Silver And Black Pride - Jerry Rice, Tim Brown accuse Bill Callahan of Super Bowl sabotageCovering all things Las Vegas Raiders footballhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49501/sbp-fav.png2013-01-24T06:00:12-08:00http://www.silverandblackpride.com/rss/stream/36719072013-01-24T06:00:12-08:002013-01-24T06:00:12-08:00For Tim Brown it's mission accomplished
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<p>It is hard to believe it has been only a few days since Tim Brown said publicly that he believed Bill Callahan sabotaged the Raiders chances of winning Super Bowl XXXVII. In those few days, Brown has accomplished everything he had hoped.</p> <p>It has been ten years since that fateful <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl">Super Bowl</a> disaster against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsnation.com/">Buccaneers</a>. And in those ten years, the members of that team have not let go of what happened that day in San Diego. They probably never will.</p>
<p>Many of the players on that team headed to the locker room after their 48-21 loss searching for answers. It was such an incredible shock to many of them, the only thing that made any sense was sabotage.</p>
<p>Sabotage by the head coach who led them to the edge of a cliff and pushed them over it. The notion seems downright crazy to just about anyone who thinks about it. And it goes to show you just how impossible it was for the players on that team to imagine how Callahan could have really screwed things up as badly as he did.</p>
<p>The one person affected the most by Callahan's actions was Barret Robbins. The All Pro center had a complete mental breakdown just prior to the Super Bowl when he was told the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/oakland-raiders">Raiders</a> would be switching the game plan two days before the big game. He was clinically bipolar and took medication for it. The last minute switch sent him over the edge and caused him to go on a drinking binge that night and miss the game.</p>
<p>He was already unstable. He was so far gone that at the time he was found, in his mind the Raiders had won the Super Bowl and he was celebrating it. He awoke from that dream to a nightmare. And since that night, he had the guilt that he cost himself and his team the Super Bowl and angry Raider fans all over putting the blame on him as well.</p>
<p>In the ten years since that game, <span>Tim Brown</span> and his teammates have wanted their version of the story heard. They wanted people to listen. They wanted the villain label removed from Robbins and place where it belonged - Bill Callahan.</p>
<p>They also wanted Callahan to answer for his actions. If that meant using the word "sabotage" publicly which they had previously only used amongst each other, so be it.</p>
<p>And after ten years, Brown has finally accomplished his mission.</p>
<p>This story has dominated the news cycle the past couple days which in today's world of instant information, is a long time. Several of the former Raiders players have chimed in even if they didn't all agree whole heartedly with Brown and Rice's account. Callahan in turn released a statement on it.</p>
<p>The statement by Callahan wasn't even vetted through his current team, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/">Dallas Cowboys</a>. He released the statement through his agent without the Cowboys permission. That's how urgent he and his agent felt they needed to attack these accusations.</p>
<p>The response in the statement so far is expected. When he is made to answer questions on it, those too will very likely be expected as well. He will undoubtedly say something along the lines of what he might have said in the minutes after the game. ‘The Buccaneers were a better team' and so on.</p>
<p>But what this accomplishes is far more rewarding in that it forces Callahan to answer for anything. The mere fact that ten years after the fact, Callahan is having to make a statement and will soon have to answer questions is a victory of sorts for all the players on that team who were denied any chance of winning that game.</p>
<p>Callahan will tell you the Buccaneers were just so much better and you can bet so will anyone associated with the Buccaneers, but that simply wasn't the case. The Raiders were the best team in the NFL that season and Rich Gannon was named MVP as they cruised to the Super Bowl. And yet suddenly they looked like they didn't belong on that field.</p>
<p>Buccaneers players were calling out the Raiders plays in the defensive huddle. Bucs safety <span>John Lynch</span> was recorded by NFL Films on the sideline telling Jon Gruden that the Raiders were doing exactly what they had practiced, exclaiming "It's unreal". So, it seems the Raiders players weren't the only ones who couldn't believe what they were seeing.</p>
<p>Rich Gannon was under tremendous pressure every time he dropped back to throw, the running backs could find no room to run, and the Buccaneers defenders knew where every pass was going. The result was five interceptions and no running room. The Bucs simply knew what was coming on every play without hesitation. Callahan has to answer for that. It may not have been sabotage by design, but he doomed the Raiders from the start.</p>
<p>Players like Tim Brown have to live with losing out on their best shot at winning a title in embarrassing fashion every day of their lives. He is a Hall of Fame finalist this year but he would be a lock if he had a ring to go with all his receiving numbers. That's an impossible thing to let go of.</p>
