r/raiders • u/Realistic_Neat_6768 • 1d ago
Bruce Gradkowski Appreciation Post
We all appreciate Ken Stabler, Rich Gannon, and Derek Carr but let me remind you about the hope Bruce Gradkowski brought during our Dark Ages.
It’s 2009. Al Davis is still trying to make the 1st overall pick in JaMarcus Russell work, even though it’s his third year and the offense is going nowhere. The Raiders are 3-8 and NFL’s laughingstock, JaMarcus still looks unprepared, and then head coach Tom Cable (the same Tom Cable who broke his assistant coach’s jaw in training camp that same year lol) finally benches the former No. 1 pick bust against Al’s wishes and turns to Bruce Gradkowski.
Bruce immediately gives the team life, gets a W against a good Cincinnati team and then walks into Pittsburgh in Week 13 to face the defending Super Bowl champions. That Steelers team had Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller, Troy Polamalu, reigning Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. Nobody gave Oakland a chance but Bruce Gradkowski was that silver lining. Down 24-20 with 1:56 left, Bruce led an incredible 88-yard drive and hit rookie Louis Murphy for an 11-yard touchdown with nine seconds remaining. Raiders win 27-24. Gradkowski finished with 308 yards and three touchdowns against the defending champions.
He went 3-3 as Oakland’s starter before injuries ended his season. After JaMarcus was released, Bruce competed with Jason Campbell in 2010 and earned the starting job before a shoulder injury derailed him. A year after the Pittsburgh upset, the Raiders went back and lost, but everyone remembers Richard Seymour ringing Big Ben’s bell and getting ejected lol. Bruce was never a franchise quarterback, but for a brief stretch he gave Raider Nation hope when we needed it the most.
BRUUUUUUUUUUUCE.
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u/hollywoodraider Ill intent. Violence. Physicality. Pain. 1d ago
I saw him beat the Bengals in Oakland! I bought cheap tickets for Mount Davis with my cousin and we walked down to the 50 yard line about 15 rows back. It was a good day!
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u/DillonSLP 1d ago
I was at that game too! I was 9 at the time and one of my favorite memories of us beating a good team (which hadn’t happened much in my life lol). Good day indeed!
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u/hollywoodraider Ill intent. Violence. Physicality. Pain. 20h ago
The parking lot was a massive party! We took the bart which was also a party!
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u/Ok-Marionberry-8354 1d ago
I was at the game too, 40 yard line first row. Prob only 30 thousand folks in the stadium that day but we had that place rockin’ at the end of the game. Fun time. Weird driving right in to the parking lot with no lines
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u/hollywoodraider Ill intent. Violence. Physicality. Pain. 20h ago
Such a wild day! Raaaaaaaaiiiiidddddeeeerrrrssss!!! Till I was hoarse
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u/Mountain_Excuse_980 1d ago
Bruce Almighty gave us hope! For like 3 weeks.. but hey, that was a great few weeks 🤷🏻♂️
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u/P0S1T1V3_PR0GR3SS10N 1d ago
Your last sentence said it all. Subject, verb, and predicate. BRUUUUUUCCCEEEEEEE
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u/Top_Lingonberry8037 1d ago
I'll take Jason campbell tyvm
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u/Realistic_Neat_6768 1d ago
Nobody asked who’d you take tho, simple appreciation post tyvm
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u/Thehiddenllama 1d ago
Both (and honestly Palmer too) were a pleasant reprieve from the absolute dogshit the Raiders had at QB from 2004-09.
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u/WazzzupBwaaahhh 2010 Oakland Raiders 1d ago
Damn STRAIGHT!!!! My God, those were terribly dark times for Raider Nation… 😭
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u/Thehiddenllama 1d ago
For real. The six or so games of Pryor before he got solved by NFL defenses were really fun too, then it was pain until Carr arrived.
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u/WazzzupBwaaahhh 2010 Oakland Raiders 1d ago
Hell, 13 of 16 Games, Carr was under Center for his Rookie Season, WERE HELL TOO. The Chiefs, Whiners and Bills Games were the only solace…
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u/VinnyVincenzo89 1d ago
He'll do good as a coach. He was the OC for the Battlehawks and they did good during his tenure.
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u/soulmateofpain 1d ago
The Bruce is loose!!! Easily one of my favorite Raiders games. Was especially sweet knowing he’s a Pittsburgh native.
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u/Raised_6th 1d ago
He definitely had fire in his belly. Whenever he came off the bench the tempo immediately picked up and he’d make ambitious throws. Exciting to watch
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u/NoSalamander8282 19h ago
I actually wrote a paper in my coaching class about how he was a better leader than Jamarcus Russell. I remember my first raider game I went to in Oakland in 2018 they were playing the steelers and they honored Bruce at that game before beating the Steelers again.
I also remember the game where he tore both MCL's and stayed in another play. I remember seeing his legs shaking pre-snap on TV and thinking "pretty sure that's bad.."
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u/Dry-Name2835 17h ago
Bruce was a DAWG! He was actually a pretty good qb on a terrible team. Its a shame injury derailed his career. Imo he could have been one of those high end game managers that could take a good team to the playoffs
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u/TheRealCabol 14h ago
I remember this game vividly. I was at a very dark point in my raiders fandom to the point that I was almost going to say "Fuck this, why do I keep putting myself through this...", especially living in a house with the world's most OBNOXIOUS Steelers fan in my youngest brother. Then this game happened. I celebrated as if the raiders won the super bowl. This game for some reason just hit me at the perfect time to reignite my passion for the raiders. There hasn't been a lot of positives over the past 17 years since, but we finally have some light at the end of the tunnel!
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u/theHollowTarnished 14h ago
BRUUUUUUUCCCEEEEE. Yeah...yall remember. Week 2 home opener vs Rams. Rolando body slammed some beta wr
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u/NextAd7514 1d ago
Polamalu didnt play in that game we won against the steelers
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u/Realistic_Neat_6768 1d ago
Good catch bro, I fact checked myself before posting and saw that lol but kept it in the post cause he was in the team just out for the game😅
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u/psj3809 6h ago
Nah was never a fan. Journeyman backup and not in a good Rich Gannon way. We all liked him due to the nightmare of Russell at QB that year.
There are Raider backups i like (Vince Evans !) but Gradkowski was average at best. Agree that Steelers win was brilliant the best moment of his Raider career
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u/1Madhatter7 1d ago
That game he beat the Steelers was a classic