Las Vegas Raiders running back Brandon Bolden

 Running Back Brandon Bolden Q: Does it feel real now after the 53-man cut and having training camp in the rear-view mirror? Bolden: "I was just explaining this on the way in, everything's kind of running together. I've been doing this for so long, I've been through so many camps, it kind of gets to a point where we're starting to do things where it counts. So you've been waiting on that moment this whole time, but you've got to take every day as a blessing, as the opportunity to be able to step out there and make the team. But now that the 53 has been made, everything else has kind of settled down and do things for real now." 

Q: For doing it as long as you have, is there an internal clock that kind of goes off where it's like, okay it is time now to kind of start focusing on practicing to win games rather than just practicing to prepare for games? Bolden: "No. Pretty much even coming into the spring, that has been kind of the goal. And I know that's for me personally, but I tried to express that to the younger guys, to the guys first time coming into the system, is every day is a day to get out there and get better, make the team better as well." 

Q: Josh [McDaniels] talked about for younger players, like these rookies, they've never game planned for an opponent as an NFL team. What kind of goes into that? I'm sure you're going to be mentoring guys in terms of that moving forward. Bolden: "The little things. I know it kind of sounds cliché in football, but it's the little things. What positions people normally play, what kind of things to look out for, and it's across the board, offense, defense, and special teams. You want to find all the little things, the fine details, and we're going to go over those, hammer those home and that just makes the game that much faster for us when you know a little bit of everything." 

Q: Have you had any more old man jokes sent your way lately? Bolden: "Not lately. Ever since I told you about Jesus joke everybody to kind of eased up on me on those jokes, so I haven't gotten those. I just kind of get the fast old man and the strong old man now." 

Q: Every year do you kind of reassess how you feel, where you are? What's going to tell you when it's enough for you? Bolden: "I left that in the hands of my wife and my son. If they see that I'm getting a little too slow or I'm getting knocked around a little bit too much, they're going to tell me when to hang it up. So, I'm giving them all the power on that one." 

Q: What did they tell you this offseason? Bolden: "My son - he was playing football during the offseason, so he wanted to go work out. And we went for a run, and I think like halfway through - this is like what we normally do for conditioning - like halfway through he looked at me and was like, 'If you feel like this, you can play until I make it to the league.' And I just looked at him and said, 'Nah, that's not the plan for me.' Because he's only 12, so that's a long time to be waiting around. Kind of just going back to them, we all sit down and go over the season. If we got questions about plays or anything that happened on the field, we kind of sit down as a family and go over it. I even got my daughters, they're getting into it, and starting saying, 'Hey dad, your number 34.' It's not just recognizing the hair coming out of the helmet, now they're actually paying attention to the game. So, it's been fun. We're going to try to continue to make it fun, but it's kind of going to be a family ordeal, when and if I ever hang it up." 

Q: Is your son running back? Bolden: No, my son is 12 years old and he's 5'9", so I don't think running back is in the cards for him. His mom is 5'10", her dad is 6'7", my dad is short, but my grandfather's 6'6". So he has a chance somewhere in there. He's going to be a lot bigger than I am, so we're working on everything but running back right now. But he likes playing offense, but he loves playing defense. He's a Chandler Jones fan, of course now he's a Maxx Crosby fan. So, he might have his hand in the dirt one day, I don't know. But as of right now he's sticking to offense." 

Q: You learned at an early age in your NFL career, the importance of special teams. It sometimes gets overlooked, but what would you say about the importance of special teams and why it shouldn't go overlooked? Bolden: "This is an interesting story actually. I actually had this conversation yesterday, my junior year of college, I had a tight ends coach, but he was also in special teams coordinator, Coach [James] Shibest. He walked into the locker room because I was planning on leaving my junior year, he told me, 'If you want to leave, you might want to pick up special teams.' I didn't play any going into that year, and then I told him like, 'Yeah, whatever you need me to.' And then I think I was at the top of the SEC in tackles that year, and I kind of just stuck with it. But looking back on that, I'm glad I had that conversation with him because coming into the league we had a special teams coach Scotty O'Brien, who coached Priest Holmes and a couple of other great running backs, but they all started on special teams. So that was my introduction. I'm watching highlights of these guys, their rookie year. Terrell Davis – he's in that conversation as well. Just run down and completely just melee guy his first time doing it, but they also ended up playing running back. So to that point, a lot of guys, you make the team playing special teams. You earn your position after you make the team. And some guys like me, Matthew Slater, find a home in special teams and make a pretty good living doing it. So, it is very important, because we do a lot of the dirty work. The defense doesn't just get to go out there and start the drive on your opponents' four-yard line or whatever. The offense doesn't get set up on a 40-yard return without special teams being on the field. So it's very important. We try to express that to the young guys. I take it very seriously, been taken seriously this time. So yeah, it's a big part of the game and things are changing for what they say is the safety of the players. At the same time, we all want to get out there and play football."  

