Raiders rookies rile up Black Hole in 14-3 preseason win
OAKLAND, Calif. — There were no dramatic pregame player introductions.
There were no fireballs, fireworks or other pyrotechnics.
In a fairly ho-hum exhibition Saturday with about 25 Raiders players not in uniform, the Black Hole fan section stood and watched a coin toss yawn in favor of the Los Angeles Rams. That is when defensive end Clelin Ferrell and safety Johnathan Abram turned to those hundreds of fans.
And sprinted straight at them.
The Raiders’ rookie class made its own introduction during the club’s preseason opener. Ferrell and Abram incited a crowd roar, dashing 60 yards to wave their arms and high-five fans in the front two rows before kickoff. Wide receiver Keelan Doss, a short bike ride from his hometown of Alameda, later caught a touchdown in a 14-3 win.
Ferrell, the No. 4 overall pick, played the first half.
Abram, the No. 27 pick, played two series.
Running back Josh Jacobs, the No. 24 choice, didn’t play as a coach’s decision.
It was Ferrell’s idea to engage the Black Hole. The former Clemson captain carried a similar routine before home games in college and thought it was appropriate to continue it with the Raiders. Abram received a vague, last-minute notice when they walked onto the field for the pregame coin toss as co-captains.
“That was funny,” Ferrell said. “I told John, ‘After the coin toss, just follow me.’ He was like, ‘Where are we going?’ And I said, ‘Just follow me. We’re going to have some fun.’ So after the coin toss, I was just like, ‘Yo, we’re going to go to the Black Hole. We’re going to get people turned up.’
“It’s the first game of what could be the last season in Oakland, so let’s go out here and have fun with them. … He didn’t really know what I was talking about at first, but he knew once I started running down there.”
Backup quarterback Mike Glennon and running back DeAndre Washington were the Raiders’ other two co-captains. The two veteran players weren’t part of the salutation.
Doss, an undrafted rookie from UC Davis, estimated he had more than 100 friends and family members in attendance at RingCentral Coliseum. Those longtime supporters watched a touchdown that brought him full circle.
As a sixth-grader in Pop Warner football, Doss said, his youth team scrimmaged during halftime of a home Raiders game. Doss scored a touchdown during that scrimmage as a running back.
“I was just like, ‘Man, if I could do that sometime as a Raider, that would be awesome,’” said Doss, who caught a quick slant Saturday from quarterback Nathan Peterman for a 3-yard touchdown during the third quarter. “When it happened, it was kind of a surreal moment.”
Not all developments were positive for the Raiders’ rookie class.
Two fourth-round picks suffered first-quarter injuries.
Cornerback Isaiah Johnson suffered a concussion upon absorbing a knee to the head. Defensive end Maxx Crosby is believed to have fractured his left hand, although he re-entered the game and wrote on Twitter postgame: “I’m Good Y’all.”
No other AFC team selected three players during the first round of April’s draft. When doing so, the Raiders targeted what general manager Mike Mayock called “foundational” pieces, players who could step into the team’s building and actively change its culture with their leadership and energy.
All three picks have lived up to that billing this offseason.
When riling up the Black Hole, Ferrell and Abram offered a small sample Saturday.
“It’s important to me because football is never just the players on the field,” Ferrell said. “It’s everything else that comes around with it. The fans are a big part of it, and I know this year is going to be a special year for these fans. Just to have them be mixed in as much as possible, I feel that is very important.
“I feel like we have the best fans in all of sports. Nobody is more loyal. Nobody is grittier or fights harder for their team than Oakland Raiders fans. I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to have them as involved as possible.”
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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.