Raidertopia

That’s what everyone must be saying after details of the Rich Gannon ban became public.

I’ve got to agree with Jerry Mac, David White, the AP’s Dubow, and even Tim Kawakami on this one.

Gannon was a truth machine.  His comments were based on facts and his experiences with the team.  Sure, the truth hurts, especially when you’ve been so bad for half a decade.  It’s the man’s job as a broadcaster to comment on these things and what he said had mostly already been said on Raider blogs and by loyal Raider fans everywhere.  Yes, I said loyal.  You can be critical and yet still be loyal.

This Herrera guy should shut up.  Is Davis actually sanctioning what this guy’s saying?  The word “clown” comes to mind whenever this guy talks. First there was the bizarre Kawakami press conference incident last year, now this.  The Raiders really need some competent PR people.  Here’s a sample of what he said:

“Rich Gannon is not welcome here.”

“He was one of the least popular players with his teammates that we ever had here and he still can’t seem to get over the fact that he played the worst game in Super Bowl history.  He threw five interceptions and three of them were returned for touchdowns. He has blamed everyone else for that.”

“I guess it’s our fault he threw five interceptions.”

“He’s attacked us on a regular basis since becoming a member of the media,” Herrera said. “After affording him the opportunity to establish a career here, he has since gone on to attack us in a way that’s totally unacceptable.”

No, Herrera.  What is totally unacceptable is the way Oakland handled this situation. Banning one of their all-time greats because he hurt their pride is unacceptable.

What does Gannon’s Super Bowl meltdown have to do with him being brutally honest? His brutal honesty was probably the reason he was unpopular with his teammates.  The team was full of slackers and underachievers and Al Davis scholarship players.  He came to the Raiders at a time when they desperately needed his leadership.  And I’ve never heard him deflect the blame for that Super Bowl performance.

Herrera also used Gannon’s “they should just blow up the building and start all over again” quote as a reason to ban him, citing that it’s improper to use such words in a post 9/11 society.  I think the fact that Herrera related that quote to 9/11 is more inappropriate than Gannon’s words.

In the end, the Raiders relented and lifted the ban.  Well, they had to anyway because of NFL rules.

I think I speak for many Raiders fans when I say that I was proud of the Rich Gannon years and what he did to lift the team to greatness.  He was simply doing his job when he was critical of the team.  He always qualified his comments by saying it hurt him to watch the team in its current tailspin.  I wish Rich was still at QB or at the very least in a coaching capacity with the team.  His knowledge and dedication to the game is sorely needed.  I guess that will never happen.

Now….banning Warren Sapp?  I’m all for that.