Oakland Raiders Past And Future On Display At Pro Bowl

The Oakland Raiders were well represented at this year’s Pro Bowl in Hawaii and it gave fans a chance to see the passing of the torch from the team’s older generation to the new.

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The Oakland Raiders 2015-16 season had plenty of highlight reel plays and great individual achievements, but it was the chance to watch a passionate young core grow, and having the honor of viewing the final curtain call of a Hall of Fame career, that made it most memorable.

Up until this NFL season, Raider fans have viewed the years since their last playoff appearance as one long blurred time continuum where the names on the back of the jerseys may change, but the results on the scoreboard remained the same. Ask anyone in Raider Nation, and they will tell you optimism and pessimism, can go hand in hand. Especially when you are always looking up from the bottom of the standings.

The basement view that had been prevalent for fans of the Silver and Black over the past decade plus, may finally be on the verge of getting demolished and replaced with a “bird’s eye view” of contention. The reason for optimism in Oakland can be attributed to the infusion of young talent led by Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Khalil Mack and Latavius Murray. This young core may be inexperienced, but they are already making names for themselves around the NFL. And their hard work was rewarded with a trip to Honolulu and an invite to the Pro Bowl game.

These four potential stars (It’s safe to say you can remove “potential” from Khalil Mack’s description because “The Mack Attack” is a bona-fide star) couldn’t have developed as quickly without great veteran leadership. And the Raiders’ roster was filled with great leaders, especially on the defensive side of the ball, where a 39-year-old Charles Woodson not only led in the locker-room, but used his almost two decades of NFL experience to help secure a Pro Bowl selection, in what he has called his last year putting on an NFL helmet.

While young Raiders like Carr and Mack can view their Pro Bowl selection as the stepping stone of what are hopefully great careers, Woodson can look at his final trip to Honolulu as the last page of his Hall of Fame “Best Seller.”

"It’s hard to sum it up into words because this is what I’ve been doing all my life.” It’s still going to be a big part of me. I’ve been playing this game in the NFL 18 years. I’ve been playing altogether, who knows, 30 years? I’ve been playing since I was 7, 8 years old.” Woodson told profootballtalk after the game."

For the last several years, the Raiders were lucky to even get one selection on the Pro Bowl team and that selection usually went to fulback Marcel Reece, who was becoming a regular in Hawaii, and who was selected to this years team, but didn’t make the trip after reportedly being suspended four games for violating the league’s policy on Performing Enhancing Drugs, which Reece vehemently denies.

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The five Raider Pro Bowl selections were the most for the Silver and Black since 1994, and was the fifth highest in the NFL this year. The future for the Raiders looks bright and with the knowledge garnered from Woodson and the recently retired Justin Tuck, this driven young core will certainely be making the trip to Honolulu an annual event.

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