Pigeon stands tall as Raiders, Chiefs play all around it

You wouldn't think a Raiders-Chiefs game in December would have many highlights, and most times, you'd be right. But amazingly enough, Sunday's game featured one of the more bizarre sequences of the year. In the second quarter, with the Raiders driving around midfield, a pigeon showed up on the field ... and absolutely refused to leave.

Now, pigeons aren't easily spooked to begin with; they're like rats with wings, and if they could, they'd probably steal your wallet and buy their own food. But still, for a pigeon to remain in the secondary for play after play ... granted, we are talking about the Chiefs defense and the Raiders offense, but still, that takes some pigeon-stones.

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Early on, Raiders wide receiver Denarius Moore nearly stomped on the pigeon on an inside route. And several times, the bird clearly lined up in the neutral zone, which is clearly an infraction but for whatever reason didn't draw a flag. He proceeded down the field as the Raiders progressed, but neither bird nor team could reach the end zone before time ran out. The bird hung on into halftime, and appeared as unfazed by the Raiders cheerleaders as it had by the Raiders offense. Make of that what you will.

The Raiders grounds crew finally wrangled the bird into a bucket during halftime. Perfectly on cue, the Raiders' PA announcer played "Free Bird," and that was the last we saw of the Oakland Pigeon. But considering the fact that the Raiders won 15-0, don't be surprised if he gets his own statue. In Oakland these days, you take your triumphs where you can get them.

Indeed, the Raiders had sought to sign the pigeon to a contract, but were too late, as the Jets have already penciled the bird in as next week's quarterback.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

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