Raiders players bond, talk trash through popular video game

Dylan Parham is locked in.

The Raiders’ second-year offensive lineman hasn’t blinked and seems oblivious to the chaos around him.

Trash talk from his opponents has no effect. He’s confident in his skills and can’t be thrown off his game.

But it hasn’t always been this way.

Parham struggled when he came into the league. He knew he had no business competing with the big boys, so he vowed to get to work.

“He wasn’t very good last year, but he showed up at OTAs this summer and right away we were all like, ‘OK, this kid put the reps in this offseason,” punter AJ Cole said of the team’s starting left guard. “They say the biggest jump in the NFL is between year one and year two, and that was true for him.”

Cole was not referring to Parham’s performance on the field, where he has been one of the team’s best linemen since he was drafted in the third round out of Memphis in 2022. Instead, Cole’s analysis was of Parham’s skills on the video game that has taken over the locker room — Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The origins

While the Nintendo Switch currently used for the daily battles belongs to offensive tackle Kolton Miller, there is plenty of disagreement about how the obsession began.

The most common origin story dates back to offensive lineman Patrick Omameh, who spent parts of 2020 and 2021 with the Raiders.

But Miller said it goes back even further.

“It started in either my rookie or second year back in Oakland,” Miller said as a five-player battle raged on the screen just feet away. “We started playing, and the group got bigger and bigger and then more competitive. People got so into it. Look over there right now. They are all locked in.”

The game is well-suited to a large group environment. It’s essentially a battle-royal-style fighting game using characters from the Nintendo universe.

It became important for the group as a way to have fun and unwind from the rigors of the NFL training schedule, but to remain competitive at the same time.

“Smash means a lot to us, obviously,” Parham said. “It’s good down time between meetings where we can disconnect a bit from football and just feel like kids again. And we get to talk some trash.”

Nobody is quite sure who first brought the system from Oakland to Las Vegas, but Miller saw the important role it played in the locker room and brought his in once Omameh was released at the end of training camp in 2021.

The game is hooked up to a large screen with seven leather chairs bearing the Raiders’ logo near the entrance to the locker room. It’s closest to the lockers of the special team group, the tight ends and the offensive line.

While there’s no set schedule or formal process for starting a game, the chairs fill up pretty quickly once somebody has a seat and hits the power button.

Joining the ‘club’

Offensive lineman Jordan Meredith compared the group that plays regularly to a club, but it’s a welcoming group.

“Hop in,” Parham said. “When we get new people on the sticks, we’re actually excited. It feels good to have new people joining in. We encourage it.”

It’s a common theme.

“If you play, jump on the sticks,” offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said. “It’s not like a club where you have to prove yourself. (Linebacker Robert) Spillane is playing now. Jesper (tight end Horsted) is playing a little bit. Even Jimmy (quarterback Garoppolo) will come back there and talk sometimes. And even if you don’t play, it’s a good conversation starter. Guys want to talk about it or learn about it and maybe they hop in later.”

Cole and kicker Daniel Carlson weren’t great when they started playing, but they had a secret weapon. Trent Sieg, the team’s long snapper last season, was one of the best Smash players to come through the locker room. So Cole and Carlson took a crash course under Sieg’s tutelage and sharpened their skills enough to hold their own in the big game.

That main group skews heavily to the offense and special teamers, largely because of where the system is located in the locker room, but it’s not a rule.

Defensive tackle Adam Butler is one of the elite players in the locker room, and Spillane is a relative newcomer who is rising up the ranks.

Butler said he thinks everyone playing the video game together is a way to reconnect to what got everyone to love football.

“It always lights a fire under you when you remember the good old days,” he said. “I think all of us that play Smash can relate to those times when you were kids staying up all night before your game playing video games with your teammates. You couldn’t wait for Friday night so you could get the games going. Smash just happens to be one of those things that refuels us and reminds us of our roots and where this journey started.”

The elite

Offensive lineman Brandon Parker is a consensus pick as one of the best players in the room. Running back Josh Jacobs, Parham, Butler and Miller are also on that list.

Parker has taken his video game interest to a new level. He is a part owner of Valhallan Esports Training studio in Henderson, where he will host a Smash tournament Tuesday to help raise money for the United Way.

All five of those players, plus several other Raiders, will be competing. Parker said Smash Bros. was an easy choice for such an event because of its popularity in the locker room and the nature of the game that allows a tournament to be conducted in a few hours.

He was going to organize a tournament just for the players, but Miller approached him about putting up money for charity, and the idea grew.

Most improved

Parham admits he worked hard in the offseason to become one of the best players in the room.

Miller gifted the offensive line room Nintendo Switches, and Parham said his recovery time after a grueling rookie season was largely spent sharpening his skills on the sticks.

“I was putting in the hours,” he said. “We came back around April, and they all saw the improvement. They knew I had been working. I made my way up the rankings to top two or top three, depending who you talk to. I know I’m No. 1, but I think everybody would put me in the top two or three, and I’m OK with that.”

On this day, though, he’s not good enough. Carlson emerges the victor after an extended battle with Parham, Spillane and Miller.

“Jermaine and Daniel will get you the most mad when they win,” Parham said. “They’re very sneaky players. They won’t fight you one-on-one. They’ll wait until they see you in another battle and then they’ll come knock you off the map.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.