Elandon Roberts Has Eye-Opening Commitment to Excellence

The Las Vegas Raiders signed veteran linebacker Elandon Roberts from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's bringing a commitment to earn the organization's trust.

Dec 23, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts (50) looks on at the line of scrimmage against the Cincinnati Bengals during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Elandon Roberts spent the past two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now, he is trading the historic Black and Gold for the Silver and Black of the Las Vegas Raiders, a franchise with even more history. He told reporters at his introduction Thursday why he wanted to join the Raiders -- and what his future looked like.

Part of it was head coach Pete Carroll. But the allure of an iconic franchise played a big role in it.

"I mean ... it's the Raiders. What wouldn't attract anyone to the Raiders?" said Roberts. "Just the foundation that was set with this organization way back even before my time, you know, but also you know, I'm a guy that -- I like to earn everything. So when you know, when me and coach talked about 'we'll just keep that between you and me', I'd rather to go out there and earn it and the first side of that is earning it from the standpoint of eanring my coaches' trust, earning my teammates' trust, earning the organizations' trust. And then from that point, what I do in the building and being able to, you know, bring that product to Sunday's, I'll eventually earn the city of [Las Vegas] and the Raider Nation's trust."

The former sixth-round pick out of Houston has made a long, Super Bowl-winning career for himself in the NFL. He's earned the trust of teams before with his downhill tackling and old-school physicality. His chances of doing it with the Raiders are looking good, as Patrick Graham's defense will suit him well.

Per a Raiders press release regarding his signing, "Roberts enters his 10th season in the NFL and has played in 140 career games with 105 starts for the New England Patriots (2016-19), Miami Dolphins (2020-22) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2023-24). He has also appeared in 13 career postseason games, including winning Super Bowl LI and LIII.

"The 6-foot-1, 238-pound linebacker has registered 596 tackles (349 solo), 14.5 sacks, 52 tackles for loss, one interception returned for a touchdown, 12 passes defensed, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries over his nine-year career. In 2022, Roberts set career-highs in tackles (104), tackles for loss (10), quarterback hits (six) and sacks (4.5) with the Dolphins.

"A native of Port Arthur, Texas, Roberts played three seasons at Houston (2013-15) after transferring from Morgan State. As a senior, he was named American Athletic All-Conference First Team after ranking fourth nationally with 142 total tackles (88)."

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