Q: Looking through your career you've blocked punts, you return kickoffs, you've led your team in tackles on special teams. Is there a favorite part of it that you like or do you kind of take pride and all of it and being able to do all of it? Bolden: "Every time I go out on the field, it's an opportunity and it's a blessing to take care of the team and have those guys have my back. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, if I'm out there throwing a block, I have the ball in my hands or just going out there and putting pressure on the punter. Like I said, it's all to help the team and as our running back coach KP [Kennedy Polamalu] would say, 'You're out there to help your buddy.' So, it's not about all the glory and who gets what. We go out there and play for each other, and if we block a punt, we all block a punt. We return the ball for a touchdown, as you've seen, we get excited for big plays. We're all in the end zone celebrating that touchdown. So, this is real big for this team and all teams I have been on it. But we're trying to express that importance and get as many hands on deck as we can." 

Q: You talk about how your son might be outgrowing the running back position in height. Does that almost make you happy knowing where that position is kind of going right now? Bolden: "No. Because, like I said, he's not here yet. He's only 12. He's in the seventh grade. Nobody knows what he's going to be doing. I just know he's a lot taller than I am. And I've had – like LeGarrette Blount, he was taller than me, he was a hell of a running back. So, it can be any position, but I know whatever he does decide to do, because I told him when he was six when he was really into chess, I'll be at every chess tournament with body paint on celebrating you. So, whatever he plans to do, he's got his number one supporter. I'm going to be out there like it was a football game anyway." 

Q: Have you reconnected with Coach James Shibest since he got here and joined the staff at UNLV a few months ago? Bolden: "No, I have not, and I didn't even know that. But I'm glad you told me that, because now I can go thank him personally. Appreciate that." 

Q: It's your 12th year in the NFL. How often hasn't been that everybody in that running back room is back the next year like it happened this year with the Raiders, and how beneficial is it for you guys? Bolden: "Oh, that's very rare. I think in my career we've only had that maybe twice. And it's great when you don't have to do a lot of teaching. You don't have to go back and be like, 'Hey, when we do this is...' When you have a group that comes back, everybody's all up to speed, it makes our room go that much faster, it makes just player install for us that much faster, and it just helps us. It's a lot easier to go out there and cheer for the guys because we're not over there like, 'What were we supposed to do on this play?' We're all clicking, everybody's clicking. So, when you get that whole room to come back, it's just that much more energy in the room, it's just a carryover from the year before. So, it's great to have everybody back, really great to have everybody back. Get to spread the ball around and stuff like that, so we'll see where we go with that." 

Q: Did you see number eight Josh Jacobs out there? Bolden: "Oh, love seeing eight out there. So happy, so happy he's back." 

Q: How did it how did Josh Jacobs look out there today? Bolden: "He looked like eight. Well, I mean he looks like 28, but he looks like eight. He's the same old Josh. He was away from football, he missed it, we missed him, but we're back to work and having him out there today, that was big for everybody; everybody out there, including him." Las Vegas Raiders Transcript 8.30.23 

Q: We spoke to Zamir White last week and he said he kept in touch with Josh Jacobs, texted him. Was that the case with the rest of the guys? Bolden: "Oh yeah, everybody. We talked to Josh [Jacobs] the entire time. From the time to found out what was going on until he finally said, 'Hey, I'll see y'all tomorrow.' We were all in contact with him the whole time, wishing him nothing but the best. He came back healthy ready to work, and we came back ready to work with him. Good see him, missed that guy." 

The Silver and Black open the regular season at the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Sept. 10, at 4:25 p.m. EDT/1:25 p.m. PDT.

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