Oakland Raiders

Social media is easily the most powerful force on this planet these days. And if you want to start a movement, there is no better place to do it. That fact was never more apparent than Friday evening when a single tweet turned into a groundswell in a matter of minutes. As reported on Thursday evening, free agent Charles Woodson is scheduled to visit the Raiders' Tuesday per his agent, Carl Poston. There were a few fans at that time that mentioned to take to Twitter to send him messages to convince their prodigal son to return to Oakland where his career began and where he spent the first eight seasons of his career. For about 18 hours or so, courting Woodson via social media on his Facebook account as well as the twitter account for his winery, @TwentyFourWines was the way to go. After all, it was how the Raiders convinced Philip Wheeler to sign with the team before the 2012 season. But soon, that wasn't enough. About 4pm on Saturday, a facebook event page was created with the idea of generating a concerted effort to get the fans to join up and head to Raiders headquarters on Tuesday to show Woodson (and perhaps the Raiders organization as well) just how much the fans want the 36-year old defensive back to finish his career in Oakland. At about 5pm, I received a tweet from a fan looking to generate interest in the gathering and, as requested, I retweeted it. RT @mor3game: @levidamien Every Raider fan capable needs to show up at HQ for Woodsons visit on Tuesday. Please RT. — Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) May 17, 2013 This was the first I had seen of it on Twitter or otherwise. Next thing I know Twitter was abuzz with a groundswell of Raider fans preparing to converge on Raiders headquarters on Tuesday in a massive show of support they hope will be impossible for Woodson to deny. The initial event was scheduled for 2pm but many have discussed noon as when they would arrive. If this event turns out anything near the level of buzz created on Twitter, it should be something to behold. Hopefully, for the fans planning on showing their support, Woodson does indeed make that scheduled visit. But even if they miss him, I don't think the outpouring of support would be lost on him. I got a little chuckle when around 11pm Friday night - some six hours after my initial tweet - I received what was essentially the same tweet from someone else completely, asking me to re-tweet it. And I have received several more since then. It had come full circle. This thing looks like it's really happening. If this doesn't work, nothing will. Follow @LeviDamien

Eight Raiders players visited Facebook headquarters to discuss how they use social media, learn about career opportunities and tour the campus.

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports Throughout his football career, Matt McGloin has faced constant uphill battles. Now with the Oakland Raiders, he’ll get more of the same as he attempts to dig himself out from the bottom of the depth chart. A former walk-on at Penn State, McGloin spent his entire college career proving doubters wrong. After only one year on campus, he earned the starting quarterback gig and began honing his skills as an NFL-worthy passer. The typical knocks on McGloin include his size (6’1’’, 207 pounds), lack of accuracy, struggles with turnovers and average arm strength. What the critics don’t always take into account are the intangibles, which McGloin has plenty of. While he started off as a mediocre signal caller, the biggest setback in school history brought out the best in McGloin. In the midst of the Jerry Sandusky scandal that shook the program to its core, McGloin stepped up as the starting quarterback and helped the rest of the roster rise above the adversity. He watched other top players abandon ship and kept the program afloat during its most tumultuous time. The truly impressive part? McGloin was the first walk-on in Penn State football history to win the starting quarterback job. It was quite the feat for a player that many had written off early in his college career. It’s going to be tough sledding for McGloin as he tries to steal a roster spot in a quarterback competition that includes Matt Flynn, Tyler Wilson, Terrelle Pryor and Kyle Padron. The Raiders likely won’t hold more than three on the active roster, which means that the Penn State product will have to surpass Pryor for a roster spot. Even if he falls short, the practice squad could be an option if he impresses during training camp and the preseason. While the blogosphere is too busy speculating on whether Flynn or Wilson will win the starting gig, McGloin is preparing to steal the show. Gil Alcaraz IV is a Content Planner/NFL Featured Columnist for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @GilAlcarazIV, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

P Chris Kluwe spoke with the media via conference call Friday.

