3 strangest players we ever saw in a Las Vegas Raiders uniform

Strangest Raiders of all time: 1. Jason Witten

There are few ends of careers that were as strange as Jason Witten’s. After 15 years with the Dallas Cowboys, the star tight end left football to join the broadcast booth with Monday Night Football. That went about as bad as it possibly could have. He eventually sprinted back to the Cowboys, continuing his football career.

Witten was alright in that twilight year in Dallas. He had 63 catches for 529 yards and four touchdowns. That turned into a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders worth close to $5 million. It was the year impacted by the COVID-19 virus, so there was already a strange cloud over the season. This ended up being one of the worst statistical seasons of a star player ever.

Witten had just 69 yards on the season. He didn’t miss a game, he was just ineffective. Darren Waller was a budding superstar, so Witten didn’t have to be that effective. However, the back of his football card will always have this incredibly strange season where he couldn’t break 70 yards.

In all seriousness, Witten should have never signed with a team that wasn’t the Cowboys. He said at the time of his signing that he “picked the Raiders because they’re a historic franchise.” That’s an interesting reason to join a team (although, we imagine the contract had a lot to do with it). Witten was a failure in Vegas. We’re curious if it would have gone differently if it wasn’t for the pandemic.