We heard a lot from Mayock and Gruden about "foundational" pieces and building a "culture" and players with "high character". I am not sure the significance of that is really understood. There is a reason why all-star teams, though uber talented, often fail in sports when it comes to championships. Sure, the best teams have talent, you have to have it, but there is more to winning in professional sports than just talent alone.
We see in New England, yes, they have Tom Brady and had Gronk, Edelman, etc. At the same time, top to bottom, compare the names on the Patriots to that of the Rams and ask yourself, how does New England win so much and the Rams failed?
I'm a big hockey fan, my son plays travel Pee Wee hockey and right now as a Boston Bruins fan I'm crazy excited. They are going to the finals for the 3rd time in nine seasons. The all-star team was the Tampa Bay Lightning. The were the best team in the regular season, had the best record, got the #1 seed and have 4 of the best defensemen in the league (where you start 6). No one was supposed to beat them....until they got swept by the #8 seed team in round 1. First team to clinch a playoff berth, first one knocked out.
The Toronto Maple Leafs went out and got the best player available in the off-season to stock and already super talented offense...they lost to the Bruins. So here we are, the Bruins are going to the finals and we can ask why, and how does this matter to the Raiders? It matters because for the first time, I believe we have a front office that truly gets what it takes to win and to maintain that winning.
https://theathletic.com/982481/2019/...s-kind-of-run/