I would love to be a Raider for life. That silver and black is different… if I do have to leave (for) another team, it’s going to be a little awkward. It’s like leaving your first home I guess… there gonna have a special place in my heart. It’s often how the business works. I feel like a played good enough to get another chance somewhere else so wherever I’m blessed to go to the next place, I’m going to give them my all and try to be the best player I can be there.

Former North Carolina A&T offensive tackle Brandon Parker just completed his fourth season in the NFL all with the Raiders. He played in all 17 regular season games, starting 13 and started the Raiders playoff game against the Bengals. There has been a lot of adversity that Parker has dealt with in his career and he has never shied away from taking responsibility for his part. Parker talked about this past season which included the resignation of head coach Jon Gruden – following reports that emails he wrote over a 10-year period included racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language – his impending free agency, about how he dealt with being benched and being ready when his number was called, his proposal to his then girlfriend before his last regular season game at North Carolina A&T, and about his time as a player at A&T. Click to download or listen to the podcast.