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    What We Learned From Week 2 of the N.F.L. Season

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    Bill Belichick sees a path toward making the Patriots a dynastic contender again, the Cowboys’ talent got a chance to shine, and Sam Darnold looks … happy.There were no shirtless pictures of Bill Belichick from Barbados gracing your screens this off-season.Belichick, the New England Patriots’ head coach, was far too busy to kick back last spring.As a drunken Tom Brady chucked the Vince Lombardi Trophy boat to boat, and as we all declared the quarterback the true driving force in New England all those years, Belichick, the N.F.L.’s Voldemort, plotted his vengeful return. Ego understandably ended this generation’s greatest dynasty. Honestly, it’s a miracle Brady and Belichick coexisted for two decades. Now, ego just may be transforming the Patriots into contenders again.After the Patriots’ first losing season since 2000, Belichick declared himself the fixer this off-season with a $232 million spending spree on his roster. The message was clear in his 47th year as an N.F.L. coach: Give me the horses, and I’ll win with a quarterback on the cheap.And while nobody should ever schedule a Super Bowl parade after a win over the calamity that is the Jets, Sunday served as a quiet warning to the rest of the N.F.L. that Belichick’s Patriots aren’t dead yet.New England’s defense suffocated Zach Wilson throughout a 25-6 win. Once again, Belichick turned a rookie quarterback into a pumpkin. At one point, Wilson had four interceptions and four completions, and you half-hoped Jets Coach Robert Saleh would put the poor player out of his misery by handing him a clipboard.Add it all up, and what we learned most in Week 2 is that there is absolutely a path for the Patriots to be the Patriots once again.Clearly, the Jets are zero threat to win any time soon.The Miami Dolphins (1-1) looked abysmal in a 35-0 home loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. With or without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, this isn’t an offense that’ll scare anyone any time soon. Here’s thinking their Week 1 upset in Foxborough, Mass., was a gift-wrapped fluke.And, yes, the Bills are the defending A.F.C. East champs. Yes, they blasted Miami and, yes, the defense looks phenomenal. The fact is, their franchise quarterback — the very rich Josh Allen — has not looked sharp. He completed only 51 percent of his passes.So what if the Mac Jones Experience in New England is as exciting as a trip to the dentist? We see now why this team was OK washing its hands of Cam Newton. Jones is not overwhelmed by the speed of the N.F.L., Dad bod or not, and that’s all Belichick asks with the roster he has assembled around the position. After paying up for edge rusher Matt Judon, tight ends Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne, corner Jalen Mills, defensive tackle Davon Godchaux and end Henry Anderson — Get all that? — Belichick knew he didn’t need a Superman at quarterback. He needed a distributor who wouldn’t turn the ball over.If that sounds very 1994, he frankly does not care.He let the Jets swing for the fences on a potential Mahomes Lite at No. 2 overall, perfectly content standing pat at No. 15 for a quarterback who completed 77.4 percent of his passes at Alabama. And unlike every other team that drafted a quarterback in April, the Jets did not sign anything resembling a threat or a veteran to challenge or support their rookie. This was Wilson’s gig from Day 1 and, on Sunday, you couldn’t help but wonder if the Jets should’ve found themselves a McCown of some sort.Wilson, the Brigham Young gunslinger, saw more ghosts than Sam Darnold ever dreamed of.After Interception No. 3 — a bizarre floater right to cornerback J.C. Jackson — Jones called an audible at the line and threw a beautiful rainbow to the Patriots’ Jakobi Meyers, in stride, for 24 yards.Such was the theme. This game served as a magnifying glass over two polar-opposite rookies. Wilson wants to play off-script like the three-time M.V.P. he idolized: Aaron Rodgers. His improvisation should at least make another losing season fun for the Jets. When a 315-pounder, Lawrence Guy, barreled in for a sack, Wilson hardly blinked. He juked. He escaped. He kept his eyes downfield before throwing incomplete.This style