Raiders Walker a victim according to press release

Thoughts from the Dark Side

June 16, 2008

Raiders Walker a victim according to press release

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Las Vegas has become one of the more dangerous cities

More details are coming out about the Javon Walker incident that has Raider Nation reeling from the news. According to Jason Jones of the SacBee, and J.T. the Brick of Fox Sports Radio, the Raiders are still 'gathering information.' Jones posted this press release from Las Vegas PD.

According to the press release and other various sources, Walker is being treated as a robbery victim. According to Las Vegas Review-Journal's Norm Clarke, who appropriately sports a patch over one eye, reports that Javon Walker was hanging out at Body English nightclub from midnight to about 6:30am Monday morning. Delving into the story further brings about some interesting tidbits about the Raiders $55 million man.

This is where the story starts to get a little disconcerting. According to various sources, Javon Walker was on his second straight night of spraying Dom into a crowd at a night club (isn't he supposed to be getting ready for the season?). As reported earlier, he had also done this at Tryst early Sunday morning, while Monday morning it was Body English. According to some reports, he was racking up $15,000 tabs on both nights.

What makes this all the more troubling is that it has been reported that Brandon Marshall and his cousin had sprayed the crowd at a night club the night that Darrent Williams was shot and died in Walker's arms. This 'spraying' of champagne is the suspected impetus of the drive by shooting.

When Darrent Williams was put to rest, Walker begged out of going to Texas for the funeral and instead was later seen at Tryst in Las Vegas.

As of right now, the only medical information released about Walker is that he has an orbital fracture and he's in fair to stable condition. We'll keep working on this story as it unfolds.

*EDITORIAL*

I'd just finished arguing with a guy about how Marcus Vick should've learned from his mistakes, when I became aware of this story developing. I haven't had much time to reflect much on this since I've been working on bringing the story to TFDS.

I hope that Walker is alright, for his and the Raiders sake. Something like this is terrible and shouldn't really happen in the heart of the Las Vegas strip. With the billions spent on creating these fantastic casinos, they should have cops all over the place at all times.

That being said, even a third rate dope dealer knows better than to flash cash in public places. When I was much younger and working in retail, I used to laugh when a drug dealer would do everything in his power to hide his wad of cash from me, then walk out of the store carrying some fifty bags of stuff.

I'm shocked that someone who has had all of the NFLPA training, seen what has happened with Pac Man Jones, and also been a part of what happened with Darrent Williams, would still be going around Vegas flashing his wealth and then walking the streets without an entourage or body guards. Didn't this guy go to college? I ask, because I know that he did, so being retarded really isn't a good excuse.

I've defended this signing by the Raiders, and thought that Kiffin might be a little too critical of his weight, but now I'm wondering if I was completely wrong the whole time. Tonight, I was planning a write up about how the Raiders have shied away from troubled players over the past few years and were no longer the NFL's bad boys. I think I'll put that story on hold to see how this all plays out.

We'll let you know when we do...

Here's some video of Walker partying at Body English like he did that night.

[youtube]b5IVbMbfR48[/youtube]

Tags: NFL, Oakland Raiders, Raiders

Discussion

32 Comments on "Raiders Walker a victim according to press release"

Posted by PortlandRaider, June 16, 2008 10:54 PM

Rob,

You better check on that video. It says it was posted 2 weeks ago, and it says "some guy" spraying champagne. I don't want people misled to think this was the night of the incident...or day of...you get the picture.

Posted by Scooter, June 16, 2008 11:05 PM

There are photos of Walker at the club that night, at Vegas websites, and he was wearing a black T-shirt. Not the same guy, not th same night, and I am unsure if that is even Body English. We also don't know if he was walking the streets, or was alone, or what.

I don't care that you post this tripe on a blog, I care that it gets linked from Raidernews.com, as if it was news.

Posted by Patrick Patterson, June 16, 2008 11:07 PM

I lived in Vegas for a couple of years, and Metro IS all over the strip, not to mention the uniformed security from the mega-casinos, and nearly every square inch of the mega resorts (except probably bathrooms and the guest rooms) are covered with the "Eye in the Sky." Even still, with all that security around, you have to be careful.

