With a very interesting one, hat-tip to Brian Tuohy on Twitter, Pro Football Today reports that Tim Brown felt that his own head coach, Bill Callahan, not only sabotaged Super Bowl XXXVII from his Raiders to the Buccaneers (and former coach and old friend Jon Gruden), but completely changed the game-plan on Friday so that Barret Robbins could not cope, and that was what set off the bizarre psychological incident that effectively ended his football career.
On satellite radio, Brown reports that the plan was to run the ball with the superior bulk of the Oakland offensive line, but, by Friday, less than 48 hours before the game, somebody (Brown thinks it was Callahan, some think it might've been Al Davis...) changed it to a pass-heavy situation.
This basically concerned Robbins, who, as the center, had to completely change the entire way he called the game and got ready for it. He expressed his concerns for the change to Callahan, was blown off, and effectively disappeared into the night, and we all know the rest of that story.
But Brown goes even further:
- It has largely been believed that Callahan never changed the signals for the audibles from the old Gruden setup. Brown claims that, in fact, Callahan hated the Raiders organization, and only went there as a favor to old friend Gruden. Given that Callahan never liked the Raiders (to the point at which Brown claims that, as an assistant, Callhan walked off the field on the team during a couple of games), Brown believes that sabotage, through a strong word with respect to the Super Bowl, well could have happened.
- The team knew they had already lost the game before they even came out of the tunnel.
- That the team knew Robbins was unstable, and that everyone was more angry at Callhan for what he might've done to set that whole situation off.
You still want to swear your fealty to your uniforms, teams, and colors, knowing these games can literally be compromised at the drop of a hat?
Well....they didn't even bother to change the play book or signals or play calling, knowing that the team they were going up against was ran by the same coach that knew this stuff by heart so I totally believe this. Then in the Super Bowl they willing fully went into that pass heavy offense like morons. I remember even after this Super Bowl, people were saying this, that it felt like they gave it away since they walked into the game with that whole playbook.
ReplyDeleteJust my opinion, I agree with him. Even all the way back, something just did not feel right with that game. Who goes into a game against their former coach and don't change any of the play calling, signals, or anything? And to think this was the Super Bowl of all games.
This game ultimately destroyed the Raiders organization as far as I know. They have never been the same since losing that Super Bowl.