congress homes being lost when punk ass bush took office he had a positive cash flow now we are 450billion deficit its time for change and obama cant posibily do and more damage that the repubs have already done now if a shit head like urself and ur family wants mccain than it say alot about u i hope u lose everything peace idiot

10-01-2008 @ 6:25AM

Writerman said...

Hey Chilco how about hiring Sarah Palin. She can see Russia from her house you know. And she'll need a job once she and McGeezer get their ass kicked in November.

9-23-2008 @ 9:58AM

m said...

Just goes to prove how little class this organization has...from the very top...the NFL and the Raiders should be ashamed and embarrassed!!

9-23-2008 @ 10:02AM

New Mexico Raider said...

Why is Al Davis's name being dragged into this blog. Was he present at the press conference? Tim Kawakami has done this type of stuff before. But of course everything is Al's fault. Tim K has never written anything positive about the Raiders for as long as I can remember.

9-23-2008 @ 11:27AM

seaupwr said...

Typical Raider D-Bag! Raider fan, wanna know why your team will always suk? Case and point.

9-23-2008 @ 11:58AM

ZaXXoN said...

damn how i woulda loved to have that fat weak piece o sh** Raiders exec try to step in my face

ever notice how much 'bigger' some people feel when surrounded by a dozen people they know will break up any fight, and when they know they can act tough and a fight woud be the absolute LAST thing that would ever happen? that would be fatso Raider exec there, pushing Hop-Sing at the start, pointing his finger in his face, and then not even being mature enough to walk away at the end, and actually stepping BACK into his face like the wanna-be tough guy he is.

Raiders, get some class like that other franchise across the bay. 5 rings since the last time you punks ever did anything.

9-23-2008 @ 12:54PM

Paul said...

And how about those internet tough guys who brag about what they would have done, knowing full well, they never will get to live out those fantasies. Everyone is as tough as they want to be - ON LINE!

9-23-2008 @ 12:33PM

charlie raymond said...

YO! from MO. let the coach coach! raider fans are alive and well in springfield,mo. many cali transplants here. all seem to be raider fans! where's a general manager with the guts to back the coach? time for AL to retire, that doesn't mean letting a family member run the show either. how about art as GM?

9-23-2008 @ 1:07PM

Addison said...

Terrance Calhoun. You need to go back to grade school and start over. How can anyone respect what you have to say, when you cannot spell, or put together a coherent sentence? Your ranting shows me that your IQ cannot exceed 50, and why you are a democrat most likely.

9-23-2008 @ 1:18PM

Robert said...

http://www.keepkiffin.com/Guestbook.php

9-23-2008 @ 3:45PM

Paul J said...

Yeah things are very bad right now with Al Davis sacking every coach he has every 9 months it seems.

But i'm not jumping ship. You cant be a fan and just give up when times are bad, the Bengals still had fans in the 90's, the Bucs had fans in the 80's when things were very bad. Its part of being a fan, yeah it sucks right now to be a Raiders fan but you cant just give up. RIdiculous

9-23-2008 @ 3:57PM

charlene said...

I get so sick of haters thinking the Raiders are the only team with problems...HA
But WE are the only team who makes the most impact (other then Farve) when anything happens...And that's okay by me...
I have been, and will always ba a TRUE Raider Fan...I dont jump on band wagons and them spoo some crap...I bleed silver & black and always will, so keep on talking, cuz that only means we made an impact on you. If we didnt then you could concentrate on YOUR teams problems, cause they ALL have them!!

9-25-2008 @ 2:05AM

zbird said...

That's got to be one of the most absurd bit of reasoning I've ever heard. A true fan demands changes when they are needed! You are just another typical face-painting dress-up-playing raider fan. What does it say about your glorious "team of the decades" when the fans are more intimidating than the team you actually put on the field? The sad truth is that this once-proud franchise is now (and has been for quite some time) little more than a bad over-blown pro-wrestling act.

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