Posted by Umer Waris, June 16, 2008 11:16 PM

Rob,

This isnt good at all. Not good for himself or the Raiders. Seriously, shouldnt he have been somewhere in Almeda preparing for training camp or something?!?! What was he thinking?

It is sad to know how poor of a judgement this guy has after going through that whole Darrent Williams experience. I was just watching a tribute to Williams on NFL network and coincidently, this occured! How ironic!

Posted by Rob Calonge, June 16, 2008 11:20 PM

PortlandRaider and Scooter - Good call. I've edited the final line to reflect that it is definitely not from that not.

Patrick - I know what you mean, but there are parts that don't see cops for a while. Where walker was found was the backside of the strip casinos across from where Bally's is located. Bad spot for a walk.

Umer - Couldn't agree more.

Posted by Patrick Patterson, June 17, 2008 12:35 AM

I agree, that is a bad spot for a walk.

Posted by Eric, June 17, 2008 4:00 AM

Rob and Patrick,how do you know he wasn't dumped at that "bad spot" after he was robbed? And Rob where and when was it reported that the Williams murder was the result of bubbly being sprayed around?

And so what if Walker didn't go to the funeral. Everyone doesn't do well with that kind of thing. How can you use that as some sort of example of wrong doing?

Does a professional athlete have to "flash" cash in public for people to know that he's worth alot of Money? Especially when newspapers and blogs bend over backwards to publish how much money they make. And why is that when blacks "flaunt" their wealth it becomes damn near a moral issue. You can barely turn on your television without having to click away from silly tv show that celebrtates white folks "flashing" their wealth and riches.

It always amazes me that when something happens bad to a black person the immediate reaction is to blame the victim. But if some blond, drunken, slut meets her end in some exotic locale, there's nothing but sympathy. No one would dare even suggest such a person was responsible for her own troubles.

The pathetic thing about this is the typical response of white people and their black lawn jockeys who the victim instead of the victimizer for the crime.

Posted by 3@21, June 17, 2008 7:36 AM

"SORRY THIS THING HAPPEN 2U JAVON,YOU ARE COMING OFF A BAD SEASON WITH INJURIES,LETZ JUST PLAY SO DAM RAIDERS FOOTBALL AND STAY OUT OFF THE SPOT LIGHT'S!!!

WE GOT GAMES 2WIN THIS YEAR AND WE NEED U JAVON...

HOPE HE LEARNED HIS LEASON"AND A SPEEDY RECOVERY!!!

"GO RAIDERS"

Posted by Stinky, June 17, 2008 8:12 AM

Gonna go out on a limb here and say that Walker is another troubled NFL child that either doesn't listen to his managers and agents or just doesn't care. How much evidence do you need to come to that type of conclusion? Not much, most of it is in Rob's article above.

i hope he heals up, but the league and the Raiders need to put htis joker in the Chris henry category. Too stupid to help himself, too selfish to change.

#10

Posted by Jeff Little, June 17, 2008 8:31 AM

This is F'd up for the squad. None of us were there, we don't what happened and can only speculate. We need to keep the comments to ourselves until we've all the facts. We all make mistakes. Hopefully he will learn from this mistake recover and move on. He is lucky to be alive.

#11

Posted by Stinky, June 17, 2008 8:35 AM

Jeff-

No one is making any statements that are carved in stone, but the guy seems to be in and around trouble.

Let us just say for sake of argument, that the Darrent William's Dom spraying rumor is purely untrue. Walker HAS to know it is out there. Wouldn't the tiniest dinosaur sized brained person figure spraying champagne in Vegas would be probably not the greatest idea.

There is a Pac-Man jones-Chris henry pattern here. I think peope are just throwing that out.

#12

Posted by Rob Calonge, June 17, 2008 8:51 AM

Eric - read this article for the answers to your questions.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/sports/13872657/detail.html

Also, stop injecting race into the issue. This isn't a race issue from our standpoint, this is a SILVER and BLACK issue.

Thanks for stopping by and reading.

