tim brown
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Raiders Hall of Famer Tim Brown.
When the Las Vegas Raiders introduced Klint Kubiak as the franchise’s next head coach, many team legends sat up at the podium with Kubiak during the press conference. Marcus Allen, Howie Long, Mike Haynes, Rich Gannon, Jim Plunkett and Charles Woodson sat alongside the coach as he described his vision for the team.
There are many legends among the Raiders alumni, but fans did notice one notable absence. Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown was not among the attendees. Brown is one of the greatest players in franchise history and is often referred to as “Mr. Raider.”
He’s remained very close with the franchise since retiring, so it was odd that he wouldn’t have been invited to Kubiak’s presser. This led fans to speculate that he might not have a great relationship with owner Mark Davis.
However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Brown took to social media to reveal that he was invited to the press conference, but simply couldn’t make it to Las Vegas.
“Raider Nation, I’m getting a lot of feedback about me not being at the press conference,” Brown wrote on X. “I did get the invite but just couldn’t make it work! Mark and I are good!!”
Howie Long Has Advice for Raiders
The Raiders do a lot of things poorly, but the one thing they do well is take care of their former players. Not many teams would fly out their legends to attend a press conference for a new head coach.
Howie Long is arguably the greatest defensive player in franchise history. He had some advice for Kubiak and the Raiders.
“Offensive line’s an issue; defensive front has to be better. I played against this coach’s dad. We all played against his dad. And if I were going to hire a coach, you think about their family, that system, that scheme is the predominant scheme [in the NFL today],” Long said, per Paul Gutierrez of Raiders.com. “There are different variations of it – (Sean) McVay runs it one way. (Kyle) Shanahan runs it another way. The guy in Minnesota (Kevin O’Connell) runs it another way. This is the new … world order of offense. How do we get there? Build from within – both from the defensive front and the offensive front.”
Kubiak Not Intimidated by Raiders’ History
For a young first-time head coach, it could be a bit intimidating to be surrounded by all of these legends and Hall of Famers on your first day on the job. However, Kubiak grew up in a football family and has been around many legendary players in his life.
Having all of those legendary players around him fired him up more than intimidated him.
“It’s not daunting at all; it’s a blessing,” Kubiak said during his introductory press conference. “That’s what you want to be. That’s what I want our players to want to achieve.
“I want them to see these guys, be surrounded by these guys, because that’s what their goals should be – win Super Bowls. The MVPs and Hall of Fame, that takes care of itself when the team wins. So, that’s what we’re going to be about, winning.”