Robert Spillane Takes Pride in Being Raiders Captain

The Las Vegas Raiders struck gold when they signed linebacker Robert Spillane to a two-year, $7-million contract in March 2023.

Spillane was not the player in Pittsburgh that he became in his one year with the Silver and Black, posting 148 total tackles, a career-high. He had an opportunity to prove himself in Las Vegas. Spillane seized it and posted an excellent season.

Spillane was named a captain before he played a snap for the Raiders. This is a high honor for a Raiders defender because of how storied the franchise is, and players usually have to earn that notion through their play on the field.

Spillane holds being a Raiders captain in high regard. He discussed what it meant to be named a captain in his inaugural season when he joined teammate Maxx Crosby on the latest episode of his podcast, "The Rush with Maxx Crosby."

“It means the world,” Spillane said. “It means my teammates respect me, both my football abilities and my leadership qualities. I don’t take it for granted. The fact my teammates voted me a captain was the biggest honor in the world, because I don’t care about outside opinions, especially when it comes to football. I listen to my family when it comes to personal life, but when it comes to outside opinions, the only ones that matter to me are the ones that are inside the building with us. So, to be voted a captain was an honor, and I felt like I needed to live up to those standards.

“For me, that’s doing it the right way, trying to have individual relationships with everyone on the team, so when I notice something might be off, I can go have a conversation with a guy, and he knows that I have nothing to take from him, I just want to help him and I just want to see him live his dreams. So, enough guys know that, and they trust you as a leader, so I love being that captain and being in the middle of the defense, being able to talk to everybody, have relationships with everybody on the team. So, it’s a great honor, I would say.”

Spillane hopes to captain a defense to get the Raiders back in the postseason in 2024.

Click here to watch the full podcast episode with Spillane and Crosby.

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