So Tim Brown, Jerry Rice and Charlie Garner, all members of the 2003 Oakland Raiders who lost the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that season, are now saying that coach Bill Callahan lost the game on purpose because he is a friend of Jon Gruden and changed the entire game plan just 36 hours before game time.
This Jacks me off, as it should you, because Rice and Brown are well respected players, however their allegations just don’t make any sense! I mean, Callahan is basically throwing away a major bonus, a massive upper on a resume, not to mention the pride and glory of being a Super Bowl champion – memories and bragging rights for life!
The thing is, Bill Callahan had the number 1 passing team in the league and the claims from Brown, Rice and Garner are that he installed a game plan that was very run heavy. They then claim that he decided to make a last minute change back to the heavy passing game. Really?
Let’s remember that the Raiders were the number 1 passing team in the NFL that year. It really shouldn’t be too hard for the number 1 team in the league to go back to doing what they did all season long, should it? Are we forgetting that Jon Gruden coached the Raiders only one season prior, and that Bill Callahan was his Offensive Coordinator? Sure, this gave Gruden a pretty good idea about the Raiders’ offense, but considering Callahan’s team was the number 1 passing team how can he possibly have abandoned it? I can see the difficulties coach Callahan probably felt in knowing how approach the game. What would you do?
The Raiders were the #23 rushing team in the NFL that season. Gruden’s Bucs had a fearsome defense with an outstanding front 7 that featured Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Simeon Rice and others. The Bucs defense was number 1 in the league that year in points allowed, turnovers, yards allowed, 1st downs allowed, yards per play, and pretty much dominated the league statistically. Yes they were #5 against the run and #1 against the pass, but it wasn’t like they were vulnerable on the ground. They were fearsome no matter what type of offense they were up against.
When the teams finally played, Raiders’ Quarterback Rich Gannon threw 5 picks, three of which were returned for TD’s! However, it’s hindsight to say that the team should have stuck to the original game plan to run more. Let’s remember that during the game, the Raiders did run the ball 11 times and in those plays they accumulated a grand total of 19 yards for a whopping 1.7 yards per carry. Basically they got Sapped.
Not only do the former Raiders comments hurt Bill Callahan’s current job as the Dallas Cowboys Offensive Coordinator, as well as his credibility, but what about Jim Harbaugh who was a young Offensive Assistant on the Raiders at the time and is now coaching San Francisco in next week’s Super Bowl? He’s going to face a ton of questions from the media on this topic now, when his focus should be on the task at hand. This isn’t the distraction any coach needs during Superbowl Week.
Or how about Marc Trestman, the new head coach of the Chicago Bears. He was also an offensive assistant under Callahan. He faces enough questions as a rookie NFL head coach who spent the last several years coaching in the CFL. Adding these questions to his resume before he starts in a tough media market certainly puts him in a tough spot as well.
So that’s why I’m really Jack’d me off, because it sure sounds like false allegations to me and it’s putting some damper on this year’s Super Bowl as well as other people’s jobs!
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport
