Jerry Rice Says Bill Callahan Threw Super Bowl XXXVII
By Josh Hill
The greatest wide receiver to ever play the game has publicly accused his former head coach of fixing Super Bowl XXXVII. Former Oakland Raiders receiver Tim Brown caused a media storm when he openly accused Bill Callahan of sabotaging the Raiders 2002 Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Everyone thought it was just the ramblings of a crazy old ex-receiver, but today Brown’s voice received a bull-horn and the story has gone supersonic.
Jerry Rice, who was one that 2002 Super Bowl team, said on ESPN — in front of live cameras– that Bill Callahan threw the Super Bowl.
“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.’”
Even ESPN host Trey Wingo was taken aback, going as far as to ask Rice if he knew what he was saying. Like a crazed, backwoods hippy militant who thinks the government is watching him through his cereal, Rice said he knew exactly what he was saying.
The biggest controversy surrounding the Super Bowl prior to this was that center Barrett Robbins missed the game due to hat was later called a mental breakdown. Rice says that mental breakdown was due to the fact Robbins was so demoralized he decided he wasn’t going to show up.
“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,” Rice said.
Before this, Rice looked like a humble legend. Now he looks like a sore loser who can’t handle he lost a Super Bowl. Rice’s main piece of evidence is that the Raiders threw the ball “over 60 times” in the game. But the Raiders threw the ball 44 times, which is just three time more than how many times they threw the ball in the AFC Championship game.
But Rice blaming Robbins mental problems on Callahan is perhaps the sickest of all his allegations. Robbins has a documented struggle with mental illness and substance abuse, and while Callahan switching the game-plan may have been destressing, it can’t be blamed for the years of financial and mental anguish that have plagued Robbins.
This is pretty much Rice’s case: Bill Callahan literally threw the Super Bowl because he liked Jon Gruden and decided to do what got the Raiders to the Super Bowl in the first place — pass the ball.
The Raiders running back that year: Charlie Garner.
The Raiders wide receivers that year: Jerry Rice and Tim Brown with MVP Rich Gannon throwing them the ball.
If you were in charge of running that offense, what would call? Nobody is choosing Charlie Garner over Rice and Brown so for this to even be a discussion is just ludicrous.
This just seems to be the case of a retired wide receiver who is upset to this day, about the only blemish on his record. So naturally, he’s blaming someone else.