5 things to know about Raiders wide receiver Keelan Doss
OAKLAND, Calif. - When the Raiders cut ties with controversial star wide receiver Antonio Brown on Saturday, there was immediate speculation they would try to get Keelan Doss back on the roster.
The undrafted rookie made a splash in training camp as the team’s top receiver in the preseason and was a breakout star on “Hard Knocks.”
After some wrangling, the Raiders got their guy on Sunday evening. To return to Oakland, Doss agreed to terms on a fully-guaranteed $495,000 base salary, plus a $300,000 signing bonus.
Here are five things to know about Doss as he joins the Raiders’ active roster:
1. He’s from Alameda.
This has become a running joke among the local media and the snarkiest of Raider fans on social media. That’s because the fact he grew up just minutes from the team facility is mentioned so often. But it is a pretty cool part of his story.
Doss starred at Alameda High School before moving up the freeway to UC Davis. FCS players are long shots to make the NFL as it is, but the opportunity to play for the hometown team in its last season in the neighborhood does make his story even more special.
2. He was undrafted, but not unwanted
There has been much made about Doss not being selected in the NFL draft despite record-breaking numbers at UC Davis. He finished as the school’s all-time leader in catches, yards and 100-yard games.
That, however, is not an entirely fair representation of how teams viewed him as an NFL prospect. Doss was projected as a third- or fourth-round pick, but teams were scared off by a pectoral injury he suffered at the combine in February.
As soon as the draft ended, his phone started ringing with teams looking to bring him aboard. Doss said he had offers from about 20 teams. The Raiders were an easy decision.
They were not only his favorite team growing up, but he had already worked with Jon Gruden and the rest of the coaching staff at the Senior Bowl. While there, Gruden even slapped two Raiders stickers on his helmet for making a pair of outstanding plays.
3. Jacksonville didn’t want to let him go
The Raiders wanted to get Doss back on their practice squad after letting him go on cutdown day, but he instead chose a practice squad offer from the Jaguars.
Jacksonville certainly valued his talents.
When the Raiders tried to sign Doss off the Jaguars’ practice squad on Saturday, Jacksonville immediately gave Doss a full salary as if he were on the active roster.
Doss agreed to the deal, which would have kept him on the practice squad in Jacksonville instead of the active roster in Oakland for the same money.
That’s when the Raiders came back with the signing bonus and fully guaranteed money that drew him back home.
4. His college coach raves about him
Former Boise State and Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins has revived his career at UC Davis, taking the Aggies to the FCS quarterfinals last year. Doss was a major reason for that success.
Hawkins reserves reserves his highest praise for Doss’s character. “He’s off the charts,” Hawkins told the Sacramento Bee earlier this year about Doss as a player and person.. “He graduated in December, and the guy could walk into anyone’s business right now and be a pro. He just happens to be a professional football player.
“People want to play professional football, but can you be professional? Keelan is. He comes in early, leaves late. He’s studies the playbook. He’s dependable. Takes care of business. That’s the guy you want babysitting your kid, marrying your daughter.”
In the same feature, Doss said he believes it’s important to be a good person.
“I feel that’s one trait people can have or work on,” he said. “Being a good person, treating people the right way.”
5. He’s a momma’s boy
That’s meant in the best possible sense.
In one of the last scenes of “Hard Knocks,” Doss is seen leaving a Bay Area apartment with his bags packed for Jacksonville and promising his mom, Tammie Chambless, he would come home soon to visit.
It turns out that return is coming much sooner than anticipated, as he re-signed with the Raiders just a week later.
In his UC Davis athletics page bio, Doss says if he had a million dollars he would give some to his mom.
He’s already almost there. He’ll make nearly $800,000 this year.
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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