of play could prove to be special.This style could also get chewed up and spat out by the rest of the N.F.L.Interception No. 4 was even uglier, almost as if New England’s Devin McCourty was Wilson’s intended target.Meanwhile, Jones chugged along. He threw no touchdowns and no picks in completing 22 of 30 passes for 186 yards for the Patriots.Interesting, isn’t it? Through this off-season of quarterback madness, teams bent over backward for the chance at something special. San Francisco unloaded three first-rounders for someone from North Dakota State who played one football game in 2020 (Trey Lance); Green Bay was perfectly fine being publicly embarrassed by its disgruntled M.V.P. for six months (Rodgers); Indianapolis was willing to take on Carson Wentz’s massive contract; the L.A. Rams unloaded two firsts, a third and Jared Goff for a 33-year-old who has gone 74-90-1 in his career with zero playoff wins.The Bills handed Allen a six-year, $258 million contract.The Bears took a swing at every veteran possible before trading up for Justin Fields.And here’s Belichick again zagging as the rest of the league zigs. His defense is highly compensated and loaded. Judon will be worth every penny of his four-year, $56 million deal. Good luck finding a weakness anywhere. And this offense will only get better. Damien Harris atoned for his Week 1 fumble with arguably the best run of the season on Sunday.Harris broke seven tackles on the way to the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown.Beast Mode himself would be proud.OK, Brady’s title for Tampa Bay justifiably has us all questioning who meant more to those six N.F.L. titles in New England. Let’s not write those obituaries on the Patriots quite yet. If this equation leads to a winner, be it 2021 or 2022, nobody will question Belichick again. That’s surely on Belichick’s mind, too.For now, let’s just get the popcorn ready for Patriots-Bucs on Oct. 3.Defensive back Nasir Adderley of the Los Angeles Chargers broke up a pass intended for tight end Blake Jarwin of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.Ronald Martinez/Getty ImagesCowboys’ talent overcomes Chargers’ errors.The Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Chargers of this generation are bound to throw wins away as the seconds wane. Both teams have assembled contenders but something, always something, is bound to go wrong.Sunday’s game, a 20-17 Dallas win, sure seemed to be heading in that direction for both teams.On two consecutive drives, the Chargers had touchdowns wiped out by penalties.First, a holding penalty nullified a Donald Parham Jr. score. (An interception soon followed.) Then, an illegal shift nullified a Jared Cook touchdown when Los Angeles had first-and-goal from the 2-yard line. (The Chargers settled for a field goal.) The Chargers (1-1) finished with 12 penalties for 99 yards.Then, it appeared to be the Cowboys’ turn. With 3 minutes 45 seconds left and the score tied, quarterback Dak Prescott drove Dallas into Los Angeles territory, and the Cowboys (1-1) grew lax. Coach Mike McCarthy, who has had clock management issues throughout his career, inexplicably let precious time bleed off the clock with the ball on the Chargers’ 38-yard line.Nonetheless, with four seconds left, Greg Zuerlein banged in a 56-yard field goal to give Dallas its first win of the season.This will need to be the theme for the Cowboys, a team that has suffered the same problems for 25 years now. In 2021, that talent may be enough to validate the machinations of the ownership, the coaching changes and the constant attention. This was a solid win. We know Prescott is one of the greats, but on Sunday, the Cowboys proved they could win with the run, too. Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard combined for 180 rushing yards.Defensively, this isn’t going to be the historically awful unit we saw in 2020. The team’s new defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, has brought a scheme that is much better than the one Mike Nolan installed via Zoom a year ago, and Micah Parsons gives the Cowboys a playmaking pass rusher that opposing coordinators must now account for every week. A rookie out of Penn State, he was a presence all game with four quarterback hits and one sack.Next time, the Cowboys just may want to gain another 8 yards to be safe.Through his first two games with the