#13

Posted by MCBias, June 17, 2008 8:59 AM

Preach it, Eric! This blog post is deeply disturbing to me, as is the post on Deadspin.com linking to this. The Darrent Williams murder is still unsolved, and I have yet to hear anyone say that Darrent instigated his own murder. And since when is it wrong for an NFL athlete to go on vacation before training camp starts? Would we be talking like this if it were Matt Leinart? And why, Rob, was your first comparison to Javon Walker's situation a drug dealer? I don't even want to know why your brain went there first. Unlike drug dealers, Javon made his money the honest way, playing pro football. Why throw him under the bus like that?!

#14

Posted by Stinky, June 17, 2008 9:30 AM

MCBias-

Looks to me like you and eric are race-baiting where race was not mentioned or highlighted. Love the euphamism "going on vacation" used to underplay "spending $15k on Dom and spraying down crowds at 2 clubs in an alleged copy cat action that might have caused a drive-by shooting in Denver".

#15

Posted by MCBias, June 17, 2008 10:14 AM

Wait a minute, Stinky, I didn't mention race in my comment. Who's saying anything about race here? If Rob is not talking about race than neither am I. If Rob is talking about race, than I am. Which way do you want it? Think about it carefully.

#16

Posted by Stinky, June 17, 2008 10:18 AM

MCBias-

You referenced Eric's comments (Preach it, Eric) which is a very clear message of support for his comments about race. Playing games by trying to pin Rob to race via Eric's comments and then standing back and shrugging a little "What? Who me?" shrug is both transparent and somewhat cowardly.

#17

Posted by Rob Calonge, June 17, 2008 10:37 AM

McBias - When talking of the dime store drug dealers, I was mentioning MY OWN experience and using the example to explain that even an uneducated thug knows better than to flash his cash. I didn't mention race. I've known white, hispanic, black, and asian drug dealers, male and female. I have to ask why anyone would think that mentioning a drug dealer automatically makes him/her black?

As far as throwing him under the bus, I didn't do that. I made a commentary on the news that's being reported or has been reported. Eric wanted proof of the Champagne incident leading to the Darrent Williams murder, and I left a link in my last comment with words from Javon Walker himself.

You can say what you want about TFDS, but you can't say that we don't respect the position that we're in when reporting stories like this. If you look above, when the article went from NEWS to OPINION, I segregated it with an *Editorial* label.

Thanks for coming by and taking a look. We have further coverage and will have even more as the story unfolds. Just click the 'Home' link under 'Thoughts from the Dark Side.'

#18

Posted by MCBias, June 17, 2008 10:40 AM

Eric only mentions race at the end of his comment. I was most enthused with the questions he was asking earlier in the comment. I'm white, not black. I ask you why you are so obsessed with mentions of race that you see them where they don't exist.

What I don't like is the continued hatred of pro athletes that assumes that the athlete is always responsible for what happens to him, even if he's being robbed or his best friend is being shot! Some of that is racial. Some of that is class-oriented. Some of that is human nature. All apply, unfortunately. I don't care what Rob's motivation is, I just want him to give Javon Walker the same consideration he would any other robbery victim.

#19

Posted by MCBias, June 17, 2008 10:43 AM

And for the record, people party on vacation. You and I might lazily start a food fight, wasting what poor people would consider precious food. Javon, being wealthy, sprays $1000 a bottle alcohol in the club, and middle-class folks see that as waste. But everyone has their own way of partying. And here's a question for you, Stinky; do you religiously shun bars for fear of getting into fights? If the answer is "yes", then go ahead and judge Javon all you want. But if "no", then I really don't see where your criticisms have merit.

#20

Posted by Stinky, June 17, 2008 10:54 AM

McBias-

No one is begrudging or adding blame to Walker for "partying" while on vacation. What has been posed here as a theory and food for thought is Walker's possible lack of good judgement by partying when eh should be practicing with hisnew team, partying in a manner that is reported to be a cause for an incident that left a fellow player dying in his arms, partying in a club he went while the rest of his team was at the funeral for the player that laid dying inhis arms....and putting himself out there and over the top when he has this reputation following him.

#21

Posted by MCBias, June 17, 2008 10:57 AM

For the record, my last two comments were aimed at Stinky, not Rob.