<p>Jerry Rice has his rings. He has no agenda and yet he came out and said the exact same thing as Brown. He pointed out that being such a veteran as Tim Brown is what made it the most bewildering about it all. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it.</p>
<p>As for Robbins, his life quickly unraveled into a series of run-ins with the law and stints in prison for his actions connected to his bipolar disorder. It is a tragic tale of which the only thing left to be done was a public showing of support from his former teammate and friend, Tim Brown. The best way to do that was to let the world know the true story of how that Super Bowl was lost.</p>
<p>The truth will set you free. But since truth often falls on deaf media ears; a bit of controversy mixed in with a whole lot of truth... will set you free.</p>
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https://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/24/3910636/for-oakland-raiders-tim-brown-its-mission-accomplishedLevi Damien2013-01-23T14:32:21-08:002013-01-23T14:32:21-08:00An apology to Barret Robbins
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<p>With Tim Brown's comments regarding Bill Callahan and the terrible Super Bowl I feel this is the perfect time for me to apologize to Barret Robbins. When I first joined this site I wrote a controversial fan post about Barret which was entirely unfair and ignorant in its lack of empathy.</p> <p>When I first joined Silver & Black Pride I was quite ignorant to the effects of bipolar disorder and I was in turn very critical of Barret Robbins for the choices he made throughout his life.</p>
<p>I wrote a <a href="http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2011/3/28/2077257/barrett-robbins-atleast-hes-just-screwing-himself-and-not-the-raiders">scathing fanpost</a> roasting Barret for his problems, and even when confronted by fellow community members I still refused to show any empathy for Robbins. If you read that linked post you can see why I am embarrassed about it and why I feel the need to apologize as a man. Even if you never read it and never read this I am sorry Barret Robbins.</p>
<p>A dear friend of mine who I always believed would overcome his bipolar issues lost his fight to drug addiction and my eyes were opened to the lack of control which can come with bipolar disorder. It can snowball out of control and even while putting in real effort sometimes it really is just unconquerable.</p>
<p>I still am angry that the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/oakland-raiders" class="sbn-auto-link">Raiders</a> Pro Bowl Center that year disappeared before the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl" class="sbn-auto-link">Super Bowl</a>. I am angry because it was a major blow to the team losing him for that game in which they were demolished. But there comes an understanding now that I hadn't had before. I understand when something happens to set off a Bi-Polar person that the reaction is completely unpredictable. Logic and reason go out the window along with the self control.</p>
<p>With what Tim Brown and other players from that roster are saying of Bill Callahan completely changing the game plan it makes much more sense to me why Robbins disappeared and lost control that week.</p>
<p>To know one of your players has this disorder and then to disregard his complaints of changing everything so late in the week is something with which I am now far more angry.</p>
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<p>>Bill Callahan is the one that disregarded the effect that his terrible coaching decision would have on his starting center and he is the one who deserves the wrath I had previously directed toward Barret. I was ignorant when I wrote what I did and nobody deserves to be kicked the way I kicked Robbins while he was down. For that, I sincerely apologize.</p>
https://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/23/3908592/maks-apology-to-barrett-robbinsMarcus Allen Krause2013-01-23T11:16:04-08:002013-01-23T11:16:04-08:00Tim Brown backs down from sabotage claims
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<p>What was a full on, out of control forest fire on Tuesday, Tim Brown is now saying was just a little brush fire. He is saying he didn't really say what we were saying he said or at least clarifying what he should have said.</p> <p>Here is part of <a href="http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/21/3902190/raider-great-tim-brown-believes-bill-callahan-sabatoged-the-gruden/in/3671907">what Tim Brown said about his former coach Bill Callahan</a> with regard to Super Bowl XXXVII in the controversial interview on Sirius XM radio "We all called it sabotage . . . because Callahan and Gruden were good friends,"</p>
<p>The feces really hit the rotary air circulating device on Tuesday when<a href="http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/22/3905036/jerry-rice-tim-brown-claim-bill-callahan-oakland-raiders-super-bowl-sabotage-tampa-bay-buccaneers"> Jerry Rice came on ESPN's NFL live and backed up his former teammate and friend</a>.</p>
<p>"maybe because [Callahan] didn't like the Raiders, he thought maybe we should sabotage just a little bit and let Jon Gruden go out and win this one."</p>
<p>Now today, Tim Brown is attempting to put out the fire he started and Rice fueled.</p>
<p>"I've never said [Callahan] sabotaged the game," said Brown on the Dan Patrick show Wednesday. "That's something that can never be proven," Brown said. "We can never go into the mind of Bill Callahan... I should have said we could have called it sabotage. It was a question, not a statement. You cannot prove it."</p>