Carolina Panthers, quarterback Sam Darnold has looked accurate, decisive and in rhythm. In other words, not like a Jets quarterback.Jacob Kupferman/Associated PressHey, Darnold.There is good news, Jets fans! Your new quarterback isn’t taking any advice from Adam Gase.The Carolina Panthers’ Sam Darnold — newly Gase-less — was the best quarterback on Sunday in lighting up the same New Orleans Saints defense that throttled Aaron Rodgers a week ago. He shredded the Saints for 305 yards on 26-of-38 passing with two touchdowns in a breezy 26-7 win. Thus far, the Panthers have gotten the most bang for their buck through that quarterback carousel. The marriage between Darnold and the offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, has been perfect two games in.Darnold isn’t going to wow anyone with his athleticism or his arm strength, but the reason a team drafted him over Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson is finally on display. He’s decisive. He’s accurate. He gets into a rhythm. Brady’s offense isn’t wordy or complicated like Gase’s. It simply has an answer for every type of coverage you can throw at Carolina — and Darnold delivers. After failing to register 200 yards and two scores in any game last season, the former Jet accomplished exactly that in one half against New Orleans.Now, with the right coach and the right weapons, he has a realistic shot to be everything we expected in 2018. And then some.Sunday’s GamesRaiders 26, Steelers 17: Derek Carr has secretively been a top 10 quarterback for a while now and he made one of the best defenses in the NFL look silly. If this is the real Henry Ruggs III, the Raiders’ offense may be here to stay, too. He’s not dinking and dunking all game as you might’ve thought — Carr has developed incredible touch on his deep ball.Henry Ruggs III caught a 61-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr in the fourth quarter of the Raiders’ 26-17 win over the Steelers.Philip G. Pavely/USA Today Sports, via ReutersBears 20, Bengals 17: Nine quarterback hits, four sacks, three interceptions, one pick-6. Let’s pray the Bengals aren’t ruining Joe Burrow off that torn ACL.49ers 17, Eagles 11: Jalen Reagor juuust stepped out of bounds running his route before hauling in a deep touchdown that would’ve completely changed the complexion of this game. Instead, San Francisco recovered to grind out the win.Browns 31, Texas 21: Baker Mayfield shouldn’t try to lay anybody out after his next interception. After giving locals a scare with a shoulder injury — a familiar feeling in Cleveland — the quarterback bounced back to finish 19 of 21 for 213 yards with one rushing score and one passing score.Rams 27, Colts 24: It wasn’t pretty but this is also why Sean McVay traded for Matthew Stafford. The longtime Lions starter is used to rallying his offense in the fourth quarter, and he needed to on Sunday.Broncos 23, Jaguars 13: No Jerry Jeudy, no problem. This Denver offense hummed right along with Courtland Sutton (nine receptions for 159 yards) stepping up as Teddy Bridgewater’s go-to guy. Like Darnold in Carolina, Teddy B in Denver is looking like a steal.Buccaneers 48, Falcons 25: A year ago, this offense was in disarray. Tom Brady wanted one offense. Bruce Arians wanted another. Now? Tampa Bay is already scoring at will and that’s a scary thought. Ten different players accounted for 24 completions as Brady threw five touchdowns in all. Until further notice, the Bucs are the team to beat.Cardinals 34, Vikings 33: When the Vikings decided to re-up Kirk Cousins one year ago, it meant embracing a total rebuild on defense. Mike Zimmer’s entire unit underwent a youth movement for the team to simply get under the cap. And while the Covid-19 pandemic provided an understandable excuse for last year’s issues — and there were plenty — there’s no excuse for how bad Minnesota’s defense has looked through two games. Zimmer has work to do.Titans 33, Seahawks 30 (Overtime): Weird things happen in Seattle. Always. None of us should be surprised that the Titans erased a 24-9 lead in a hostile environment to win. As ugly as the first six quarters to their season were, this remains an offense overflowing with weapons and Derrick Henry isn’t showing the slightest signs of wear and tear. The workhorse back bashed Seattle for 182 yards on 35 carries with three touchdowns. More