RYC to Rob: Rob, my concern was that your coverage of Javon Walker is making him look like some kind of thug. As far as I can tell using web search (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javon_Walker), Javon has never actually committed any crimes. His worst pro offense is holding out on the Packers, and if that's wrong, then half the WR's in the league are guilty. And yet, you're bringing up Marcus Vick, drug dealers, and PacMan Jones in your editorial. Why lump what seems to be the victim of violent crime twice over (Darrent and now himself) with two knuckleheads like Marcus and Pac-Man? I'm not calling you a racist, because you're not. I just am extremely unhappy with the way you're casually linking unrelated pieces of news together.

And for the record, that youtube video is probably not Javon (see Youtube comments), and was posted May 28th.

#22

Posted by Rob Calonge, June 17, 2008 11:11 AM

McBias - I think that your criticism is fair and can see where it's warranted. My comments about Pac Man and Vick are not to lump Walker in with the criminal element and to a certain extent I see now are a little unfair. I think it would've been more fair had I lumped in Travis Henry and his plethora of illegitimate children instead to veer away from criminality. That being said, my comment(s) were more geared toward the, "Hasn't this guy learned from his past?" rather than making him to be a crook. I apologize to our readers for not being clearer.

Thank you for pointing that out. I'll try to be more clear with my reports in the future.

#23

Posted by MCBias, June 17, 2008 11:12 AM

Eh, let me just sum things up and leave, because I'm overstaying my welcome in the comment section. There are plenty of real thugs in pro sports--guys who have no morals and do commit violent crimes. And they deserve our disrespect and scorn. But sometimes, it seems like we get so bored and tired with these stories that we start putting every athlete involved in a crime in the thug category. That's what I'm worried is happening here, although I cheerfully admit that perhaps I'm completely wrong and misjudged Rob and Stinky. Rob, I hope to come back to the site on occasion and comment on other articles where we will find common ground.

Athletes like Chad Johnson and Javon Walker may be flaky, may lack some common sense, may be dumb at times...but we all know plenty of guys like that, and they aren't thugs. (I probably saw a guy who fits that description in my mirror this morning, ha). That's just how I feel about the issue--there's enough truly bad that we shouldn't mix in the guys who aren't.

#24

Posted by MCBias, June 17, 2008 11:14 AM

Ok, Stinky, I will agree with those last arguments that Javon could have shown better judgment. I just don't want that to overshadow the broken bones in his face; there's plenty of time for lectures on common sense once he's out of the hospital.

#25

Posted by Patrick Patterson, June 17, 2008 2:30 PM

Interesting debate here guys, the key thing is that we all hope that Walker has a full recovery, even if it does not include a return to football.

#26

Posted by Patrick Patterson, June 17, 2008 2:47 PM

McBias and Eric- Rob and I both work hard to maintain a high level of professionalism on Thoughts from the Dark Side, but there are times when we are pushing to get a story out and things don't come out as clear as we would have liked. I have seen this happen with professionals,as well. As the senior writer here at TFDS I take offense at the comment about the "white people with black lawn jockeys." Walker is a human and moreso a Raider and both Rob and my prime concern is his health from a life standpoint. We are also working hard to bring any updates as they become available so sports fans know of his condition and any happenings with the investigation. Our reporting will continue as will our commitment to excellence in reporting, even if we occasionally miss that standard.

#27

Posted by MCBias, June 17, 2008 3:23 PM

Patrick and Rob--that's a very fair response from both of you, and I thank you for hearing me out. Like I said, I didn't think you all were being outright racist or hateful, or I would have said so. I think the Travis Henry comparison is a lot more fair, Rob.

#28

Posted by Adrian, June 17, 2008 3:24 PM

Rob and Patrick thank you for working hard and making TFDS a great website. Rob you should not apoligize or what you wrote, I just dont understand how people misinterpret what you wrote. Hopefully Javon recovers, however he needs to use common sense.

#29

Posted by Rob Calonge, June 17, 2008 4:08 PM

MCBias - Patrick and I both feel that putting the extra time into the boards is what sets us apart from other sites. I'm glad that you appreciate it.

Adrian - Thank you for the support. I just want to be clear that I appologized for the clarity and not the content of my remarks. When looking at them, I could see how they might be misconstrued.

Thanks for stopping by and check back later as we continue to update the Walker situation.

#30

Posted by Patrick Patterson, June 17, 2008 4:13 PM

Thanks Adrian.

#31

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#32

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