Did Antonio Pierce make the right move by calling out players for making “business decisions” after the Raiders 36-22 loss to the Panthers?
Former NFL player Chris Long, son of Raiders HOF’er Howie Long, shared his thoughts on Pierce’s comments this week.
“When you make business decisions, you are eligible to be, you know, the butt of another business decision, in the NFL where it’s like we all have plays we want back usually you hope they are not effort plays,” Long said on the Rich Eisen Show. “I think that’s what he’s talking about. If you don’t want to get called out subliminally in the media… then don’t do whatever he’s talking about. He’s not calling out guys who aren’t executing. He’s talking about guys that, when we say business decision, we’re saying ‘took the easy way out.'”
“For a team that just beat the Ravens,” Long continued, “if you’re trying to go somewhere as an organization, I think what he’s trying to get across this week is ‘Ya’ll got fat and happy.’ It’s one week. Did you win the Super Bowl? When the going gets tough, and I’ve been on a lot of bad teams, when you put the tape on some of the most valuable tape is four-minute mode. And I’m talking about when you are getting the blunt end of it. You know what I mean? I want to find out who is still interested in football, who is going to play hard… I think for Antonio Pierce, the plan is not to be in these situations. But when you are, there’s still value in how you handle yourself and so I have no problem with the call-out.”
Long also added the downside, in his opinion, to Pierce’s “business decisions” comments.
“I have no problem with the call out,” Long added. “Now what he did is he sent a lot of people on a goose chase to find out on the All-22 who was making the business decisions.”
Moving forward, all eyes are on Pierce’s next move, and on Wednesday he told members of the media that he wasn’t going to get into what his “business decisions” are going to look like.
“Yeah, it’s in house,” Pierce said, while adding “there is no panic button… we’re not jumping off the plane.”
The Raiders host the Browns this week and it feels like week 4 is going to bring one of the pivotal games of the season for Pierce and company.
After the week that has been, a home win over the struggling Browns feels like a necessity.
x: @raidersbeat