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      Carl Nassib Made History, but Also a Big Play

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      Last week Nassib, 28, became the first openly gay player to compete in an N.F.L. game. Teammates, the news media and observers casually noted the feat, then cheered his game-changing play.One of the most significant cultural milestones in the recent history of North American sports occurred with about as much pomp and circumstance as a shrug of the shoulders.No openly gay player had ever competed in a regular-season game in the N.F.L.’s 102-year history until Sept. 13, when Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib strode onto the field just as he had done in every game of his six-year pro career.Amid the pageantry of a Monday Night Football game, Nassib’s barrier-breaking moment took a back seat to the Raiders’ ceremonial opening of their new jet-black, $2 billion stadium to fans. The biggest acknowledgment of Nassib’s feat came from some attendants wearing his No. 94 jersey, not from any other orchestrated gesture.On Sunday, he will do it again as the Raiders play the Steelers, with Nassib and the team making a concerted effort to take what he has achieved in stride and leaving it to others to discern and dissect whether a significant cultural shift has occurred in the league.Experts on diversity and inclusion in sports said that was how it should be.“I think the fact that it wasn’t a distraction is a very positive sign,” said Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. “This is a sign of how much this has been accepted and that there was not a big fuss being made.”On June 21, Nassib, came out as gay in a video posted to his Instagram account, saying he had internalized his sexuality as a secret for 15 years. The one-minute video, filmed outside of his home in West Chester, Pa., ignited a flurry of congratulatory messages on social media, including from his N.F.L. peers, celebrities and President Biden. Nassib’s jersey became the top-seller in the N.F.L. withing 24 hours, according to Fanatics, the league’s e-commerce partner.Before Nassib, 15 players in league history identified as gay or bisexual, according to Outsports, a news website that covers L.G.B.T.Q. athletes and issues in sports. But unlike Nassib, they either announced their sexuality after their playing days had ended or had never appeared in a regular-season game.Nassib’s hit on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in overtime gave the Raiders possession with less than five minutes remaining. David Becker/Associated PressAhead of the season’s start, Nassib said he would donate $100,000 to the Trevor Project, a crisis intervention organization for L.G.B.T.Q. youth. He contacted he organization about two months before his Instagram post to discuss a plan, said Amit Paley, the Trevor Project’s executive director. In their conversations, Paley said Nassib wanted to raise awareness of L.G.B.T.Q. issues rather than just focus the spotlight on himself.Forty percent of the more than 60,000 L.G.B.T.Q. youth respondents in a 2020 Trevor Project survey said they had contemplated suicide, and 68 percent of respondents in another survey conducted by the organization released this month said they had not participated in sports for their school or community club for fear of discrimination.As Nassib’s post spread, traffic to the Trevor Project’s website increased by over 350 percent, and the organization received at least $225,000 in pledged donations by the end of that week.“I think Carl really didn’t want this to be a big deal, and hopefully one day it isn’t a big deal when someone comes out,” Paley said in an interview. “But clearly it was a big deal to come out and be the first in this way.”Things quieted as training camp began a month later. Nassib’s jersey no longer tops league sales, but it remains in the top five among Raiders players, according to Fanatics.He declined multiple interview requests and spoke publicly only once before the first game. Against the Baltimore Ravens, Nassib played 44 percent of the defensive snaps in a rotational role, making three tackles. But in overtime, he collided with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for a sack and forced a fumble that the Raiders’ defense recovered. The offense scored a walk-off touchdown to win the game, 33-27, two plays later.Nassib, now on his third team since the Cleveland Browns drafted him in 2016, led the nation with 15.5 sacks at Penn State as a senior and won the Lombardi Award as the nation’s best lineman. He tries to remember things from every game, he said, but he especially savored the Monday night win.