Could There Be a Problem With the Oakland Raiders?

Weird! Journeyman quarterback Jeff Garcia—usually so reticent to speak his mind—is criticizing his former team, the Raiders of Oakland, California!

Garcia was cut from the Eagles last month, weeks after he asked to be released by the Raiders, and while he waits for Tampa Bay to call him again, he is just out giving interviews about how promising young Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell sucks and none of the Raiders wanted to win as much as Jeff Garcia did.

"It was to a point where I felt like guys who walked through those doors that just were there to collect a check and not really interested in putting everything that they had within themselves on to the football field," he said. "And that was the frustrating thing for me to see.

"There were a lot of good young guys in that locker room who really want to do whatever it takes to win, but unfortunately it's not everybody," Garcia added. "In order to compete at this level in this game, everybody needs to be on board."

"Maybe it's because how things have been for a number of years now out there and they just don't see the hope," he said.

Garcia said the idea of spending an entire season in Oakland backing up Russell "broke my heart." After his release from the Buccaneers, Seahawks, Redskins, and the Los Angeles Vikings, Garcia is expected to lead the Calgary Stampeders to the 2013 division semifinals.

News of poor morale in the Raiders locker room should stun observers of that storied franchise. Reached for comment, owner Al Davis said "up, up, and away, in my wicked doom balloon!"