Post by TheShadow on Dec 2, 2003 19:03:35 GMT -5
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COACH WORKS TO CLARIFY HIS POSTGAME PUTDOWN
By Craig Lancaster
Mercury News
A day after declaring the Raiders ``the dumbest team in America,'' Coach Bill Callahan on Monday tried to clarify his remarks but did not hold back in assessing his injury-plagued, mistake-prone, underachieving team.
He also notably avoided using the d-word again. Instead, he attempted to draw a distinction between his players' intellect and their errors.
Six times during a half-hour news conference, Callahan issued some variation on the ``it's not about our players, it's about our play'' theme.
``I'm upset,'' he said. ``I'm angry. I'm disturbed in terms of how we continue to lose games in the way and in the manner that we lose games.''
Afterward, Callahan met with a team that the day before had been riled up by his postgame comments. Neither the coach nor the players were available after that meeting, but a team source familiar with what happened said ``a lot of issues were put on the table.''
Those issues make for a matched set with all the ones the Raiders have put on the field.
In a 22-8 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, two penalties -- unnecessary roughness and encroachment -- gave new life to dead-end Denver drives. Both ended in Broncos touchdowns.
A week earlier, cornerback Phillip Buchanon compromised a late drive by removing his helmet and taunting the Kansas City crowd after his long punt return. On the Chiefs' winning drive, he yielded a first-down catch on fourth-and-14.
Those are merely the most recent examples of ineptitude. In the opener at Tennessee, 17 penalties for 173 yards (many of them drive-killers) plagued the Raiders in a 25-20 loss. As they have gone from preseason Super Bowl hopefuls to 3-9 dregs, errors have been the overarching theme.
``It reached the boiling point,'' Callahan said of his postgame tirade. ``The accumulation of penalties and mistakes and turnovers reached that point where we've got to wake up.''
And so it was that the nine most memorable words of the season -- ``We've got to be the dumbest team in America'' -- tumbled out of Callahan's mouth. Reaction among players in the locker room after the game was swift. Cornerback Charles Woodson, who had a much-publicized rift with Callahan earlier this season, insisted that he would not accept anyone on the team being called dumb. Wide receiver Tim Brown, the longest-tenured Raider, talked of ``squelching fires'' and said Callahan's emotional outbursts had caused rancor in previous years.
Neither Woodson nor Brown was available for comment Monday. For his part, Callahan insisted that he took issue with the manner of play, not the players' mental capacity.
``I am not criticizing the intellect of our players, I am not criticizing the intelligence of our players,'' he said. ``I am criticizing how we play.''
One of the few Raiders who ventured into the locker room Monday said that the coach was treading a delicate line.
``That's a tough distinction,'' said free safety Rod Woodson, who did not play Sunday and is out of action for the rest of the season because of an injured left knee. ``When you're 3-9, anything can be taken out of context. Everything is going to be negative. We had these problems last year, but it really didn't matter.
``But when you're 3-9, everything matters.''
In 2002, the Raiders were penalized 129 times for 1,094 yards. This season, they lead the NFL in penalties (112) and penalty yards (937).
Although Callahan's stock with his team has surely suffered because of what was said, he has some supporters in the locker room. Another out-of-action player, quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, downplayed the impact of Callahan's postgame words.
``I would think that comment was based on how we played,'' said Tuiasosopo, one of 11 Raiders on injured reserve. ``I didn't really take it personal. I didn't think it was that bad. But maybe I've been raised differently than some people.''
Beyond whatever support he's getting in the locker room, Callahan said he and owner Al Davis remain in lock step about the Raiders' problems. Davis has not made himself available to discuss Callahan's job status, and other team officials, such as senior assistant Bruce Allen, also have been publicly silent on the matter.
``He wants to win,'' Callahan said of Davis. ``And his sentiments are the same as mine. I want to win.
``It's about time it gets done. It's too late in the season to make the same types of mistakes we're making.''
COACH WORKS TO CLARIFY HIS POSTGAME PUTDOWN
By Craig Lancaster
Mercury News
A day after declaring the Raiders ``the dumbest team in America,'' Coach Bill Callahan on Monday tried to clarify his remarks but did not hold back in assessing his injury-plagued, mistake-prone, underachieving team.
He also notably avoided using the d-word again. Instead, he attempted to draw a distinction between his players' intellect and their errors.
Six times during a half-hour news conference, Callahan issued some variation on the ``it's not about our players, it's about our play'' theme.
``I'm upset,'' he said. ``I'm angry. I'm disturbed in terms of how we continue to lose games in the way and in the manner that we lose games.''
Afterward, Callahan met with a team that the day before had been riled up by his postgame comments. Neither the coach nor the players were available after that meeting, but a team source familiar with what happened said ``a lot of issues were put on the table.''
Those issues make for a matched set with all the ones the Raiders have put on the field.
In a 22-8 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, two penalties -- unnecessary roughness and encroachment -- gave new life to dead-end Denver drives. Both ended in Broncos touchdowns.
A week earlier, cornerback Phillip Buchanon compromised a late drive by removing his helmet and taunting the Kansas City crowd after his long punt return. On the Chiefs' winning drive, he yielded a first-down catch on fourth-and-14.
Those are merely the most recent examples of ineptitude. In the opener at Tennessee, 17 penalties for 173 yards (many of them drive-killers) plagued the Raiders in a 25-20 loss. As they have gone from preseason Super Bowl hopefuls to 3-9 dregs, errors have been the overarching theme.
``It reached the boiling point,'' Callahan said of his postgame tirade. ``The accumulation of penalties and mistakes and turnovers reached that point where we've got to wake up.''
And so it was that the nine most memorable words of the season -- ``We've got to be the dumbest team in America'' -- tumbled out of Callahan's mouth. Reaction among players in the locker room after the game was swift. Cornerback Charles Woodson, who had a much-publicized rift with Callahan earlier this season, insisted that he would not accept anyone on the team being called dumb. Wide receiver Tim Brown, the longest-tenured Raider, talked of ``squelching fires'' and said Callahan's emotional outbursts had caused rancor in previous years.
Neither Woodson nor Brown was available for comment Monday. For his part, Callahan insisted that he took issue with the manner of play, not the players' mental capacity.
``I am not criticizing the intellect of our players, I am not criticizing the intelligence of our players,'' he said. ``I am criticizing how we play.''
One of the few Raiders who ventured into the locker room Monday said that the coach was treading a delicate line.
``That's a tough distinction,'' said free safety Rod Woodson, who did not play Sunday and is out of action for the rest of the season because of an injured left knee. ``When you're 3-9, anything can be taken out of context. Everything is going to be negative. We had these problems last year, but it really didn't matter.
``But when you're 3-9, everything matters.''
In 2002, the Raiders were penalized 129 times for 1,094 yards. This season, they lead the NFL in penalties (112) and penalty yards (937).
Although Callahan's stock with his team has surely suffered because of what was said, he has some supporters in the locker room. Another out-of-action player, quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, downplayed the impact of Callahan's postgame words.
``I would think that comment was based on how we played,'' said Tuiasosopo, one of 11 Raiders on injured reserve. ``I didn't really take it personal. I didn't think it was that bad. But maybe I've been raised differently than some people.''
Beyond whatever support he's getting in the locker room, Callahan said he and owner Al Davis remain in lock step about the Raiders' problems. Davis has not made himself available to discuss Callahan's job status, and other team officials, such as senior assistant Bruce Allen, also have been publicly silent on the matter.
``He wants to win,'' Callahan said of Davis. ``And his sentiments are the same as mine. I want to win.
``It's about time it gets done. It's too late in the season to make the same types of mistakes we're making.''