<p>Technically, he's right. He didn't say outright that Callahan sabotaged the game. He used the word sabotage which had people's ears perking up. He knew what he was doing. You want people to listen, you gotta add a little controversy.</p>
<p>After his statements on the Dan Patrick show,<a href="https://twitter.com/81TimBrown"> he took to Twitter </a>as well.</p>
<p>"Raider nation, I'm sure u r waking to the news of what unsaid about our last super bowl... I just want u to know 2 things, comments were made In support of Barrett (Robbins), but absolutely NOT to hurt callahan... What I relayed is factual, I'm sure others will back me up when/if necessary... And they said Tim brown wasn't controversial! Certainly didn't mean to start this firestorm. As I have said form the start, was only... Defending a teammate!"</p>
<p>This statement is also true. If you read the Brown statement without focusing on the word "sabotage" it really is centered around defending Barret Robbins. It would seem Jerry Rice was also defending a teammate when he came out and said what he said. So, I would expect we hear from him soon as well.</p>
https://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/23/3908030/oakland-raiders-tim-brown-backs-down-from-sabotage-claimsLevi Damien2013-01-22T22:01:23-08:002013-01-22T22:01:23-08:00Bill Callahan responds to sabotage accusations
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<p>Former Raiders coach Bill Callahan was accused on Saturday of sabotaging his team in Super Bowl XXVII by Tim Brown. Those accusations were echoed by Jerry Rice. Tuesday evening, he responded to those allegations.</p> <p>When<a href="http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/21/3902190/raider-great-tim-brown-believes-bill-callahan-sabatoged-the-gruden"> Tim Brown made the claims</a> initially that Bill Callahan intentionally sabotaged the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/oakland-raiders">Raiders</a> in Super Bowl XXVII, it seemed shocking but one claim was not enough to force Callahan to answer for anything. Then today <a href="http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/22/3905036/jerry-rice-tim-brown-claim-bill-callahan-oakland-raiders-super-bowl-sabotage-tampa-bay-buccaneers">Jerry Rice backed up his former Raiders teammate</a> in saying Callahan had ill intentions.</p>
<p>Having one Hall of Fame receiver and one Hall of Fame finalist both making the same statements and both using the word "sabotage" forced Callahan to respond. Here is what he had to say:</p>
<p>"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 <span>Tim Brown's</span> allegations and Jerry Rice's support of those allegations made through various media outlets over the last 24 hours," Callahan said Tuesday<a href="http://pro32.ap.org/content/callahan-denies-allegations-super-bowl-sabotage"> in a statement to the Associated Press</a>. "To leave no doubt, I categorically and unequivocally deny the sum and substance of their allegations.</p>
<p>"Like every game I ever coached on the professional or collegiate level, I endeavor to the best of my professional ability to position my team to win. To suggest otherwise, especially at this time when it involves the Super Bowl, is ludicrous and defamatory.</p>
<p>"I have always honored the spirit of competition that drives us to sport as children and, for the lucky few, sustains us in adulthood. Any suggestion that I would undermine the integrity of the sport that I love and dedicated to my life to, or dishonor the commitment I made to our players, coaches and fans, is flat out wrong. I think it would be in the best interests of all including the game America loves that these allegations be retracted immediately. I want to extend my personal and my family's deep appreciation to the coaches, players and fans who have come forward and thoughtfully spoken out against these ill-conceived allegations."</p>
<p>This is the first we have heard from Callahan on the matter but it will not be the last to be sure. This was a statement. He will sit in front of reporters at some point, all of whom will be dying to ask him all about it.</p>
https://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/22/3906356/bill-callahan-responds-to-tim-brown-jerry-rice-sabotage-accusationsLevi Damien2013-01-22T15:01:54-08:002013-01-22T15:01:54-08:00Rice backs Brown claim of Callahan Super sabotage
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<p>Last Saturday, Raiders great <a href="http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/21/3902190/raider-great-tim-brown-believes-bill-callahan-sabatoged-the-gruden">Tim Brown made claims that former Raiders coach Bill Callahan may have intentionally sabotaged the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII</a> against Jon Gruden and the Buccaneers. Now Jerry Rice has stepped up and backed up Browns' claims.</p> <p>We are coming up on the tenth anniversary of the debacle that was the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/oakland-raiders" class="sbn-auto-link">Raiders</a> Super Bowl XXXVII loss to the <a href="https://www.bucsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Buccaneers</a>. In that game, the Raiders previously unstoppable offense was suddenly a complete disaster and the Buccaneers defense appeared to know exactly what was coming at any given moment.</p>
<p>For the past decade, the Raiders collapse in that game was blamed on the idea that the Raiders didn't change their playbook since when Jon Gruden was Raiders coach the season before. That still holds true to this day but <span>Tim Brown</span> thickened the plot by using the word "sabotage" with regard to Bill Callahan.</p>
<p>Though widely discussed since <a href="http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/21/3902190/raider-great-tim-brown-believes-bill-callahan-sabatoged-the-gruden">Brown made those claims</a>, much of it was seen as ridiculous. But now Jerry Rice has chimed in and echoed much of what Tim Brown said initially and people are really listening now.</p>
<p>Rice was asked by ESPN analyst Trey Wingo on Tuesday's NFL Live Broadcast if the game plan really had changed on that Friday before the game.</p>
<p>"Yes it did," Rice responded. "I was very surprised by that because you work all week long running the football and then all of the sudden on that given Friday we decided we were going to come out and throw the ball over 60 times. And I think with Bill Callahan and what Tim Brown is accusing him of is that why would you wait until the last second to change the game plan."</p>
<p>"You don't want to question your coach at that time but we just found that it was very unusual to change everything when we had Tyronne Wheatley and also Charlie Garner then we had probably the best fullback in the league with Zack Crocket. So we had a game plan and all of the sudden you change that game plan and basically we didn't know what was going to happen in that Super Bowl."</p>
<p>This idea that the Raiders had practiced being a run first team all week only to switch to "throw the ball over 60 times" <a href="http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/21/3902190/raider-great-tim-brown-believes-bill-callahan-sabatoged-the-gruden">was exactly what Tim Brown claimed</a>. But the primary question is that of sabotage for which Rice had this to say:</p>
<p>"I think with Tim Brown, he'd been with the Raiders longer," said Rice. "I recall when I first went to the Raiders, for some reason, and I don't know why, Bill Callahan he didn't like me. He was that type of coach and some of the things that happened, you know, with him walking off the field during the game, not being happy about certain situations, I was very surprised that he waited until the last second and I think a lot of the players, they were surprised also. So in a way, maybe because he didn't like the Raiders, he thought maybe we should sabotage just a little bit and let Jon Gruden go out and win this one."</p>
<p>There is no mixing up that Rice had just said Callahan sabotaged the Raiders in that game. He went on to make sure there was no confusion.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know exactly what I'm saying," Rice continued. "This is a discussion that Tim and I had and being veterans we know that you don't wait until the last second to change the game plan."</p>
<p>One of the more interesting points Tim Brown made was saying the change in game plan was what caused center Barret Robbins to go AWOL to Mexico the Saturday before the game. Rice confirms that as well.</p>
<p>"Without a doubt because the center is like the quarterback on the field. He has to get all the calls right and all week long we worked on a certain defense and then on that given Friday he decided to change the game plan to a passing game and I think Barret was frustrated. He was like ‘you cannot do this to us at the last second' and maybe that's the reason why he decided to not show up."</p>
<p>One of the reasons this is so interesting is because many players were of the mind that the game plan changed because Robbins' absence. This suggests to the contrary and it is a big deal. Robbins was seen as a villain in all this despite the mental problems he had that caused his fall from grace and several run-ins with the law since leaving the NFL.</p>
<p>These are damning allegations which Brown and Rice are making. Their accounts of it are enough, but they aren't the only ones. Other Raiders teammates spoke up as well.</p>
<p>One such player on that team is fullback Jon Ritchie who is glad people are finally getting the story he has been trying to tell people for quite some time.</p>
<p>"I've said it for years," said Ritchie. "what we practiced heavily during the week is not what we ran in that game. It could have been due to Barret's absence. It was never explained to me. I believe I said it on the record every year we talked about the Super Bowl, I always thought it would get sensational like this."</p>
<p>The aforementioned <span>Zack Crockett</span> also echoed the claim that the Raiders were planning to run the ball more but changed it up. Although, he was also still of the mind it had to do with Robbins' absence as opposed to the other way around.</p>
<p>"We were to believe that we were gonna run the ball but when Barret Disappeared it had to be tanked," said Crockett. "You got to adjust to a different center, you got a different guy that you're gonna put in who really hasn't played all year. That's a change. You go from an All Pro center to a long snapper."</p>
<p>Then there were those vehemently opposed to the notion that the game plan changed at the last minute or that there was any such sabotage involved by Callahan. First and foremost, Rich Gannon.</p>
