Raiders’ Mychal Rivera Aspires For Hall Of Fame Status

October 27, 2012; Columbia, SC, USA; Tennessee Volunteers tight end Mychal Rivera (81) makes a reception in front of South Carolina Gamecocks linebacker DeVonte Holloman (21) in the second half at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

For a rookie that’s never played a down in the NFL, hall of fame aspirations may be a little extreme.

But honestly isn’t that what every NFL player should strive for in their career?

Mychael Rivera was asked recently, by Jeanette Thompson, what he was excited about seeing at the hall of fame, on his upcoming trip to Canton with other fellow rookies.

"Rivera: I’m just ready to see all of it. There’s so many great players in the hall of fame and you know one day I wish to be in there. I just look up to those guys."

Coming out of Tennessee most folks probably don’t think of Rivera as a future hall of famer, but there’s plenty of guys enshrined in Canton that were likely just as under the radar when they came into the league.

One thing is certain about Rivera and his legacy — if he doesn’t put those expectations on himself from the start, then he can probably rule out the hall of fame, pro-bowls, or even a starting job in the NFL.

If you’re a Raiders fan, you should love Rivera’s expectations he has for himself.

If you’re a Vols fan, you should be proud of Rivera and the player he will be in the NFL.

Of course Vol nation is very vocal about their support of Rivera, something pointed out by the official Raiders website.

The site mentioned that the official Tennessee twitter account always retweets Raiders tweets about Rivera and shows the former Vols tight end lots of love.

Rivera was quick to return the love to the Vols.

"I love Tennessee. We call it the VFL program, Vol for life. Everytime I tweet something, they always look out for me. I love you Tennessee and I’m always a VFL."

Vol for life indeed.

Nobody does it like Tennessee.