Robert Spillane on joining the Raiders: 'I truly felt that love'
Joining the Raiders in free agency, the rationale behind the decision for a newly-minted Raiders linebacker was feeling wanted.
Robert Spillane thought he would be staying in Pittsburgh.
And then the Las Vegas Raiders came calling and kept calling. During free agency, it was widely known that Spillane and the Pittsburgh Steelers wanted each other. But as things progressed, Las Vegas, a team woefully thin at linebacker, needed to make a move to recruit Spillane to sign with the Raiders.
So, the team pulled out its best recruiting pitch on the linebacker, and it worked.
"It was more about how excited the Raiders were when they called me during free agency," he said. "I truly felt that love from the organization from the first second I got on the phone with Dave Ziegler and Coach [McDaniels], and even a guy like Maxx Crosby reaching out and giving me a call means a lot. So, feeling like I was walking into a family made it feel like it was OK to leave Pittsburgh for me."
Spillane joined Las Vegas to play a specific role. He was extremely effective in run defense, but he left a lot to be desired in passing situations. Remember that Spillane, who started five of the career-high 16 games he played in last season for the Steelers, became a cult hero for a big goal-line hit he put on Derrick Henry in 2020.
Spillane had a career-high 79 tackles last season, with a sack and four passes defended.
He joined Las Vegas because it was the organization that made him feel wanted. And for right now, that is good enough.
"During the offseason, this is a time to really get to know your teammates, get to understand how your players are playing around you, especially being a middle linebacker," he said. "I want to know how the guys in front of me are going to play in certain blocks and certain schemes, and I need to know where the guys are going to be behind me so I can have that trust and each other and we all trust each other going forward."
Feature image via Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports.
