Month: April 2017

Beast Mode joins Raiders

Marshawn Lynch has agreed on a two-year deal to become an Oakland Raider. It comes on the back of weeks of speculation of the running backs return from retirement, and its fair to say he is going to settle right in with the silver and black. The Raiders send the Seahawks a 5th round draft pick, as he retired in Seattle so they still own his player rights, but also get a 6th round pick in return.

Sadly its doubtful that we will see Lynch don the Silver and Black in Las Vegas. The two year deal would mean he is out of contract going into the first season the Raiders are expetced to move away from Oakland. Combine that with the fact Lynch was born in Oakland, went to high school in Oakland and attended college at Cal and you can see that this deal is more about playing for his local team than it is anything else.

The deal looks like a win-win. The Raiders get a power running back the likes they havent seen in years, and all it cost them was moving down one round in the draft. The Seahawks get to move up in the draft for pretty much nothing seeing as Lynch was never going to play for the team.

The move shows that the Raiders reputation continues to improve under GM Reggie McKenzie and head coach Jack Del Rio. There arent many teams that a former player will come out of retirement for! But a young, successful core built on solid coaching foundations will do that for your team, and long may it continue.

The acquistion fills a glaring need for the Raiders and makes them even bigger Super Bowl contenders than they were before. Be ready to chant ‘Beast Mode!’ a lot this coming season.

Las Vegas to offer betting odds on NFL Draft

Its been just over two weeks since the Vegas Raiders were announced and already the way we bet on the NFL is changing. For the first time ever Las Vegas spotbooks are now offering odds on the 2017 NFL draft, which markets like when will the first kicker be drafted, how many quarterbacks will be selected in the first round and whether there will be more offensive or defensive players drafted in the first round.

Naturally all the action seems focused on the first round seeing as it is nationally televised and includes all the big-name prospects, rather than the latter few days which seem to drag on (unless you’re a player that’s drafted of course!). It may seem limited in the options available, but this is a huge step forward already.

You still won’t be able to bet on what pick a certain player will be drafted as there are laws and regulations against betting on something that could influence the decision of that pick, but nonetheless the wide array of markets means there should be something for everyone.

This is a strong step in the right direction, and who knows what other markets this will open up for both the games and anything else NFL related once the Raiders do actually move. There are already a significant number of betting markets for the NFL, but there is no doubt this will open up some more down the line.

Suddenly the draft has become even more important for some of us; make sure the Raiders pick the right player and win you some money in the process!

Raiders players in Vegas Arm Wrestling investigation

Marquette King advice on arm wrestlingMershawn Lynch hasn’t even joined the Raiders yet* and he’s already in trouble with the NFL authorities over his links to gambling in Vegas.

The former, or current, or retired running back with the Seattle Seahawks has reportedly taken part in an arm-wrestling contest in Las Vegas.  Along with Steelers linebacker, James Harrison, Lynch captained a team in the 2017 Pro contest with the aim of raising money for charity. Other NFL players taking part include Kenny Stills (watch out Kenny, your owner was the one who voted against the Raiders move to Vegas), NaVorro Bowman and  Patrick Chung plus our very own punter and showman Marquette King and defensive end Mario Edwards.

The NFL authorities are not impressed by the event taking place in a casino.  Just last year they prevented Tony Romo from appearing at a Fantasy Football promotional event in Vegas for just that reason.

USA Today solicited an interview with Joe Lockhart, the NFL’s executive vice president for communications.  He said, “Had we been asked in advance if this was acceptable, we would have indicated that it was in direct violation of the gambling policy. No one sought pre-approval.”

Apparently the gaming machines were switched off around the players to try and circumvent the problems, but that hasn’t stopped the NFL sending a crack squad of investigators storming up to Vegas in order to investigate.  Er, guys, you’re too late.  And why go anyway? The players hardly tried hiding the fact, it’s all over their social media pages.

I’ll leave the conclusion to the aforementioned Mr King.  When asked on twitter if he had any advice for someone’s son who wanted to become a punter, the response was, “Stay away from arm wrestling competitions”

*Will he or won’t he?  Watch this space.