Former Oakland Raiders wide receivers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice made some waves this past week when they claimed that their head coach Bill Callahan "sabotaged" their Super Bowl appearance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003.
Callahan responded to those allegations on Tuesday, saying that he tried to win the game and suggestions to the contrary were "ludicrous and defamatory."
"While I fully understand a competitive professional football player's disappointment when a game's outcome doesn't go his team's way, I am shocked, saddened and outraged by Tim Brown's allegations and Jerry Rice's support of those allegations made through various media outlets over the last 24 hours," Callahan said Tuesday in a statement. "To leave no doubt, I categorically and unequivocally deny the sum and substance of their allegations."
The news first came out over the weekend after Brown made comments on Sirius XM NFL Radio, saying that ex-Raiders coach Bill Callahan was the main reason why the team lost 48-21 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII.
Brown said in the interview that Callahan may have changed the team's game plan on Friday night because he was friends with Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden and "hated" the Raiders. Gruden was formerly the coach of the Raiders the previous season before leaving for the Tampa Bay job.
"We all called it sabotage, because Callahan and Gruden was good friends, and Callahan had a big problem with the Raiders, hated the Raiders, and only came because Gruden made him come," Brown said.
Callahan called on the allegations against him to be taken back.
"Any suggestion that I would undermine the integrity of the sport that I love and dedicated my life to, or dishonor the commitment I made to our players, coaches and fans is flat out wrong," he said. "I think it would be in the best interests of all, including the game America loves, that these allegations be retracted immediately."
Some Oakland Raider players refuted Brown's claims, including quarterback Rich Gannon and linebacker Bill Romanowski, who called Brown "delusional." Brown went on to say that the disappearance of center Barrett Robbins from San Diego before the game was tied to the move.
"We get our game plan for victory on Monday, and the game plan says we're gonna run the ball," Brown said. "We averaged 340 (pounds) on the offensive line, they averaged 280 (on the defensive line). We're all happy with that, everybody is excited."
Brown's comments were not the first time the issue has been brought up.
"I've been talking about this for 10 years," Brown said Tuesday in an interview with ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM.
Former Raiders offensive lineman Frank Middleton said in a phone interview that Brown's comments about the game plan change and center Barrett Robbins' disappearance were not accurate, but that there were bad feelings between the coach and players.
Callahan hated us," Middleton said. "He didn't want to see a lot of us succeed because of who we were. I do believe Callahan had bad feelings against us. But to say he threw the game, I can't say that."
According to NFL.com: "Robbins had bipolar disorder, and went missing the day before the game. He turned up Saturday night and admitted to wandering around Tijuana all day, but was left off the team's game-day roster."
According to Brown, the reason Robbins may have disappeared was due to the change by Callahan. Following Callahan's announcement of the change of game plan, Brown directly quoted Robbins as saying: "Do not do this to me.... I don't have to make my calls, get my calls ready..we can't get this done."
After the comments made headlines, many Raiders teammates came out to comment. The biggest endorsement came from Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice, who said he agreed with Brown's take on the situation on ESPN's "NFL Live" on Tuesday:
"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.'"
Rice is a Hall of Fame player who has an opinion that is respected around the NFL. His support of Brown is noteworthy in the sense that he would not make those comments if he didn't trust what Brown said.
"Yeah, I know exactly what I'm saying," Rice said. "With Barrett, he was frustrated, like, 'You cannot do this to us at the last second.' Maybe that's why he decided to not show up."
Brown's idea that Robbins freaked out in response to the changing game plan was refuted on Tuesday morning by former Raiders running back Zack Crockett, who spoke on ESPN Radio with Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg and said that the game plan changed due to Robinns' disappearance. He described how one reason the game turned out the way it did was due to the change from an All-Pro center to a longsnapper, meaning that many of the calls were simplified.
"I'm not saying one had anything to do with the other," Brown said. "All I'm saying is those are the facts of what happened Super Bowl week. So our ire wasn't towards Barret Robbins, it was towards Bill Callahan. Because we feel as if he wouldn't have did what he did, then Barret wouldn't have done what he did."
The Raiders were completely dominated by the Buccaneers in the game and attempted only 44 passes and 11 runs plays in the game while getting pushed around on the offensive line, allowing five sacks. The team was down 20-3 after the first half and had to completely abandon the run anyway. The Raiders threw a then club-record 619 passes in the 2002 season, but had first planned to run the ball to take advantage of the Tampa Bay rush defense.
The Raiders were more of a passing team during the season, with Gannon throwing the ball over 600 times. The team regressed greatly the following season, going 4-12 in 2003, after which Callahan was fired. The Raiders have not made the playoffs since getting to the Super Bowl and went just 4-12 in 2012.
Brown was not much of a factor in the Super Bowl, which could be one reason for his bitter feelings. He made only one catch for nine yards, while quarterback Rich Gannon threw five interceptions, three of which were returned for scores, including by the game's MVP.
The Raiders have not had a winning season since making the super Bowl, although they have gone 8-8 twice during that span. The team hasn't finished better than third in the AFC West since winning the division in 2002. This year's Super Bowl in New Orleans marks the 10th anniversary of the game.
Brown was one of the best receivers during his time, ranking in the top five all-time with 1,094 receptions for 15,000 reception yards with 100 touchdowns scored. Rice is considered to be the greatest player of all-time by many in football and made 1,549 career receptions for an NFL-record 208 touchdowns with 22,895 yards. He won three Super Bowls and was Offensive Player of the Year twice.
Callahan currently works as the offensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys and has not received another head coaching job since the Super Bowl loss.