“It was really special,” Nassib said in a postgame news conference. “I’m really happy that we got the win on the day that kind of made a little bit of history.”“It was really special,” Nassib said in a postgame news conference. “I’m really happy that we got the win on the day that kind of made a little bit of history.”Rick Scuteri/Associated PressHis teammates did not mention Nassib’s historic role in the win. Coach Jon Gruden complimented only his performance on the field. Defensive end Maxx Crosby did, too, saying simply, “Carl’s a baller and I am proud of the guy.”ESPN, the network which broadcast the game, also treated Nassib’s achievement subtly. It aired a 28-second video in the third quarter with clips of his Instagram video and a few pictures. On an alternate broadcast on ESPN2 featuring retired N.F.L. quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, the former N.B.A. player Charles Barkley appeared as a guest and wore Nassib’s jersey.The nonchalant attitude of the coverage in some ways mimicked the reception of other male pro athletes who played their first games after coming out. The former N.B.A. player Jason Collins received modest applause from an opposing crowd when he entered a game for the Nets in 2014, 10 months after announcing that he was gay. But there was no other form of acknowledgment inside the arena, and Collins and his teammates downplayed the moment to the news media.Robbie Rogers, the first M.L.S. player to appear in a game while openly gay, said things felt “normal” amid a typical atmosphere for a Los Angeles Galaxy game in 2013.Nassib in August said his teammates had supported him since he came out. The Raiders did not make any players available for comment, but quarterback Derek Carr, who said his locker is only a few spots away from Nassib’s, said during training camp that he had not seen anything to dispute that.“When he came in, I just like to watch, and not one person from my point of view has treated him any different,” Carr said.Amy Trask, the former Raiders’ chief executive, said that fits tradition for a team that has historically embraced diversity. In 1997, she became the first woman chief executive in the N.F.L. Tom Flores, who is Mexican American, was the first Latino coach in the N.F.L. to win a Super Bowl, winning two with the Raiders, in the 1980 and 1983 seasons. The team also drafted Eldridge Dickey, the first Black quarterback taken in the first round, in 1968, when the Raiders played in the A.F.L.“He went out and did his job, the way anyone would want any player to do his job,” said Amy Trask, the former Raiders’ chief executive.David Becker/Associated PressTrask said she did not focus on the history she made during her first day or whether her colleagues would change the way they acted toward her. She is not surprised at how Nassib and the Raiders handled last week.“This is an organization that has a track record of hiring without regard to race, gender or any other individuality which has no bearing whatsoever on whether one can do a job,” Trask said in an interview. “It’s very, very special, from my perspective, that Carl is a Raider.“He went out and did his job, the way anyone would want any player to do his job,” she added.If he continues to do the job well, said Wayne Mabry, arguably the Raiders’ most recognizable fan, Nassib’s sexuality would not change how he views the player. For nearly 30 years, Mabry, nicknamed, “The Violator,” attended almost every Raiders home game dressed as a pirate with black-and-silver face paint, leather boots and spiked shoulder pads.It was a tribute he said was inspired partly by the team’s colloquial reputation as the “Bad Boys” of the league. It is irrelevant, he said, that a gay player is on a team with such a historically gritty perception.“Warriors come in all shapes and sizes,” Mabry, 64, said. “It’s about what you bring to the table. As long as he can help us win, he’s a warrior to me.” More

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      The Raiders Thought They’d Won. But They Hadn’t. Until They Did.

