Friday, January 24, 2003

Raiders’ 19-Year Bowl Drought Over

By Rick Tracewell

The Oakland Raiders are in the Super Bowl. Let me say that again. The Oakland Raiders are in the Super Bowl. It’s almost hard to believe for the legion of die-hard fans known as the Raider Nation. For 19 years, the Raiders have struggled to get back to sports biggest game. The last time the Raiders were in the Super Bowl, Jim Plunkett was the quarterback and Marcus Allen was the running back and eventually the Super Bowl MVP. Super Bowl XVIII was played in January of 1984 and the Raiders pummeled the Joe Theisman led Washington Redskins 38-9.

For some perspective, Super Bowl XVIII was the game that Apple Computer ran their infamous “1984” George Orwell-like commercial introducing – get this – the Apple Macintosh computer. Yes, it was that long ago. In 1984, a David Lee Roth led Van Halen was topping the pop charts for the first time with “Jump”. Those of you who were alive in 1984 will also remember other top pop acts of the year such as Wham!, Cyndi Lauper, and Billy Ocean.

You probably lost your mind trying to solve the Rubik’s Cube and lost your Hacky Sack on the roof of your parent’s house. You probably went to see Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, Gremlins, and the Karate Kid at the movie theater because VCRs were still WAY too expensive to be in every household. On TV in 1984 was Dallas, Dynasty, The A-Team, That’s Incredible!, and Pierce Brosnan was still a James Bond wannabe in Remington Steele. By the way, more likely than not, you had to get your rear end off the couch to change channels because remote controls weren’t in every household yet either.

In the 19 years since the Raiders were last in the big game, Raiders fans have put up with the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly. Remember names like Marc Wilson and Donald Hollas? Joe Bugel and Mike White? Raiders fans do. After their last Super Bowl appearance, the Raiders have had several head coaches with names like Mike Shanahan (yes, now the Denver Broncos head man), former Raider lineman and NFL Hall of Famer Art Shell, Mike White, Joe Bugel, and of course Jon Gruden - none of whom ever got the Raiders to the dance.

The Raiders had just moved to Los Angeles the last time they were in the Super Bowl. In fact, the Raiders had no home field advantage in the 1983 season as they were flying into Los Angeles from Oakland to play “home” games. The move was a controversial one and Al Davis became a pain in the neck to the NFL and was despised by loyal Raiders fans for taking their team to the southland in search of more money.

After 1984, the Raiders rarely put a solid team on the field. There was always a missing piece of the puzzle. Either the defense was weak and the offense was on fire or the offense couldn’t get into the end zone and the defense was stifling. Then there was the parade of coaches who just couldn’t get the team on his side. There were bad seed players on the team who just seemed to drag everyone down with their negative attitude and poor work habits.

There were glimmers of hope such as when the Raiders signed misunderstood quarterback Jeff George after their return to Oakland. But after a 4-12 season under Joe Bugel, it was obvious that more was needed to get the Raiders over the hump in the post-salary cap NFL. Many believed that no coach would ever succeed in Oakland because the team’s maverick owner Al Davis wouldn’t let go of the steering wheel. All that changed in 1998 when he hired a young unknown named Jon Gruden.

Gruden seemed to take control of the team right from the beginning. He ousted bad apples like Chester McGlockton and Larry Allen and brought in savvy veterans like Rich Gannon and Jerry Rice. The players in Oakland embraced his approach and soon the team took on the persona of its fiery young coach. The fans were hooked and the Raiders started their rise up the NFL ranks. Suddenly, highly regarded free agents wanted to wear the silver and black again. In 2000 and 2001, Gruden led the Raiders to two straight AFC Western Division titles and brought them into the playoffs again only to fall short in the AFC Championship game vs. the Ravens and then a controversial loss to New England last season.

“There really wasn’t a new approach until Jon Gruden arrived. He was the right coach at the right time,” said current Raiders Senior Administrator and former Raiders wide receiver Morris Bradshaw. “He evaluated the roster and changed the mental attitude of the team.”

After building a powerful team on the rise, coach Jon Gruden left for Tampa Bay and the Raiders quickly tapped his long-time friend and assistant Bill Callahan as his replacement. Many doubted that it was a good move considering Callahan had never been a head coach at any level and he was the polar opposite of Gruden’s scowling persona.

With $8 million and some extra draft picks thanks to Tampa’s compensation for Gruden, the Raiders went to work on attracting missing pieces to their roster in order to take what some believe was their last chance to get to the Super Bowl with their aging veteran players. These veterans had experience and wore Super Bowl champion rings from other teams such as Jerry Rice (San Francisco), Rod Woodson (Baltimore), and Bill Romanowski (Denver).

Apparently, Callahan was the right man for the job. The players and the coaching staff welcomed Callahan’s more respectful demeanor and approach with open arms alike, lobbying on his behalf as Gruden’s replacement. The result was the end to a 19-year Super Bowl drought with a solid 41-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans in front of a packed sea of black at The Net in Oakland last Sunday.

“I’ve been playing this game for 14 years and watching other teams go to the Super Bowl. Now I finally get to go. It’s a great feeling,” said long-time Raider wide receiver Tim Brown on his first trip to the Super Bowl as a player.

The season is ending on more of a soap opera note than a fairy tale one. Only a writer from Days of Our Lives or One Life to Live could conceive this Super Bowl match up. Gruden can’t seem to get the Raiders to the big show and moves on to try with another team. His friend and former assistant Bill Callahan takes his old post and tries to pick up where Gruden left off. They both struggle through a tough NFL season and meet head to head in the biggest game in all of sports. Heck, you might see this game as a movie of the week on cable some day. ~ END