Panel chooses Flores as finalist
Ex-coach nearing enshrinement in Pro Hall of Fame
Former Raiders coach Tom Flores is one step closer to enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The two-time Super Bowl-winning coach was named a finalist by the Hall of Fame’s Coach Committee in a virtual meeting on Tuesday and will be on the ballot for the class of 2021.
Flores, the first Hispanic head coach in the NFL, must receive at least 80 percent support from the 48-member selection committee, which will conduct its annual meeting on Feb. 6, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.
He has been a finalist on multiple occasions, including in the balloting for the Centennial Class earlier this year.
Flores posted a career record of 105-90, including the postseason, during stints with the Raiders in both Oakland and Los Angeles, as well as three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.
It was his time with the Raiders that earned him consideration for the Hall of Fame. He went 83-53 over nine regular seasons with the franchise and added an 8-3 mark in the playoffs.
Flores, who won three AFC West titles with the Raiders, guided them to championships in the 1980 and 1983 seasons.
He is second to Hall of Famer John Madden in wins as coach of the Raiders and joined Mike Ditka as the only two to win Super Bowls as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
The Coach Committee selected Flores, one of eight head coaches to win a Super Bowl within his first two seasons and one of three to win one with the team for which he played,
from a group of six finalists.
Sound of silence
The New England Patriots announced Tuesday they would play their home games in front of no fans for at least the month of September. New England is scheduled to host the Raiders on Sept. 27.
While Raiders’ owner Mark Davis has announced home games at Allegiant Stadium would be empty throughout the season, quarterback Derek Carr said he is still preparing to deal with crowd noise at some road games this season.
“I know there will be noise,” he said Tuesday. “Most of these stadiums pump it in anyway and they don’t tell you about it. All of the sudden it’s loud, and you look around and you can’t hear anything, and yet no one’s screaming in the stands. So we’ll see. … We don’t get the fans, so we’ve got to bring our own energy, our own juice.”
The Raiders got a brief taste of it during Tuesday’s practice when simulated crowd noise was played on the loudspeakers during one of the offense versus defense periods.
On the field
Veteran defensive back Lamarcus
Joyner almost had a perfect ending to his Tuesday practice.
He stepped in front of a Nate Peterman pass and nearly made an acrobatic interception on his last 11on-11 rep of the day. Joyner dropped it, but drew congratulations from his teammates for the pass breakup.
Earlier in the session, Erik Harris was able to secure an interception on an on-target Peterman pass that was bobbled into the air by Nelson Agholor along the sideline.
Tight end Darren Waller secured a pass on a 15-yard out route from Carr and turned it upfield for a long touchdown. Zay Jones caught a deep sideline pass from Marcus Mariota in tight coverage.
Right tackle Trent Brown was absent once again.
Transactions
The Raiders on Tuesday formally activated running back Rod Smith from the COVID-19 reserve list. He was in pads and practiced with the team. In a corresponding move, defensive back Ken Crawley was waived.