Raiders owner Al Davis offered so many interesting, unusual or downright bizarre comments at his press conference last week that we couldn’t get to all of them. But we wanted to spotlight a comment Davis made about Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, which has been getting some attention in Detroit this week.
With the first pick in the 2007 NFL draft, the Raiders chose JaMarcus Russell, one of the biggest draft busts of all time. With the second pick in the draft, the Lions chose Johnson, who has become a Pro Bowler. So it’s natural that people ask Davis whether he wishes he would have gotten Johnson instead of Russell.
And Davis scoffs at those questions.
“There was some talk of Calvin Johnson,” Davis said. “But you can take a look at Calvin up at Detroit. How many games did they win this year, Detroit, do you know? Six? Yeah. But up until now, Calvin hadn’t done anything for them. He had been eulogized, but he hadn’t made a lot of indelible impression on the won and lost.”
Davis’s logic is simple: The Lions’ record in four seasons with Johnson on the team is 15-49. Therefore, Johnson stinks.
Davis does, however, acknowledge that drafting Russell was a mistake.
“Listen, someone asked the question, it’s there,” Davis said. “The JaMarcus thing hurt.’'