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      A wild Monday night victory gives Las Vegas a victory, and leaves Baltimore wondering about one that got away.Anyone watching the Baltimore Ravens-Las Vegas Raiders game on Monday night got their money’s worth in the first 60 minutes.The underdog Raiders fell behind by 14-0, then rallied to go toe-to-toe with the Super Bowl-contending Ravens all night. Marcus Mariota turned upfield for a 30-yard gain on a keeper. Derek Carr led three game-tying drives in the fourth quarter alone. And Daniel Carlson kicked a 55-yard field goal with two seconds left.But it was the overtime that followed Carlson’s kick that made this game one to remember.The Raiders got the ball first, and Carr took the team down the field again on a drive that culminated in an apparent winning touchdown pass to Bryan Edwards. The crowd, attending a regular-season game for the first time since the team moved to Las Vegas, celebrated. Some Raiders players ran to the locker room. But replay officials judged that Edwards should have been ruled down before he crossed the line, and the team had to slink back onto the field.Carr to Edwards BIG TIME. Down to the goal line! 📺: #BALvsLV on ESPN/ABC📱: https://t.co/NS3IxESidh pic.twitter.com/oOeWRONaCi— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2021
      Still, the Raiders had first-and-goal at the 1. The game was surely almost over.Carr’s sneak on first down turned into a rugby scrum that went nowhere, and then the Raiders managed a false start. With the ball back at the 5, Carr tried a pass, but it bounced off the helmet of the Ravens’ DeShon Elliott, took a wild carom and was intercepted by Anthony Averett.Now the Ravens had their shot. But as Lamar Jackson dropped back to pass he was hit by Carl Nassib and fumbled. The Raiders were back in business.After a 1-yard run to the Ravens 26, it was still only second down. But Coach Jon Gruden sent out the field goal team to win it right there. Unfortunately, some of the team seemed far from ready. The result was a delay-of-game penalty.“Our kicker was warming up in the net; no one could find him,” was the startling postgame confession from Gruden.After the penalty, Gruden decided to bring the Raiders offense out again. And Carr immediately made everyone forget the field goal debacle with a lofted pass to a bizarrely wide-open Zay Jones for the touchdown. Final score: Raiders 33, Ravens 27.“I felt like I died and woke up,” Gruden said. “And died again. I was like a cat. I had multiple lives tonight. I don’t like playing like that.”For the Ravens, widely considered Super Bowl contenders this season, it was a near miss that stung.“That loss hurt, definitely,” Jackson said. “That game could have gone any way tonight.” The Ravens had not blown a 14-point lead since 2004.The result may not convince anyone that the Raiders, who were 8-8 last season, are for real. But after the game Gruden saw the bottom line with a quote from the longtime Raiders owner Al Davis.With a smile he said: “It’s like they say here. Just win baby.” More

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      Raiders Go the Extra Mile to Beat the Ravens

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      A wild Monday night victory gives Las Vegas a victory, and leaves Baltimore wondering about one that got away.Anyone watching the Baltimore Ravens-Las Vegas Raiders game on Monday night got their money’s worth in the first 60 minutes.The underdog Raiders fell behind by 14-0, then rallied to go toe-to-toe with the Super Bowl-contending Ravens all night. Marcus Mariota turned upfield for a 30-yard gain on a keeper. Derek Carr led three game-tying drives in the fourth quarter alone. And Daniel Carlson kicked a 55-yard field goal with two seconds left.But it was the overtime that followed Carlson’s kick that made this game one to remember.The Raiders got the ball first, and Carr took the team down the field again on a drive that culminated in an apparent winning touchdown pass to Bryan Edwards. The crowd, attending a regular-season game for the first time since the team moved to Las Vegas, celebrated. Some Raiders players ran to the locker room. But replay officials judged that Edwards should have been ruled down before he crossed the line, and the team had to slink back onto the field.Carr to Edwards BIG TIME. Down to the goal line! 📺: #BALvsLV on ESPN/ABC📱: https://t.co/NS3IxESidh pic.twitter.com/oOeWRONaCi— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2021
