Al Saunders Talks Marty And The Chiefs-Raiders Rivalry

Al Saunders spent 15 years with the Kansas City Chiefs so he's well aware of what the rivalry with the Oakland Raiders is about and now, as the Raiders offensive coordinator, Saunders has a unique perspective of it all.

Saunders was also in KC during a time when the rivalry was taken to one its highest levels -- the Marty years. Schottenheimer made sure everyone in KC knew it was Raiders week and my early years as a Chiefs fan came during the Marty years so I hold an especially distasteful memory of the silver and black.

Saunders spoke with the Oakland media on Thursday and looked back on the Chiefs-Raiders rivalry during the Marty years.

"When [Marty] first came into the division," Saunders said, "I was there with him in '89 in his first year and every year he was in the AFC West with Kansas City but he felt like it was real important to make a rivalry within the division and he chose the Raiders because of the fact that they were the division champions the succeeding years and were the team to beat. He made it like a Cal-Stanford rivalry, or a USC-UCLA rivalry.

"I mean, it was Raiders week. We had signs up in the locker room and Marty was very animated in his talks to the team before the game and during the week. It was a really kind of fun because it was a special thing to be a part of. The Raiders were a great football team and we were fortunate to be very successful during that 10-year run also so it was neat to be around."