Raiders players on ‘spur of the moment’ decision to huddle on the KC Chiefs’ logo
Raiders defensive end Yannick Ngakoue held up his right hand and signaled for his teammates to join him at midfield at Arrowhead Stadium.
And, so, the Raiders gathered for a pregame huddle right on the Chiefs logo before Sunday’s game in Kansas City.
What was meant to fire up the Raiders instead lit a fire under the Chiefs, who were still fuming about last year’s victory lap around Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs proceeded to crush the Raiders 48-9.
Was this Ngakoue’s idea or a team decision?
“It was spur of the moment,” linebacker K.J. Wright told The Athletic. “One guy said, ‘Let’s go,’ and we all gotta ride together. We all went out there together. We did it as a team. It just gave them a little more motivation than we needed to give ’em.”
Wright understood why the Raiders’ actions may have angered the Chiefs.
“I would have been upset too if I was them,” Wright said. “Anybody that comes out there and does that, and they definitely came out and responded to their anger. We couldn’t hold up. They put up a lot of points, got the ball off of us. We just didn’t respond.”
Quarterback Derek Carr wasn’t interested in pointing fingers or assigning blame for firing up the Chiefs.
“One thing I will say is, I always have my teammates back,” Carr said. “I will forever have their back. If that is what we’re doing, then that is what we’re doing. That’s what I’ll say.”
Wide receiver Hunter Renfroe didn’t address the pregame huddle specifically, but he talked about the Raiders’ frame of mind before the game.
“You don’t want to be emotional going out there to play,” Renfroe told reporters. “You can play with emotion, that’s OK. But I felt we played a little emotional today before the game and then we just stomped on our own foot.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 10:08 AM.
