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Saturday, January 6
Reserve makes play of game for Raiders
By John Clayton
ESPN.com
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Tory James lived a dream Saturday. His stars were aligned. Fate dealt him a full house. Did you ever have one of those days in which
everything goes right?
|  | | Tory James of the Raiders returns an interception 90 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter of Saturday's 27-0 victory. |
James had the best day of his professional life in the Raiders' AFC
divisional playoff blowout of the Dolphins, 27-0. He intercepted two passes, one for a 90-yard touchdown, the longest in Raiders history. He led the team with seven tackles. He defended three passes and was barely beaten.
If that wasn't enough, he forced a fumble from the hands of Dolphins
halfback Lamar Smith. His only bad moment came when referee Phil Luckett took away what would have been a fumble return for a touchdown when the ref ruled correctly that quarterback Jay Fiedler's hand was moving forward. It was an incomplete pass.
"I can't even explain it," James said. "You can't put it into
words. Everything I did went right for me."
What made the day so much more special is that James doesn't even
start. That's right, he's the first cornerback off the bench. His primary
mission Saturday was to contain Dolphins slot receiver O.J. McDuffie. McDuffie ended up catching only one more pass than James.
The James story is a puzzling one that even he can't explain. The
Broncos drafted him five years ago and felt he would be their cornerback of the future. A knee reconstruction in 1997 ended up ruining those
projections.
Though James led the team with five interceptions as the main nickel
cornerback last season, the Broncos made no efforts to sign him. James
figured that the Broncos believed he planned to demand starters' money, but he didn't ask.
James signed with the AFC West rival Raiders for a bloated
five-year, $18 million contract that cost the team $2 million this
year. Because the contract is bloated in the final couple of years, it's
considered a fair contract at a valuable position.
"The Broncos were playing games, and I don't know why," James
said.
Said cornerback Eric Allen: "The situation Tory came from I'm not
sure was the most positive. Here, Tory connected right away. We do a lot of team functions. We welcomed him with open arms and made it easy for him to blend in."
Because he's 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds -- big by cornerback standards -- James
is the perfect match for tall slot receivers. His speed is coming back to
the 4.4 he had before the surgery. What helped Saturday was his instincts.
Fiedler blew it on the 90-yard interception because McDuffie went to
the sidelines and Leslie Shepherd stayed inside with his route. James read
Fiedler perfectly, put his body before Shepherd's and had an easy touchdown.
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(James) came over here with Super Bowl
experience and a lot of confidence. I doubt if there is any third receiver who can
dominate him. ” |
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— Eric Allen, Raiders cornerback |
"He threw it right where I thought he was going to throw the
ball," James said. "I got in front of the receiver and that was it."
James said he went to the sidelines in disbelief, not realizing he
scored his first NFL touchdown on a return. "I sat on the sidelines saying
to myself, 'Did this really happen to me?' " James said.
It did and it only got better as the day progressed. Allen isn't
surprised. He believes James is good enough to start.
"He's a great athlete," Allen said. "He came over here with Super
Bowl experience and a lot of confidence. I doubt if there is any third
receiver who can dominate him."
James isn't worried about starting either. "My time will come," he
said.
It came on the Raiders' most important day of the season.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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