We continue to look back at different chapters of the Las Vegas Raiders’ history for newer fans here at the Raider Ramble. In this edition, we take a look at Kerry Collins and his tenure as the Silver and Black starting quarterback.
Rich Gannon is considered one of the greatest signal callers in team history, and rightfully so. He earned league MVP honors, has a Super Bowl appearance on his resume, and excellent career numbers. Regrettably, it proved to be a daunting task replacing Gannon, as for Collins, he would be the first one to attempt it.
End of an Era For Raiders
In 2004, as time and injuries finally ended Gannon’s career, Collins replaced him after the New York Giants released him the previous offseason. Josh Dubow from the Associated Press via his Twitter reminded Raider Nation of his signing. It was on May 24, 2004, that then-owner Al Davis inked Collins. There’s no doubt he was a fan of Collins’ arm strength.
16 years ago today, the #Raiders signed Kerry Collins to a 3-year contract. Collins started 28 games in 2 seasons with the Raiders winning only 7. The .250 winning percentage in his starts is the lowest for any Raiders QB with 10+ starts
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) May 24, 2020
Related: The End of An Era With The Black Hole in Oakland
As Dubow stated, Collins’ numbers were ugly. In his two seasons as the starter, he only notched seven wins but lost 21 games. After the firing of head coach Bill Callahan and the embarrassing season the Raiders had following their Super Bowl matchup, the wheels fell off. Collins entered a mess with those Raiders, even acquiring NFL legend Randy Moss couldn’t help the organization. Even more evidence that support Collins’ failure was due to the team and structure was his resurgence with the Tennessee Titans, getting a Pro Bowl nod in 2008 for his comeback.
Here at the Ramble we even asked some of our readers to sum up Collins’ tenure with the Raiders with just one word. Take a look for yourself. Painful memories abound.
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*Top Photo: AP/Paul Sakuma