      Still, the Raiders had first-and-goal at the 1. The game was surely almost over.Carr’s sneak on first down turned into a rugby scrum that went nowhere, and then the Raiders managed a false start. With the ball back at the 5, Carr tried a pass, but it bounced off the helmet of the Ravens’ DeShon Elliott, took a wild carom and was intercepted by Anthony Averett.Now the Ravens had their shot. But as Lamar Jackson dropped back to pass he was hit by Carl Nassib and fumbled. The Raiders were back in business.After a 1-yard run to the Ravens 26, it was still only second down. But Coach Jon Gruden sent out the field goal team to win it right there. Unfortunately, some of the team seemed far from ready. The result was a delay-of-game penalty.“Our kicker was warming up in the net; no one could find him,” was the startling postgame confession from Gruden.After the penalty, Gruden decided to bring the Raiders offense out again. And Carr immediately made everyone forget the field goal debacle with a lofted pass to a bizarrely wide-open Zay Jones for the touchdown. Final score: Raiders 33, Ravens 27.“I felt like I died and woke up,” Gruden said. “And died again. I was like a cat. I had multiple lives tonight. I don’t like playing like that”For the Ravens, widely considered Super Bowl contenders this season, it was a near miss that stung.“That loss hurt, definitely,” Jackson said. “That game could have gone any way tonight.” The Ravens had not blown a 14-point lead since 2004.The result may not convince anyone that the Raiders, who were 8-8 last season, are for real. But after the game Gruden saw the bottom line with a quote from the longtime Raiders owner Al Davis.With a smile he said: “It’s like they say here. Just win baby.” More

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      Randall Cunningham Is Back in the N.F.L. … as Raiders Chaplain

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Great ReadRandall Cunningham Is Back in the N.F.L. … as Raiders Chaplain“I want to preach myself into a Super Bowl ring.”Randall Cunningham spoke to the congregation from the pulpit at Remnant Ministries in Las Vegas last week.Credit…Saeed Rahbaran for The New York TimesDec. 31, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ETDespite his best efforts, Randall Cunningham just can’t retire from football. A former quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings, he tried walking away from the game twice, dabbling in a variety of activities to fill the void.“Going golfing and going to the movies, and concerts or boxing matches,” Cunningham said. “It got boring.”After his second retirement from the N.F.L., in 2002, Cunningham settled in Las Vegas permanently, and became an ordained pastor two years later. With his wife, Felicity, the couple began their own church, Remnant Ministries, where Cunningham gives three services every Sunday to a small live audience and, he estimated, around 4,000 online viewers. In the meantime, he has also coached their two children: Vashti and Randall II are both Olympic team hopefuls in track and field.But this past summer, when the Raiders also settled in the city from Oakland, Calif., football came knocking once again. The team’s head coach, Jon Gruden, had an idea about luring Cunningham back — as the Raiders’ chaplain. “That guy warms my heart,” Gruden said. “He is special. He has a great way of spreading the Lord’s word, he is a great resource and great friend to all of us.”The newly built Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where the Raiders play.Credit…Saeed Rahbaran for The New York TimesGruden, who was Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator in Cunningham’s final season there, said, “To be reunited with him at this point in life is really cool.”No other N.F.L. team has as its spiritual adviser a former superstar player, but both men insist that Cunningham, famed for being a progenitor of the modern game’s dual-threat quarterback role, maintains a singular focus in his new role. “I coach them in the spiritual aspects of life, and that’s it,” Cunningham said.The reality of Cunningham’s first season as Raiders chaplain has been plenty different from the hands-on pastoring and locker room camaraderie that have been made impossible this season because of the N.F.L.’s Covid-19 protocol.“I haven’t had the opportunity to slap Zay Jones a high-five, or hug Alec Ingold, or give a fist bump to Darren Waller,” Cunningham said. Instead, Cunningham stays in touch through phone calls and texts. He hosts a 7 p.m. Bible study on a video call the night before games where, sometimes, football seeps into the message.The night before the second game of the season, when the New Orleans Saints visited, Cunningham focused on the original underdog story — David’s battle with Goliath. “I said, ‘Man, here comes Goliath, the great champion from Gath, all the accolades and all the victories,’” Cunningham recalled. “Drew Brees is the man, so is the coach, but you have to take Goliath down.”As he spoke to the Raiders players on the video call that night, Cunningham was so focused on the story of young David knocking out the giant with a slingshot, that he kept accidentally calling Derek Carr, the team’s starting quarterback, David (the name of his older brother, who is a retired N.F.L. quarterback).The day after