Big Blow-The-Lid-Off on Bill Callahan

[Sideshow Bob]

m.deadspin.com/5978147/jerry-rice-and-tim-brown-say-bill-callahan-threw-super-bowl-xxxvii

Bill Callahan, the offensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, just got a promotion today. Jerry Jones took the playcalling reins away from Jason Garrett and put them in Callahan's hands. (Was Dallas's offense a problem? They ranked sixth in yards per game and 11th in Football Outsiders' DVOA stat. I guess Jerry Jones just likes changing things up periodically. As with his face.) Anyway, I'm sure everyone who's ever worked alongside or for Callahan is quite excited for him and sending along their best wishes.

Jerry Rice has come forward to say he sides with his former teammate Tim Brown in believing that Callahan wanted to lose.

Rice, who was on the Raiders team that lost Super Bowl XXXVII to the Buccaneers, said on ESPN that Callahan disliked his players, disliked his team, and was willing to let his old boss, then-Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, beat him.

"For some reason - and I don't know why - Bill Callahan did not like me," Rice said. "In a way, maybe because he didn't like the Raiders, he decided, 'Maybe we should sabotage this a little bit and let Jon Gruden go out and win this one.'"

Bill Callahan might be a bad coach, to be sure. He went 4-12 in his second year with Oakland, and his players despised him. Charles Woodson and Charlie Garner refused to play for him. Brown told the AP in 2003 that "nobody trusts a word [Callahan] says." In 2005, left tackle Barry Sims said of Callahan's Raiders, "About halfway through the year Callahan left, he basically stopped coaching and half the team basically shut it down." Callahan then went to Nebraska, where he had a revolting 27-22 record. (Frank Solich, his predecessor, went 58-19; Bo Pelini, Callahan's successor, has gone 48-20.) Hell, he may be a very bad coach.

But does the evidence support charges of throwing the game? Not really. Tim Brown said Callahan didn't run the ball enough. But 11 carries for 17 yards doesn't suggest a play-calling problem; it suggests a problem with the running backs and offensive line. Was Callahan supposed to start Barret Robbins? Rich Gannon's five interceptions don't really impugn the gameplan, either. They impugn Rich Gannon, who says Callahan's innocent.

Perhaps Jerry Rice should stop worrying about this mystery, which isn't terribly pressing to today's NFL fans (one doubts Gruden or Callahan will ever become a head coach again), and focus instead on this one: Rice turned 40 years old in 2002. He caught 92 passes for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns that season. Before the Ty Law rule was enforced. At 40. Someone explain that.

[Terd Ferguson]

Odd timing on changing the game plan, but that kind of stuff happens IN GAME sometimes...I don't think that is a story. It isn't like he changed the PLAYS. He just decided to shift philosophy going into the game.

Tim Brown also said that Callahan is the smartest offensive coach he's ever met....just didn't like the man.

[Terd Ferguson]

www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000129574/article/rich-gannon-bill-callahan-didnt-sabotage-super-bowl

Former Oakland Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown raised eyebrows by suggesting over the weekend on Sirius XM NFL Radio that Bill Callahan might have sabotaged the Raiders' chances in Super Bowl XXXVII against old buddy Jon Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Oakland's quarterback that day, Rich Gannon, addressed the comments Tuesday on his show "The SiriusXM Blitz" with Adam Schein.

"In terms of Bill Callahan, he's a good football coach. He's a good man. I don't think he would intentionally -- ever (not try to win.) Nor do I think anyone would ever. There was too much in it for all of us. There was too much vested in trying to become world champions. From a selfish perspective, we all wanted to win. I'm sure Bill Callahan was one of them," Gannon said.

He hit the nail on the head. Callahan could have changed his life with a Super Bowl win. Are we really supposed to believe that Callahan would intentionally pass up millions of dollars in future earnings? It's insane.

Gannon, who spoke highly of Brown's preparation and intelligence, even questioned the notion that the Raiders dramatically changed the game plan before the Super Bowl. Gannon believes the Raiders were a tired team by the weekend and they all shared in the team's defeat. It didn't help that the Buccanneers knew many of the Raiders' line calls.

Brown suggested teammates would back him up in his assertion about Callahan, but that hasn't been the case so far.

Former Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski told WPEN-FM in Philadelphia that the accusation made no sense.

"He absolutely couldn't be further from the truth. So you're saying that a man has a chance to cement himself in history with winning a Super Bowl and he wants to hand it over to his buddy? Give me a break, OK?" Romanowski said. "It couldn't be further from the truth. He doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm blown away that something like that would come out of an intelligent man's mouth."

[Sideshow Bob]

Yeah, I don't believe a coach would intentionally tank the Super Bowl - was just shocked Tim Brown (and now Jerry Rice) would claim that he did.

[matt51180]

Seems like a strange time for this to come out since it was 11 years ago...