Wednesday found Tim Brown pedaling as fast as he could. Backward.
The former Raiders’ wide receiver, a finalist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame who probably didn’t do his candidacy any favors the last few days, slammed his controversial claims into reverse during an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show.” Brown told Patrick he never said former Raiders’ coach Bill Callahan “sabotaged” Super Bowl XXXVII with his last-minute changing of the game plan.
Of course, that is exactly what Brown did say over the weekend in an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, touching off a firestorm. Members of that Oakland team quickly leaped into the fray, including Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.
While Rice, who spent three seasons and part of a fourth with the Raiders following a stellar career with the 49ers, sided with Brown and hasn’t backtracked on his comments, the clear majority of their teammates said there was no way Callahan ever would tank such an important game, despite his close friendship with Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, who was on the opposite sideline that day in San Diego.
“I have never said that [Callahan] sabotaged the game,” Brown said yesterday. “All I was saying after the game was, you know, the question was asked about this situation, but no one ever said — and I said on the radio show last Saturday night — that’s something that could never be proven.
“We can’t go inside the mind of Bill Callahan and say, ‘Oh, yeah, we knew exactly what he was thinking, what he was trying to do.’ All I’m saying is, the question was asked. But of course the media hears ‘sabotage’ and ‘Bill Callahan’ and ‘throwing the football game,’ now they’re saying ‘throwing the football game’ and that terminology was never used. But that wasn’t the intent.”
Got that?
After a few days of silence, Callahan, a former Jets’ assistant coach who is now the Cowboys’ offensive line coach, released a statement late Tuesday, denying the allegations and demanding they be taken back.
“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. “To leave no doubt, I categorically and unequivocally deny the sum and substance of their allegations.
“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. I think it would be in the best interests of all, including the game America loves, that these allegations be retracted immediately.”