“God Bless @Raiders HeadCoach Antonio Pierce!!!!” Deion Sanders exclaimed in a tweet on Friday night. “Wow God is good. All he needed was opportunity. Thank u to all the @Raiders players, fans and Faithful for supporting my Brother.”

If there’s one thing that Antonio Pierce had on his side during the interviewing process — aside from the ability to boast a 5-4 record as the Raiders interim head coach after Josh McDaniels was relieved of his duties midway through the season — it was the support of Raiders fans, and especially, the players on the roster who were clearly more locked in playing under Pierce than they were McDaniels. Multiple Raiders voiced their support for Pierce, both during and after the season concluded. All-Pro defensive end Maxx Crosby was on the verge of giving Raiders owner Mark Davis an ultimatum, with reports leaking out that Crosby would demand a trade if Pierce wasn’t retained.