Richie Incognito Feels Signing With Raiders Was Chance At ‘Redemption’
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Ever since Jon Gruden signed a 10-year contract to return to being the head coach of the Oakland Raiders last year, he is made it known that his main focus is on changing the culture within the organization to get back to winning.

It became clear pretty quickly that was going to take a little while to come to fruition, but just one year later, there is already optimism within the organization about what Gruden is building.

The Raiders had a very strong offseason in which they added a lot of talent to the organization through trades, free agent signings and the NFL Draft.

One of those signings was veteran offensive lineman Richie Incognito, who raised a lot of questions around the league when Oakland signed him due to his past. Incognito has gotten into his fair share of trouble, even recently being given a two-game suspension for the start of the 2019 season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, and that may not be ideal for a young roster that is trying to build a winning culture.

With Training Camp getting underway though, Incognito seems motivated to put the past behind him. After being out of the league completely in 2018, he feels signing with the Raiders is his last chance to turn things around, via Jerry McDonald of The Mercury News:

“It’s about redemption,” Incognito said. “It’s about Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden and the Raiders giving me an opportunity. I want to make it right. I want to make it positive for everybody. I want to come in, contribute, be a team leader, and rewrite the ending.”

In addition to Incognito, the Raiders also brought in some other veterans whose character has come into question throughout their careers, namely Antonio Brown and Vontaze Burfict. Incognito believes the whole team is more motivated than ever to prove the doubters wrong this season:

“From the outside looking in, there are a lot of storylines,” Incognito said. “Signing me, Antonio, Vontaze . . . but you get around ’em and you see Antonio’s hunger for football and how passionate he is. You get around a guy like Vontaze and you see what a work ethic he has and knowledge of the game . . . I think guys that get around me, they see something different than what they’ve read in the headlines.”

When he returns from his suspension, Incognito is expected to be the Raiders starting left guard. Oakland’s schedule is not easy, but they should be a lot more competitive than last season when they finished 4-12.