Unc: Noun. Pronounced UNK. A shortening of the word "uncle," often used humorously to indicate old age...a slang term. – Merriam-Webster.com

When it comes to Qadir Ismail and Shedrick Jackson, the term "unc" takes on a Silver and Black hue for the two decidedly green pass catchers, both of whom signed with the Raiders this offseason.

Because as "nephews" to a couple of the more popular Raiders players from an earlier generation, the two are not only trying to make the team with impressive exhibition seasons, they are also aiming to make names for themselves.

Consider: Ismail's uncle is blink-and-you-miss-him return man Raghib "Rocket" Ismail while Jackson's grunkle (there's a shoutout for you "Gravity Falls" fans) is the legendary Bo Jackson.

Talk about wild genetics within the Raiders DNA.

"Who do you think was better, me or him?" Shedrick playfully asked me after a recent training camp practice.

I told him I was there that fateful day, on Jan. 13, 1991, when Bo Jackson made his last run for the Raiders up the right sideline at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a playoff win over the Bengals. And that I had covered many of Grunkle Bo's exploits with the Raiders as an even younger, more wet-behind-the-ears sportswriter for my hometown newspaper, the Barstow Desert Dispatch, while in junior college.

"Honestly," Shedrick continued, his grin growing larger, "as an athlete, I think I'm more athletic."

Silence.

Then, uneasy laughs. Shedrick, after all, was born more than eight years after Bo's last run for the Raiders.

"I mean, I think I'm more agile," he said with a knowing giggle. "Obviously, he's got the straight line speed and all that, but overall, I think I do a lot of things well."

You ever tell him that?

"I mess with him all the time," Shedrick said. "You know, he hates it. He likes to give me that look. But it is what it is. We're both competitors, and it makes it fun."

Bo is Shedrick's paternal grandfather's brother, hence the great uncle, er, grunkle relationship.

A fact that Qadir Ismail had "no idea of" until after the Raiders' 23-23 preseason opening tie at Seattle. An exhibition in which Shedrick hauled in a 41-yard touchdown pass and talking heads, accordingly, began anew with the talk of Bo, who rumbled through the streets of Silver and Blackdom from 1987 through 1990.

Neither did Shedrick know of Qadir's uncle being a Raider from 1993-95.

Not that either broadcast their familial news themselves. Again, they're trying to make names for themselves while trying to make an NFL roster, and vice-versa.

Plus, Qadir's father Qadry, AKA The Missile, also played in the league, for 10 seasons. And while Qadry never played for the Raiders, he was on the Ravens sideline when they upended the Raiders in the 2000 AFC title game.

Like Shedrick, Qadir slowplays the relationships.

"Growing up, they were just regular people to me," he said. "So it was just my uncle and it was just my dad. They kind of give you little insights and the little things that they learned over the course of their careers.

"Like, 'Hey, nephew, this is just little stuff that I did to mark my name.' I've got to kind of carve out my own mark into it."

Besides, advice is all the converted tight end can take with him on the field, not tales of his uncle's Raiders exploits, right?

"When my hand's in the dirt, and I've got this 9-tech [defensive end] lined up and about to fly off the ball at me, I'm not thinking about any of that other stuff," Qadir said. "I'm just thinking about what I've got to execute."

Entering Saturday's exhibition finale at the Cardinals, the 6-foot-6, 232-pound Qadir has four catches for 42 yards.

A former college quarterback who switched to receiver at Villanova before transferring to Samford, Qadir has yet to appear in an NFL game after spending most of the 2024 season on the Ravens practice squad.

He is now in a loaded Raiders tight end room with the likes of first-team All-Pro Brock Bowers, Michael Mayer and Ian Thomas.

And no, there are no prep talks about what it means to be a Raider from Uncle Rocket.

"You don't want to make the moment too big," Qadir said. "You kind of take it day-by-day. So, whatever he did, that has no bearing on me and what I've got to prove every single day."

The 6-foot-1, 198-pound Shedrick, meanwhile, ran a 4.25-second 40-time in college and is leading the Raiders in the preseason with seven receptions for 104 yards and a TD.

But he, too, is in a numbers crunch among receivers with veterans Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker joined by rookie draft picks Dont'e Thornton, Jr., Jack Bech and Tommy Mellott, let alone holdover Alex Bachman.

And the next catch Shedrick has in a regular season NFL game will be his first.

Having played at Auburn, like Grunkle Bo, Shedrick signed with Cincinnati as an undrafted rookie in 2023 and spent most of that season and the beginning of 2024 on the Bengals practice squad, though he did appear in five games for them that first year.

His career line: a special teams tackle and one target, a Jake Browning deep ball incompletion, in five offensive snaps. He joined the Raiders practice squad on Dec. 4, 2024 and was signed to a reserve/futures contract in January.

With the Raiders starters not expected to play at Arizona, Qadir and Shedrick should get plenty of run against the Cardinals. And seeing ISMAIL and JACKSON on the backs of those two Raiders jerseys give fans an opportunity to remember the past, while evaluating the present to see if there is a future for either player.

"People are now coming up, 'Oh, The Rocket's your uncle?'" Qadir said with a grin. "If he didn't do anything, then it wouldn't have meant nothing. But he did."

Rocket was the 1990 Heisman Trophy runner-up and, in three seasons with the Raiders, caught 88 passes for 1,357 yards and nine TDs while returning 104 kickoffs for 2,234 yards.

Same with Shedrick and Bo, who was a human highlight reel with 2,782 rushing yards and 16 TDs, including from 91, 92 and 88 yards, on 515 carries in 38 games across four truncated seasons as his "hobby" after playing baseball for the Kansas City Royals.

"At first, they don't really realize [we're related] and I don't say too much about it because I'm a laid back-type dude," Shedrick said. "So, when people find out, they find out. It's always funny when people find out down the road and ask me. I'm like, 'Yeah, yeah.'"

Plus, they have each other to commiserate with, and not just about their famous namesakes.

Shedrick said they initially connected because Qadir went to Samford, less than 20 minutes from Shedrick's hometown of Hoover, Alabama.

"So he's been in, you know, the same city that I've been in," Shedrick said. "We just had that connection and been hanging out. Cool dude."

Qadir concurred.

"We're just boys," Qadir said. "We just talk about what we got going on and stuff like that."

Stuff like, yes, trying to make names for themselves while trying to make an NFL franchise already familiar with their familial connections.