TrueRaiderLaker Productions is NOT Dead

 

Raider Nation...it's been 7 LONG YEARS! And did I miss this feeling of editing hype videos for you all! It's been such an emotional road to get back to this feeling since I released The Oakland Raiders: Endgame back in 2019. If you're ever wondering did I ever consider uploading another Raiders hype video the following year? To answer shortly: yes. During their first season in Las Vegas, I had something planned, but I never went through with it. Not to bring up 2020 again, but that year has impacted my life trajectory a lot and I wasn't in the right state of mind to edit another Raider hype video or any videos of that matter at that time. Probably the earliest that I was considering a return was 2024, but I've been preoccupied elsewhere with a very busy professional career. Also admittedly, it was bitter sweet to see the Raiders move out of Oakland and California entirely. So it probably wasn't the right time for me to edit another video until I get over my own 5 Stages of Grief as a Raider fan from the Bay Area before finally accepting that they have a sustainable home in Las Vegas, free from the tomfoolery of Oakland politics and their now former Coliseum MLB co-tenants, the A’s. I will be frank, I wasn’t happy with my last two Raiders hype videos. Besides the obvious reasons with the whole Khalil Mack trade in 2018 and Antonio Brown’s crashout fiasco in 2019, it was mostly poor planning on my end and just waiting until August to gather even though looking back at the edits, there were some things I was happy about. But I was running on fumes to get those videos out there before the start of the opener. Luckily both times, the Raiders were playing on Monday Night Football.

But for this project, I made sure to learn from those mistakes and plan this ahead. Because I was roadmapping this project since the beginning of February at the same time Klint Kubiak was hired as the Head Coach. I took into consideration the scenarios that the Raiders were in position to do. They had the #1 pick and in position to draft Fernando Mendoza. At the same time, Maxx Crosby is on the trade block. There’s rumors that Derek Carr might un-retire and join them. I drew up all these scenarios to make sure there was a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C. Just like in football, you have a play call dialed up. But the opposing defense is giving you a different look at the line of scrimmage, so you gotta know when to call an audible and change to a different play to throw the defense off. If you’re wondering with all the cryptic “My Casino Business Plan” posts in the last few months, that was the secret codename that I named this project as. Haha. Considering it has been awhile and nobody knew. Not even my inner circle who are Raider fans and know that I made hype videos in the past knew that I was making a video in secret. They floated this idea that it was the perfect time and I’ve constantly denied I was making a hype video and I was making an original video to check out: “My Casino Business Plan.” I’ve been dropping a lot of hints on the video on my YouTube Community channel, posting images of John (Spytek) Cena, C(K)lint (Kubiak) Eastwood, Captain Kirk (Cousins), T.J. Maxx (Crosby), The (Jackson) 5, Austin (Powers), Magic (Johnson), Brock (Bowers) Lesnar, Ashton (Jeanty) Kutcher, etc. I wasn’t sure how much of the secret I gave away at that time that this was ultimately my first Raiders hype video in 7 years. And now, the secret is finally out of the bag to unveil this project that I’ve been working on for the past 6 months. So best kept secret? Or worst best kept secret? I’ll leave that up to you to decide. I had a great pool of trailer music for this project. Ranging Hi Finesse to Audiomachine, two music productions whose scores I used in my previous Raiders "From the Ashes" and "Endgame" hype videos back in 2017 and 2019. But this score in particular from Twelve Titans Music, I felt very strongly about and it resonated with the new culture that the Raiders are trying to build slowly and steadily under John Spytek and Klint Kubiak coupled by the near-perfect offseason, bringing in guys like Tyler Linderbaum, Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker, Kirk Cousins, drafting Mendoza #1, and somehow still keeping Maxx Crosby on the team! Of course, we still have some holes that the team didn’t address. But we gotta remember the old saying that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. This roster is good enough to at the very least keep the Raiders competitive in games. This offseason is more so about bringing in players who buy into Spytek and Kubiak’s vision and want to contribute to resetting the culture of the Raiders away from its recent losing past. There will be growing pains this season because everything is new again. But trust we finally have a direction from this organization that will trend them upwards on a course for long-term, sustainable success. And I feel this video has captured this theme. Then again, we’ve sung this song every year and it hasn’t worked out. But the carousel has to stop at some point. Safe to say, we’re at a good start. You can’t ask for anything better in a culture reset by hiring a Super Bowl-winning OC as the Head Coach and drafting a Heisman Trophy winner and National Champion at #1 as the future franchise QB. If you read this far or TLDR, simply put: the hype is back and there is a "Culture Shift" brewing! Enjoy and go Raiders!

