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Welp, the Raiders are a combined 43-57 since Crosby’s rookie season of 2019.
“We haven’t won much since I’ve been here,” he said. “I made the playoffs one time, and that’s not what I expect. Like, I expect perfection and excellence every day. But overall, I can’t do it by myself. … It’s got to be all of us.
“So we’ve got to be delusional enough to believe in what we can truly do. That’s the only way you can go out there and win.”
It’s a mindset wrapped in a vibe inside a decidedly Silver and Black aura.
And it’s transcending the early days of camp, while giving a knowing nod to the organization’s DNA.
“As a great man once said, ‘Just win baby,'” said new quarterback Geno Smith, who experienced a career rebirth under Carroll in Seattle.
“So that’s what we’re here to do – we’re here to win. And again, it’s about what we do every single day, [developing] winning habits, creating a winning mentality. That’s something we’re doing already.”
If slow and steady wins the race, how soon can the Raiders, under the excitable Carroll, become legit contenders?
Especially in a brutal AFC West, where the Chiefs have gone to five of the last six Super Bowls and the Chargers and Broncos both went to the playoffs last season.
You’ve got to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, run before you can fly. But you can always dream. And work toward a goal.
Carroll authored a pair of 7-9 seasons in his first two years with the Seahawks, in 2010 and 2011, but did win a playoff game that first year (yes, Seattle won a depleted NFC West with a losing record and then upset the defending Super Bowl champion Saints in that epic “Beast Quake” game), before winning the Super Bowl in Year 4 and coming within a yard of repeating.
He went 6-6 in Year 1 at USC before returning the Trojans to national prominence.
“I want to see how far we can take our club, and we’re going to do it one step at a time,” Carroll said. “We’re just going to see how good we can be … and there’s a lot of information we have to gather, still. We haven’t been in pads at all, so the game hasn’t even begun yet.
“So that’s why camp is so crucial, and particularly in a first-time camp – you’ve got to find out a lot of information about our guys.”
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