While most punters are not known for much other than being the guy the fans don't want to see trot onto the field, Chris Kluwe has become known for much more in his career. The outspoken, socially active punter has become known as a player who is not afraid to stand up for his beliefs with regard to civil rights. Mostly with regard to same-sex marriage but it expands much farther than that. One such stance he took was the fight to get Ray Guy into the Hall of Fame. He took up the cause last December in a game against the Chicago Bears in which he covered the Pro Football Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary patch on his jersey with a post-it message that read "Vote Ray Guy". If more players made statements like that, perhaps the injustice of having no punters in the Hall of Fame would change. Kluwe is a California kid, not surprisingly. His family moved to California when he was one years old. He grew up in Southern Cal and went to UCLA. Now that he has signed with the Raiders, he gets to return to his home state with the hopes of finishing his career here. "I was actually hoping to do the whole ‘spend your entire career with one team' because I think that's pretty cool to get that kind of legacy almost," Kluwe said of his time in Minnesota. "But at the same time that's really hard to do in the modern NFL, that really doesn't happen that much anymore. So, yeah, the situation coming up was just amazing for me because now I'm a lot closer to my family, my parents will be able to come out and see quite a few more games and just being in the state, it's really cool." It is interesting he is coming back to California at the very time the Supreme Court is set to rule on the controversial Prop 8 which bans same sex marriage in the state. It is a decision of which he has great interest. But for now, he has a greater focus and that's on his football career. "My first plans are to make the team," said Kluwe. "That's gonna be the overriding influence right now. I don't really anticipate a whole lot necessary [for me to do with regard to Prop 8] because it's one of those things that the Supreme Court should look at it and realize that there are established precedence in order to rule the right way on this case. So, I'm hopeful that once June rolls around, the Supreme Court will have made the right decision." The idea of gays in sports is a hot topic at the moment as well with Jason Collins becoming the first active professional athlete in the U.S. to come out as being gay. An idea that was that which was not discussed or tolerated is now thrust into the limelight. "I was pleasantly surprised," Kluwe said of Jason Collins' decision to come out. "Just the fact that it seems to be something that as younger generations grow up, they really don't see what the fuss is about. That gives me hope for the future of our society because it really is a matter of people being free to live their own lives without feeling like they're being oppressed by other people, which I think is the very core of this civilization." Kluwe's views were seen as shocking and controversial just a few years ago and it has led many to believe the distraction he caused was why the Vikings released him despite coming off two of his best seasons in the NFL. The Raiders obviously do not agree Kluwe would present any kind of issues. They have been focused on stocking this team with high-character, team oriented players so adding Kluwe to the roster should be all the proof needed that GM Reggie McKenzie believes in his character. "Well, hopefully I fit in pretty well," siad Kluwe. "I've never been arrested, I've never done anything detrimental to the team, or said anything bad about players or coaches and for me I just want to come out and help the Raiders win in any way I can. That's what my job here is to do is to help the team win games." He will have every opportunity to win the punter job for the Raiders. His competition will be Marquette King who the team brough

The Raiders have made the move to sign free agent punter, Chris Kluwe, official. The 8-year NFL punter has spent his entire career with the Minnesota Vikings and was released this off-season. That's when the Raiders came calling in need of replacing departed All Pro punter, Shane Lechler. "After the Vikings released me, I was waiting to see what happened," said Kluwe. "My agents had gotten contact from the Raiders, they said they were interested, they brought me in for a tryout, I think I punted pretty well, and they brought me in and said they'd give me a shot at OTA's and hopefully fall camp." Kluwe entered the league with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent out of UCLA in 2005. He was waived by the Seahawks and claimed by the Vikings. He has a career punting average of 44.4 yards per punt including averaging 45.3 yards per punt over the past two seasons. He also ranks second in Minnesota history with a 37.3-yard career net punting average. He has also had just one punt blocked over his career. "Yeah, and the only reason it got blocked was because I dropped it," said Kluwe. "That's one of those things I also pride myself on is that I have one of the quickest get-off times in the NFL. So, hopefully it takes some pressure off the guys up front so they can get down and get in coverage faster because they know I can get the ball off." As expected, the Raiders waived punter Bobby Cowan who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho following the draft in April. This leaves Kluwe and Marquette King to compete for the job in camp. Follow @LeviDamien

Transcript of a conference call Friday with Raiders punter Chris Kluwe and the local media: Q: How and when did all this transpire? Kluwe: Well, I was born in 1981, grew up . . . no, after the Vikings released me I had kind of been waiting to see what would happen. My agent had contact with [...]

In episode 13 of the RaidersBlog podcast, Christopher Hansen and Taylor Armosino discuss the rookie minicamp, as well as the signings of Charles Woodson and Josh Cribbs. or other podcast clients: http://raidersblog.com/feed/podcast

Mike Goodson and another man were arrested after being found intoxicated in a parked car in New Jersey early this morning on Friday, May 17th. In the SUV the police found a .45 handgun loaded with hollow point bullets. Anybody who has seen Lethal Weapon 3 knows that hollow point bullets are commonly referred to as "cop-killers" with their ability to explode on contact and pierce bullet proof armor. Anybody loading their weapon with these illegal bullets definitely mean business! Unfortunately for Goodson right now it means bad business for the explosive running back who had signed a 3 year, $6.9M deal in the off-season with the Jets. While being transported to the hospital for evaluation things went from bad to worse for Goodson when they found marijuana on his person. The weapons charge is far worse legally but finding marijuana on a professional athlete is never good for the player either. This is incredibly disappointing for Mike Goodson as he had found himself in a very golden position in New York. The Jets have one of the most undecided running back positions in the league and Goodson had a real shot at finally winning a starting position. After being behind running backs like Jonathan Stewart and Deangelo Williams in Carolina and then Darren McFadden here in Oakland this new shot with the Jets was by far his best chance to start in his entire career. CBS sports is reporting that officers have informed them that Goodson is being charged with possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, possession of an unlawful handgun, possession of a loaded gun and possession of hollow-point rounds. These are very serious charges for the former Raider who averaged 6.3 yards a carry last year. His nickname here was Goodie, but apparently this morning he was a baddie instead. This marks the 3rd player that was on last year's roster to have been arrested over the last few months, Dez Bryant and Rolando McClain being the other two. It is nice to see the Raiders not being involved in controversies like this being as they have moved on from all 3 of the players I just mentioned. Mistakes happen but the Raiders being distanced from a story like this is still definitely a good thing. I'd rather write this story about a former Raider over a current Raider, that much is a certainty.

The Oakland Raiders signed free agent P Chris Kluwe, General Manager Reggie McKenzie announced Friday.