<p>"I don't know that the game plan really changed. In terms of Bill Callahan, let me just say this, he was a good football coach, he was a good man, I don't think that he would ever intentionally, nor do I think anyone on our team would, because of a relationship with a former coach or anything try and... there was too much in it for all of us. From a selfish perspective, we all wanted to win. I'm sure Bill Callahan was one of them as well."</p>
<p>The always vocal Bill Romanowski was skeptical as well.</p>
<p>"I like Tim Brown," said Romanowski. "Great guy, great teammate but I think he's delusional to think that Bill Callahan would give up the biggest opportunity of his life, to create a legacy for himself, to be a Super Bowl winning coach, he is.... I can't even comprehend that something like that would come out of his mouth."</p>
<p>The timing of all this is interesting to say the least. For Tim Brown because he is currently a finalist for the 2013 Hall of Fame class. For the Raiders because we are coming up on the tenth anniversary of the XXXVII Super Bowl loss.</p>
<p>It's also interesting for Bill Callahan. He is the offensive coordinator for the <a href="https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Dallas Cowboys</a> and <a href="http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2013/1/22/3904626/dallas-cowboys-jason-garrett-gives-up-play-caller-role-bill-callahan">reports came out just today</a> that head coach Jason Garrett has been stripped of his play calling duties and those duties will now fall to Callahan.</p>
<p>This isn't over by a long shot. We all still have to receive word from Callahan but you can bet he will stick with his story about having to change the plan due to Robbins' absence. If that happens, he is essentially calling Brown and Rice liars.</p>
https://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/22/3905036/jerry-rice-tim-brown-claim-bill-callahan-oakland-raiders-super-bowl-sabotage-tampa-bay-buccaneersLevi Damien2013-01-21T20:07:14-08:002013-01-21T20:07:14-08:00Did ex Raiders coach sabotage the Super Bowl?
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<figcaption>Al Messerschmidt</figcaption>
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<p>The Oakland Raiders have not been the same since losing to Jon Gruden's Tampa Bay team, and Tim Brown suggests there was more to that story than meets the eye.</p> <p>The Oakland Raiders were humiliated by their former coach, Jon Gruden and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXII. The game was over almost as soon as it started, and since then, there have been stories of the Tampa Bay defense literally calling out the plays before the Raiders ran them.</p>
<p>For years, many blamed then offensive coordinator and newly minted Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman for not sufficiently changing the play book when Gruden left. Others blamed the Raiders Pro Bowl center, Barret Robbins who disappeared just hours before the game.</p>
<p>And now it appears that Tim Brown, one of the greatest Raiders ever, blames someone entirely different.</p>
<p>According to Brown, who appeared in an <a href="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/21/tim-brown-suggests-sabotage-by-bill-callahan-in-super-bowl-xxxvi/" target="_blank">interview</a> on Sirius XM on Saturday, the Raiders believed they could easily win the game by running the ball down the throats of the Bucs. The Raiders' offensive line was much bigger than the Bucs, and the Raiders boasted a backfield duo of Charlie Garner and Tyrone Wheatly, not to mention one of the best short yardage backs in the game, Zack Crockett.</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>Yet, according to Brown, that game plan was retracted by then head coach Bill Callahan, on the Friday before they took the field. And rather than run the ball in order to win, Callahan decided he was going to "throw the ball 60 times".</p>
<p>"The facts are what they are, that less than 36 hours before the game we changed our game plan. And we go into that game absolutely knowing that we have no shot.</p>
<p>"We all called it sabotage . . . because Callahan and Gruden were good friends," Brown said. "And Callahan had a big problem with the Raiders, you know, hated the Raiders. You know, only came because Gruden made him come. Literally walked off the field on us a couple of times during the season when he first got there, the first couple years."</p>
<p>Brown also stated that the change in game plan had a particularly negative effect on Robbins, who begged the coach not to make the change, noting that he could not possibly run the line and make his calls under the new plan.</p>
<p>"Barret Robbins begged Coach Callahan, ‘Do not do this to me. I don't have time to make my calls, to get my calls ready. You can't do this to me on Friday. We haven't practiced full speed, we can't get this done.'</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>While Brown does not directly attribute Robbins going off the deep end to Callahan's decision, the inference is clear.</p>
<p>Now clearly, I failed to mention that many fans at the time also blamed Callahan for the loss. But the blame was based on a feeling that Callahan had blundered the game due to ineptitude as a coach, not, as Brown would insinuate, because he had a hatred for the Raiders. Brown claims he only came to Oakland at the behest of Gruden, but really hated the organization.</p>
<p>This is rather shocking information, and with two weeks of hype leading into the Super Bowl, this surely is not the last we have heard of the story.</p>
https://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/1/21/3902190/raider-great-tim-brown-believes-bill-callahan-sabatoged-the-grudenJames Arcellana