Cunningham talked to the team about the story of David and Goliath, Derek Carr threw three touchdowns to upset the New Orleans Saints in a September game.Credit…Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesThe next day, Derek Carr played like the biblical David, throwing three touchdown passes and leading the Raiders to a 34-24 victory in their first game at home in Las Vegas. “It felt like I had affected them in a way that gave them a little confidence,” Cunningham said. “Not false confidence, but to give them true confidence to go out and be who they are.”Carr talked to Cunningham on the phone on his drive home from the stadium after sustaining a serious groin injury in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers this month. The Raiders starter left the must-win Thursday night game in the first quarter and watched his team lose in overtime from the sideline, their playoff hopes almost completely dashed. Together, they prayed for healing.The Raiders did not make any players available for comment, but Carr’s agent, Timothy Younger, said in an email to The New York Times that Carr and Cunningham have “an extremely close relationship, and Derek recognizes his own growth this year due in large part to Randall’s help.”In a text message via his agent, Raiders receiver Nelson Agholor said: “Randall is amazing. The same passion he played with, he preaches with.” In his playing days, Cunningham loved being a star and redefining what it meant to play quarterback with each mad dash. In the 1990 season, Cunningham passed for 3,466 yards and 30 touchdowns, and also rushed for 942 yards and five touchdowns.He drove a Porsche, buddied up with celebrities, and dressed in bold outfits that his Eagles teammate Keith Byars compared to Michael Jackson’s style.Cunningham regularly made headlines in Philadelphia for quotations that could come off as selfish and cast doubt on his leadership ability. After he evaded a Bruce Smith sack and threw an improbable 95-yard touchdown pass in a losing effort against the Buffalo Bills in 1990, Cunningham said, “Sometimes I do amaze myself.”Byars said he often had to act as a mediator between his quarterback and members of the defense who took issue with Cunningham’s comments. “When Randall first came into the league, he was in a cocoon and waiting to expand who he was,” Byars said. “You can’t help others until you help yourself, and get to know yourself. And so, that’s what Randall was going through early in his football career, still knowing who he was.”Cunningham grew up in Santa Barbara, Calif., going to church on Sundays, but it wasn’t until he came out of retirement for the first time in 1997, after spending a year away from the game following 11 seasons in Philadelphia, that he became serious about his faith.He had spent the time off running a building supply company and serving as an analyst for TV broadcasts. But on a vacation in Hawaii with his family, Cunningham realized he wasn’t cut out for a life of leisure.In his playing days in Philadelphia and Minnesota, Cunningham loved being a superstar athlete and redefining what it meant to play quarterback with each mad dash. Credit…Otto Greule Jr./Getty Images“It was beautiful, but there came a time when it was like, ‘Wow, is this what life is?’” he said. “Just drinking iced tea and having a nice meal and working out every day?”Cunningham returned to the league with Minnesota in 1997 and became involved with the Vikings’ team ministry. He said he started praying between plays and during commercial breaks: “Lord, I am about to launch this ball to Randy Moss. Please let him catch it for a touchdown.”After the 2001 season, his final one as a player, Cunningham went back to Las Vegas and continued to lead a Bible study he had started there a few years earlier.“He is one of the favorite sons here in Las Vegas,” Gruden said of Cunningham, who set passing records that still stand during his college career 40 years ago at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It didn’t take long for his ministry to take off.“The next thing you know, we had 90 people in the Bible study,” Cunningham recalled, “and my pastor said, ‘This is not a Bible study, it’s a church.’”Cunningham says he does not want to get into coaching or any front office roles, but he does confess to bigger ambitions for his work as team chaplain.A missed field-goal attempt stopped Cunningham from making it to a Super Bowl with the Vikings in the 1998 season, the best year of his career. He won just two of seven playoff games with the Eagles, never advancing past the divisional round. The Raiders are officially out of postseason contention this year, but now that he is back in the N.F.L., Cunningham has his eye on that elusive Lombardi Trophy.“I want to preach myself into a Super Bowl ring,” he said.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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