Keelan Doss returns to hero’s welcome from Raiders fans

Keelan Doss hasn’t even made his NFL debut, but he already has become a star in Oakland.

As he walked onto the field at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in street clothes on Monday night, Doss was greeted by fans screaming his name and asking for pictures and autographs.

It’s a rare level of fanfare for a rookie wide receiver who wasn’t even selected in the NFL draft just a few months ago.

“It has all happened so fast,” he said before Monday night’s victory over the Denver Broncos. “It’s been a blur. Before you know it, it will be Week 13.”

Doss was all smiles after a crazy few days that saw him eventually land back with his hometown team after a series of developments triggered by Antonio Brown’s release on Saturday.

“I couldn’t have predicted any of this,” he said. “It’s been the most wild three or four days of my life. I just can’t wait to play football.”

He’ll have to wait at least until Sunday to get that opportunity. His signing to the Raiders’ active roster wasn’t made official until Monday, so he was inactive for the game.

Doss was released by the Raiders on cutdown day and turned down a spot on Oakland’s practice squad in favor of a similar offer from Jacksonville. The Raiders tried to sign him immediately after releasing Brown, but he instead accepted the Jaguars’ offer of similar pay to stay on the practice squad in Jacksonville.

The Raiders increased the offerx on Sunday and finally got their man back.

“It was a lot, obviously,” he said. “I can’t really go into everything. But at the end of the day I’m happy to be here and getting ready to go.”

He admitted he had been following the drama involving Brown from afar and had seen comments from coach Jon Gruden about Doss being a training camp storyline for the media and reality show cameras more than he was for the team.

“I respect coach Gruden,” he said. “I talked to him today about how happy I was to be be back here. That’s my guy.”

When Doss does finally take the field, he will be dealing with a spotlight most players in his situation don’t ever experience as they try to get acclimated to the NFL.

Fame has been an adjustment for a player who was lightly recruited out of high school before blossoming and setting records at UC Davis.

“I haven’t been able to sit down and really think about it all,” Doss said of being in the public eye. “It’s just something you have to deal with. But you know the only reason it’s happening is because you put yourself in this position through hard work. So to me it’s just about staying focused and grinding and doing what I can do to make plays for the team.”

Good riddance

Raiders fans didn’t wait long to express their frustration with Brown just days after his acrimonious departure from the team.

Moments after Tyrell Williams capped the opening drive with an 8-yard touchdown reception from Derek Carr, a large group of fans turned their attention to Brown.

“F—- AB,” the chant started.

It started up again even louder when Williams caught a 43-yard pass down the middle from Carr in the second quarter and reached a crescendo at the end of the drive when rookie Josh Jacobs got into the end zone.

There were T-shirts on sale in the parking lot of a giant middle finger aimed at Brown. They were not officially sanctioned merchandise.

Inactives

Doss was among the seven inactive players for the Raiders on Monday night, as was late-camp signing Corey Liuget.

Offensive linemen Jonathan Cooper and David Sharpe were healthy scratches, along with injured starting guard Gabe Jackson.

Third-string quarterback DeShone Kizer and special teams ace Dallin Leavitt rounded out the inactive list.

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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.