ALAMEDA - Aaron Curry appeared happy and relieved.
No longer was the draft bust in Seattle Seahawks. He was the starting weakside linebacker for the Oakland Raiders.
It's not often the fourth overall pick in the NFL Draft is available via trade five games into his third season.
But that was Curry, who was dealt to the Raiders this week. He'd fallen out of favor with Pete Carroll's staff and lost his starting job to rookie K.J. Wright three games ago.
"I can't really pinpoint it," Curry said when asked what went wrong in Seattle. "If I could have pinpointed it I might have fixed it. It just didn't work out. It sucks that it didn't but I'm excited to be here in Oakland and playing for the Raiders. My brother Eric Barton played here for five years so I'm just getting a shot to carry his legacy on. I'm excited about that."
I won't pretend I know what happened in Seattle. Reports were Curry looked unsure on the field at times, especially in pass coverage.
Overall, Curry's production did fall off after a fast start his rookie season.
"It was of very, very high expectations that early on I let the pressure get to me, and then when I did let the pressure get to me that was an issue," Curry said. "So it was kind of a back and forth. I really think the expectations are extremely high, and now coach said I'm allowed to come here and just relax and be me. The only expectation is to play Raider football, follow the rules that we follow, play the ball that we play, and take it from there."
The Raiders plan to let Curry do what he feels he does best, run to the ball and hit.
"The best thing I do is run," Curry said. "Wait for the runner to make a move and run in his direction. That's my best asset."
*How Curry connected with Barton last year. Barton was put up for adoption when Curry's mother was 20, according to Curry's website. They have the same mother and father.
Barton sought out his birth mother and it turned out he had a brother who was also an NFL linebacker.
"Eric's way more excited than I am," Curry said. "I'm excited, and he's like over-the-mountain excited. He's like, I mean, when can I come up? Where can I stay? I'll be there tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow. What's the defense look like? Tell the coaches I say hey? I think he's revisiting his time here and he had some special time here. I believe he went to the Super Bowl in 2002, so he's extremely excited. He should be here today and he's going to show me the ropes and he's going to tell me all about Raider football, and I'm also excited about that, to actually have the history in my blood and be able to talk to him, he's going to tell me how it should look and how we should do it."
*For those wondering what's going on with Terrelle Pryor, here's how he answered a few questions today:
Q: What did you get accomplished in your five weeks off?
A: Coach wanted me to do the drops the way he wanted, so I got that done. I was training by myself; I had a personal quarterback trainer for five weeks. And I really wanted to get the verbiage down a little more and I'm getting a lot better at it. Pretty much, that's it, and getting the plays, obviously, just keep studying the plays. So I was getting the plays down and also doing footwork and mechanics-stuff as well. Doing the verbiage and calling the plays out, that was quite different too.
Q: Is it easier for you knowing that Hue Jackson has said you're a quarterback and not have to worry about any other positions?
A: I mean, I knew what I was going to be. I mean, that's for people that go around, I guess, thinking that they know what they're talking about. But it is what it is. I knew what i was going to be. I'm just trying to get it down so if something were to happen, I could help my team continue on the path they're at.
Q: Jason Campbell said you're quiet but you speak out at meetings and asked you if you were the new QB consultant. How comfortable are you in speaking out and being part of the team?
A: I'm comfortable. Guys are pretty welcoming here. We have a lot of fun here. As you see, I know you guys are always in the locker room hearing guys always joking and stuff like that, and I'm a very friendly guy so I can get involved with my teammates and have them like me because that's just the way I am and, I don't know, I just like to fit in as well as I can and they made it pretty easy for me so, to answer your question, when I'm in there with Jason and Kyle (Boller) and Coach (Al) Saunders, I'm pretty comfortable because I feel like I know what I'm talking about. If I wasn't very comfortable in talking about what I thought, or knew, I wouldn't say it. But I feel like I'm confident and comfortable with it to feel like I can just spit it out and say what I feel. And they respect me for that.
Q: What did your conversations with Al Davis these past five weeks mean to you as you were waiting to get back on the field?
A: He pretty much, just with how passionate he was about the game, he just kept on telling me, Just win. And then the last time I talked to him, maybe like two weeks ago, maybe a little longer, maybe two-and-a-half weeks ago, he just said, 'Wait your turn.' And he said, 'Just win, baby.' He said that quite a few times. So just from talking to him, I just got how passionate and it just re-emphasizes just how passionate he is about football. How passionate you need to be to be successful. I feel like I learned that and I picked that up from him.
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