An open letter to fans from Raiders captain Alec Ingold

An unfastened missive to Las Vegas from Raiders squad skipper Alec Ingold:

Losing your caput coach successful the mediate of the play sucks.

Losing a superstar teammate successful a tragedy sucks.

Tearing your ACL sucks.

Watching your guys suffer 5 of the adjacent six games from the sofa sucks.

You cognize what doesn’t suck?

Being a fullback for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Moving crossed the state to the godforsaken hasn’t been casual for immoderate of us. Some of the guys moved retired to Henderson, immoderate successful Summerlin, but we’ve each felt welcome. Sure, our jerseys aren’t up successful the stores similar the Golden Knights. And we definite don’t person arsenic galore licence plates driving astir municipality either. But I deliberation we’re conscionable getting to cognize each other, you know?

It’s lone been 1 twelvemonth since y’all person been successful the stadium and seen america for real, truthful I get that there’s immoderate getting utilized to. Let maine formally present america … we person immoderate catching up to do.

The 2021 Raiders person been a squad of adversity and tragedy, nary uncertainty astir that. Our caput manager was forced to resign aft an email ungraded and the archetypal prime of our 2020 draught people was successful a fatal car accident. There’s been header aft header astir mistakes made by the guys successful metallic and achromatic this season.

Let maine shed immoderate airy connected guys you tin cheer for this Sunday.

We person a quarterback who is successful the mediate of commercialized rumors each clip helium throws an interception, conscionable to travel it up with a game-winning thrust connected his mode to being statistically the champion to bash it for the Raiders.

We person a wide receiver who gets made amusive of for looking similar your precocious schoolhouse shot coach, lone to extremity up snatching the ankles of your favourite DB each azygous Sunday.

We person a defensive lineman with a nationwide intelligence wellness initiative who happens to beryllium an implicit baller connected the field.

We person 2 squad captains present publically sober aft dealing with their own stone bottoms and using their platforms for the greater bully of the community.

We person a Pro Bowl punter, who started his vocation arsenic a tryout, and an Ice Man of a kicker, who was chopped a fewer years agone who present marque up 1 of the champion peculiar teams units successful the full league.

The database is endless. We’re a clump of underdogs. A clump of guys with chips connected our shoulders. A squad that’s grown unneurotic arsenic thing much than conscionable the sum of its parts. We’ve gotten amended unneurotic done each of the adversity of 2021.

So wherefore is immoderate fullback connected IR penning this unfastened letter? I conscionable person a fewer things to get disconnected my thorax earlier seeing my guys strap it up 1 past clip successful Allegiant Stadium this season.

I privation to fto you cognize that being a skipper of the 2021 Las Vegas Raiders has been the biggest grant of my life. That’s nary exaggeration. This radical of men trusted maine to pb and to correspond them with a C connected my chest. That’s been the worst portion astir having a season-ending injury. I can’t spot the occupation done to the extremity connected Sundays. But I’ll beryllium damned if I can’t amusement up each time to 1475 Raiders Way and bash my part.

I emotion going to work. We each do. It’s a weird dynamic, and this play has had its just stock of tragedy, but thing is antithetic erstwhile you get wrong that building. The extracurricular sound conscionable seems to deed mute erstwhile we’re successful there. Most of the time.

When we were 3-0 and connected apical of the world, each of the pats connected the backmost stopped astatine the door.

When we mislaid Coach Gruden to the WFT email scandal, determination were astir a cardinal texts and calls that seemingly went soundless astatine work.

When we were sitting astatine 5-2 astatine the bye week, everyone showed up acceptable to enactment conscionable arsenic hard arsenic week 1.

Then Ruggs got into the accident. Thoughts and prayers to everyone involved. To the young pistillate who mislaid her beingness and to her family. That was bone-shattering to this community. As a squad we mislaid a brother, a bully antheral who made a unspeakable mistake. Losing Ruggs was bigger than football. It wasn’t astir the plays we were going to miss connected the field, it was astir the nonaccomplishment of a life. It was the large aboriginal we each had a manus successful impacting connected a regular ground that we couldn’t beryllium determination for successful the aforesaid mode anymore. How successful the hellhole are you expected to play shot aft that?

We spell connected to suffer 5 of the adjacent six games.

There are nary excuses, that’s conscionable the world of the situation. Momentum works a mates of ways and we fto immoderate atrocious momentum deed america hard. A fig of guys went down with injuries, COVID ran done the building, and unfortunate turnovers and intelligence mistakes came up connected Sundays. We couldn’t look to halt the bleeding. But cipher stopped working.

The losses felt bad, determination was adjacent a feline extracurricular of 1475 Raiders Way with a container implicit his caput and a motion letting america cognize “Raiders fans merit better.” I archer you what, that feline was adjacent to the gathering … but helium wasn’t inside. There was a consciousness of combat and urgency each time successful that facility. It mightiness person seemed unspeakable connected the outside, but connected the wrong we were inactive connected the details each day. For immoderate crushed it conscionable wasn’t clicking the mode it utilized to.

I consciousness similar everyone is expecting immoderate travel to Jesus moment, oregon immoderate magical code that saved the season. But it didn’t enactment similar that. Nothing magical happened astatine 1475 Raiders Way. Guys conscionable showed up and worked. We ne'er stopped working. Roles changed, players stepped up, coaches held the line, and we each held 1 different to a modular time successful and time out. We were fixed a prime heading into the past 4 weeks to either drawback the enactment oregon fto go. Every crippled from present connected retired was fundamentally a playoff game.

The boys astatine 1475 Raiders Way grabbed the rope.

I’ve been watching and learning a batch during rehab. I’ve watched teammates marque Pro Bowls, Maxx Crosby crook into a superstar, Zay Jones marque plays week successful and week out, a young violative enactment make and find an identity, Josh Jacobs conflict done immoderate ribs (something I’m mode excessively acquainted with), the full defence unopen down opponents from kickoff until triple overtime, my guys have won fundamentally 3 consecutive playoff games. I’ve watched this team, 1 by one, drawback the rope.

It’s been a chaotic 2021 play afloat of calamity and adversity extracurricular of 1475 Raiders Way. But inside, it’s been filled with accountability, subject and relentless effort. The details haven’t slipped and the modular remained the standard. There was nary pointing fingers, lone looking successful mirrors. There’s been ultimate ownership of each of our successes and failures. Every triumph and each loss, and humility to ever improve.

We person one much crippled coming up this Sunday night. One past accidental guaranteed. It’s going to beryllium a bully one. All of Vegas volition beryllium determination for it. The crippled won’t beryllium won by a azygous superstar making a play that’s ne'er been made before. Raider Nation knows it volition astir apt travel down to a last-minute script with each of america watching stressed beyond belief. No substance however this crippled ends connected Sunday, I cognize 1 happening is for sure, the guys volition combat relentlessly til the bitter extremity for 1 another.

All of that to accidental this. We request you Raider Nation, we request you Las Vegas. We’ve been done a lot, but we’ve got 1 much crippled to win, and it’s each hands connected deck. It doesn’t substance if you’re watching successful Henderson oregon Lake Las Vegas, downtown Summerlin oregon North Vegas, we request each of you.

Al Davis said, “The greatness of the Raiders lies successful their future.”

The aboriginal of the Raiders starts now.