Maybe what the Raiders really need to change is their theme song. Out with "The Autumn Wind." In with a slightly altered version of the Don Ho classic.

"Tiny Baubles." They make Al Davis warm all over.

Larry Brown, Desmond Howard, Phillip Buchanon, Fabian Washington, and now DeAngelo Hall becomes the latest small, fast, marginally talented player to win the Al Davis lottery. That's when you get millions of dollars and you never have to work another day in your life.

Sure, ripping on Hall is easy now. But we did it in March when the Raiders traded for him, and we have the angry Raider Nation e-mails to prove it. (Looking back at our item in March, we noted one way the $24 million investment in Hall would pay off: "The Raiders were second in the NFL in penalties in 2007, but they were sixth in yards penalized. That's an embarrassment. Clearly they need more personal fouls." Strangely, we didn't get many I-told-you-so e-mails Tuesday.)

Get used to it, folks. Tuesday, Warren Sapp was part of a conference call for "Inside the NFL," which moved from HBO to Showtime during the off-season and makes its debut tonight.

"DeAngelo Hall has been getting burnt since he was in Atlanta, so this isn't nothing new," Sapp said. "DeAngelo Hall is the flashiest burnt-up corner ever in the history of the game. I mean, he gets burnt more than anybody else, and he all of the sudden is this great Pro Bowl cover corner."

Oh sure, some can quibble with Sapp's assessment; for one thing, he talked about the ways his old Buccaneers used to torch Hall, when in fact Hall didn't arrive in the NFL until Sapp was in Oakland. Eh ... details. The larger point stands.

  • The only silver lining Monday was that Nnamdi Asomugha affirmed to the world that he is a top-flight NFL cornerback. The Broncos didn't even bother with him. (Then again, why would they?) So how's this: Asomugha is playing on a one-year franchise tender that automatically spikes to $11.7 million if the Raiders keep him next season.

    In other words, Hall is more likely than Asomugha to be a Raider in 2009.

  • Sapp was more complimentary of Tommy Kelly, his former mate on the defensive line, although he said it would take a while for Kelly to learn the interior. In that case, the big money and the position switch are just part of what ails the organization, Sapp said: "They just have unrealistic expectations of what their people can do."

    Another person on the conference call was unclear as to who we were talking about, so as an aside, Sapp cleared it up. "No. 93, Tommy Kelly. Terdell Sands will fall over his own feet, don't worry about him."

  • Broncos receiver Eddie Royal was a second-round pick, 42nd overall, out of Virginia Tech. The 49ers must not have noticed him when they were falling in love with Josh Morgan, their sixth-round pick out of Virginia Tech. But then, how could the 49ers possibly have lived with themselves if they hadn't selected guard Chilo Rachal with the 40th pick? Sure, he was inactive Sunday, but big things are coming, just you wait.

  • Yes, that 41-14 blowout sure did feel like San Diego's 27-0 rout in the 2006 opener. Because of the late starting time, ESPN must select a West Coast game for the back end of its "Monday Night Football" doubleheader. Seattle and San Diego have been too good to get shunted to this low-rated spot, which is why we're working on a three-year string of late games played in the Bay Area. So next year it'll probably be the 49ers again.

    And then in 2010 it will be a 27-point victory for Kansas City, in the first game for the coach after the coach after Lane Kiffin.