The Las Vegas Raiders have had their share of individual adversaries and their fans haven’t forgotten about them. Chargers’ LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers are still hated for consistently shredding the Silver and Black’s defenses.
Tomlinson, an NFL Hall of Famer, is remembered as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history. Fans know this all too well as they saw the former San Diego Charger demolish the Raiders every time, year in year out. He earned people’s respect given how dominant of a player he was in his heyday. That doesn’t mean Raider Nation likes him, rather, they still hate him for making those Sunday matchups one-sided. Rivers, arguably a future Hall of Famer, also defeated the Raiders on a consistent basis. No doubt this drew the ire of Raider Nation, his mouth and competitiveness didn’t do him any favors with fans.
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Chargers: How They Rank
In a recent look at Raider Nation’s most hated players, Josh Schrock of NBC Sports had Rivers ranked third with Tomlinson ranked as number two, right behind Tom Brady. Tomlinson’s sheer dominance of the Raiders is probably something fans would prefer to forget, but his numbers remain impressive. Schrock highlighted that Tomlinson “ran for over 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns against the Raiders while his teams went 14-5 against the Silver and Black.” One word summarizes everything Schrock mentions: dominance. To make matters worse, Tomlinson dominated the team in an era where the Raiders were a doormat, ouch.
As for Rivers, he ended his tenure as Chargers quarterback with a record of 18-10 versus the Silver and Black. On the road playing in the Coliseum, Rivers crushed the Raiders, going 9-5. Remember what I said about Rivers’ mouth? Schrock elaborated on that as well.
“Like a gnat at a barbecue buzzing around your head, Rivers never failed to talk as much trash as possible whether the score was 34-3 or 17-16. Couple that with the “golly gee whillikers” and the “gosh darn its” that replaced normal swear words (Rivers doesn’t cuss), and you’ve got one annoying division rival who owns you.”
The greatness that this duo exhumed in their tenure with the Chargers versus the Raiders speaks for itself. While that’s great from a football standpoint, try convincing Raider Nation to not hating them, good luck.
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*Top Photo: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images