Former players in the world of Sports Media, and those who are responsible for giving their opinions on the current state of their past franchises, are in a very peculiar position in today's age of sports discussion. Either they take the blind faith route and isolate their fanbase to a select city, or talk about the issues and get cast aside by their past employers.
The Charles Oakley situation with the Knicks, as well as Dickerson and the Rams from a few months ago, is not unique. It has been happening for years. Lincoln Kennedy, when he first started working at the NFL Network, had the same thing occur between him and Al Davis.
After criticizing the team for what he felt was underachievement, the Raiders and Al Davis chose to break ties entirely with Lincoln Kennedy. He loves the Raiders, and even when he called about trying to make a comeback as a player the team refused to speak with him. It stayed that way until Al Davis passed away.
Listen below to this incredible story from one of the best Raiders to ever don the uniform.