Oh yeah, and I will be in Vegas in Week 1.

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Raiders, This is Not a Difficult Decision

 

Aside from the Week 1 win against the Patriots, there was not much to celebrate about the Raiders during the 2025 season. It was just a typical year of Raiders football. The optimism turned into disappointment real quick.

We all know the old saying that "there is always next year." But in the last few years, there was not much optimism to look forward to with Raider Nation.

But this is different. The Raiders' sunk 2025 campaign awarded them the #1 overall pick in this year's draft. But of course, the #1 pick comes with skepticism. Because the last time the Raiders were in this position, they drafted some guy who's only highlight reel was throwing 90 yards deep while kneeling down on one leg. And the rest of that guy's career outlook was history.

That was nearly 19 years ago. 19 years later, the Raiders are in position to reverse that narrative: to draft a proven future franchise QB that will renew Raider Nation's hope and optimism, to change the fortunes of years of organizational football malpractice, ineptitude, and dysfunction.

We all know his name by now. But after the performances he's putting up during the College Football Playoffs, Raider Nation is singing his name in unison: Indiana Hoosiers QB and Heisman Trophy winner: Fernando Mendoza.

Granted, I don't watch too much of college football. Probably the only other time I've been invested, was when I was watching one Amari Cooper back in 2014, hoping the Raiders take him to pair with Derek Carr. That was probably the only time. With every loss this season, I keep hearing from Raiders content creators that the Raiders need to keep losing to be in position to take this QB from Indiana that will be a game changer in for this franchise.

So admittedly, I jumped on the Fernando Mendoza bandwagon. I watched highlights of Indiana's Big 10 championship match vs. Ohio State and fully watched the Playoff Bowl Games against Alabama and against Oregon, going head-to-head against another QB prospect in Dante Moore. And Raider Nation was divided between Mendoza and Moore. But after last night's game, it should be clear as day who the Raiders need to pick.

You don't need to go through Indiana's entire season because you can already tell from a small sample size that Fernando Mendoza needs to be the #1 pick. We all know he's talented and mobile and accurate. But he exhibits the intangible traits that every winning NFL QB has: leadership, toughness, an unselfish aura that'll make the other 52 players on an NFL team run through a brick wall for him. Sure his personality is a bit quirky, geeky, whatever you want to call it. But the tangible and intangible traits that Mendoza has is exactly what every NFL team wants out of a franchise QB. And as far as Raider Nation goes, with our fanbase being majorly Hispanic/Latino, this guy will potentially re-establish a fanbase that has lost its allure since moving to Vegas and being outnumbered and outgunned by opposing fans.

Regardless of what happens in the National Championship against the Miami Hurricanes, Mendoza should be a lock for that #1 pick. The Raiders tanking to take the #1 pick and trading down does not and will never compute. Even if they have holes to fill, which they do, you need to get your franchise quarterback! Because how long will they continue to patch up their QB situation before enough is enough? How many more hot Offensive Coordinators or OC's who are aspiring to be Head Coaches will pass up on the Raiders because they don't have a long-term answer at QB? All this talk on O-line this. O-line that. The Raiders have $100+M in cap space and six more rounds after the first to shore up their O-line! And whoever comes in to coach will hire a competent O-Line coach that'll have JPJ, D.J. Glaze play in their natural positions and take time to develop the absolute gems that are Charles Grant and Caleb Rogers. Oh, and Kolton Miller is still a decent, reliable Left Tackle. I think they'll be fine as long as "nepo-baby" Brennan Carroll is far away from this team with the Raiders firing his father.

So, Raiders, John Spytek, Tom Brady, Mark Davis, we are begging you. Please do not try to be the smartest people in the room. You need to complement your bonafide studs: Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers, your high-ceiling receiving corps in Jack Bech, Dont'e Thornton Jr., and Tre Tucker, and your O-line that'll be right again with competent coaching with a game-changing franchise QB. This Heisman-winning QB from Indiana is the true heir apparent to Derek Carr and Rich Gannon before him.

So when you're on the clock in April, the choice you make with the #1 pick is not a difficult decision to make.

There was something in the air that night.

The stars were bright.

Fernando...he's that guy.