^Update: Callahan: 'Sabotage' allegations 'ludicrous'

[Reg]

08:03 AM ET 01.22 | On the surface, Super Bowl XXXVII was marred for the Raiders by the weekend disappearance of center Barret Robbins, but Tim Brown has a different take. [Brown] believes that the blame for the 48-21 loss to the Buccaneers should go to Oakland's head coach. "We get our game plan for victory on Monday, and the game plan says we're gonna run the ball," Brown said Saturday on SiriusXM NFL Radio, which provided us with the audio. ... [According to Brown, coach Bill Callahan, on the Friday before the Super Bowl, changed] the game plan from a run-heavy attack to an intent to "throw the ball 60 times." "We all called it sabotage . . . because Callahan and [Tampa Bay coach Jon] Gruden were good friends," Brown said.

Pro Football Talk

[SoonerChuck]

So Callahan would hurt his own career & chance to win the Superbowl just to do a favor for his buddy? I doubt it. These coaches are competitive, & a Superbowl title on their resume gives them a little job security.

[Deb]

Romanowski “flabbergasted” by Tim Brown’s claims

Posted by Mike Florio on January 22, 2013, 1:21 PM EST


The teammates of former Raiders receiver Tim Brown are starting to speak out regarding his I’m-not-saying-I’m-just-saying-style suggestion that coach Bill Callahan “sabotaged” Super Bowl XXXVII by dramatically changing the game plan two days before kickoff.

Brown said on Twitter on Tuesday that teammates will back him up.

Linebacker Bill Romanowski isn’t one of them.

“I’m absolutely flabbergasted,” Romanowski told Tony Bruno and Jon Marks of 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia. “Is he trying to be relevant for the Super Bowl? What is he trying to do? 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? It couldn’t be further from the truth. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And I’ll tell you what, I’m blown away that something like that would come out of an intelligent man’s mouth.”

[Reveryroadie]

well if your a run first team, and then you throw the ball 60 times, it does raise eyebrows. not saying brown is right or wrong, but still

[G-men]

Originally Posted by Reveryroadie

well if your a run first team, and then you throw the ball 60 times, it does raise eyebrows. not saying brown is right or wrong, but still

It would raise more eyebrows if you kept running the ball when you're down by that much

[pooh555]

It's not like Rich Gannon was a scrub QB

Besides, Romanowksi should know the real reason for the loss, considering the 40 something points put up on that D

[Reg]

ESPN.com news services

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Former Oakland Raiders coach Bill Callahan denied allegations made by two of his former players that he "sabotaged" the Raiders in their Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay 10 years ago, saying that he tried to win the game and that suggestions to the contrary were "ludicrous and defamatory."

Former Raiders receivers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice both said in recent interviews that they believe Callahan undermined his own team in the Super Bowl in 2003 because of his close friendship with Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden by altering the game plan less than two days before Oakland's 48-21 loss.

"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."

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."

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