ALAMEDA – It was one of the more eventful and feel-good weeks in recent Silver and Blackdom lore.
• The Raiders shocked two-touchdown favorite Philadelphia last Sunday.
• On Tuesday, Oakland trumpeted the return of wide receiver Chaz Schilens from a broken left foot suffered in training camp.
• Coach Tom Cable learned Thursday that he would not face criminal charges for allegedly assaulting assistant Randy Hanson.
• And a mysterious, fast-moving flu bug seemed to be leaving the Raiders' locker room by Friday.
Yes, beating the Eagles was huge. But the latest locker room scuttlebutt was a bird of a decidedly different feather.
We're talking pigeons. Yes, real pigeons. War Pigeon, to be exact.
Maybe you didn't see the bird sticking out his beak on the field during most of the second half of the Eagles game (it was blacked out, as is today's affair against the New York Jets).
But you had to have seen the highlight where he joined the Raiders' kickoff coverage team after Sebastian Janikowski's 46-yard field goal gave Oakland a 13-6 lead with 10:25 remaining.
War Pigeon flew directly between and on a line with Michael Huff and Todd Watkins on the left flank, never leaving his lane. And when Quintin Demps was tackled at the Philadelphia 23-yard line, War Pigeon landed on the outside of the play, as if he were playing contain.
"Man, that was Marquis," offensive lineman Cornell Green howled last week. "That was Marquis' position."
Marquis is the late Marquis Cooper, the Raiders' special-teams star lost at sea in the Gulf of Mexico when his boat overturned Feb. 28. Two of Cooper's friends, Corey Smith and William Bleakley, also perished while Nick Schuyler survived.
Green is not the only Raider who thinks Cooper, whose Alameda locker remains intact, dropped in on them. Cooper's mother told another player she believed the same thing.
"I could see that," Watkins said. "It affects people in different ways, you know? (Louis) Murphy just recently lost his mother, and he said he thought that was her out there with us."
Added Huff: "There's a lot of different thoughts on that with the whole situation with Marquis because he's big on special teams, maybe one of the best special-team players that we had. That pretty much sums it up, him being out there helping us at a time when we needed him."
Hey, baseball's Los Angeles Angels have their Rally Monkey. Why can't the Raiders boast War Pigeon for inspiration?
"I got calls from everybody," Watkins said. "They were like, 'Man, that bird's more famous than you are.' He was good luck. I hope he comes back."
Huff, though, said Cooper played more on the inside on kickoff coverage than the position War Pigeon took.
"But still, it's just that extra spirit, that extra body out there," Huff said with sad smile. "I think it was him."
Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556, and read his Raiders blog and more on the team at sacbee.com/raiders.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.