MrRant 0 Report post Posted January 6, 2004 Bill Callahan's relationship with the Raiders deteriorated to the point that players wanted to come to blows with the former head coach. The Raiders have been openly critical of Callahan during and following their 4-12 season -- the biggest drop ever for a Super Bowl team. Callahan was fired by Al Davis last week. The Raiders felt that Callahan did not treat them with nearly enough respect. Following a November loss to the Broncos, Callahan called the Raiders "the dumbest team in America." The Raiders apparently almost fought back. "It got to a point where we're literally telling guys in the locker room, 'Nobody hit this guy, OK?' '' veteran receiver Tim Brown told Rich Eisen of The NFL Network on Monday. Guard Frank Middleton confirmed to the network that some players objected to Callahan's methods. "A couple of times, guys thought he was challenging their manhood,'' Middleton said. Callahan's relationship with the team began to unravel before the season began, Brown said. "First off, he didn't want the veteran players back, and so we're back and he doesn't like that,'' Brown told the network. "So the next thing that he does, he changes the whole offense. You were the No. 1-ranked offense in the league last year. Why would you change the whole offense? "The next thing he does is he tells everybody in training camp, 'I don't need to be your friends. I don't want you guys liking me. Just play football for me.' '' "He did things his own way,'' Middleton said. "A lot of guys took it the wrong way. The O-line dealt with him for a longer time. We knew the way he coached and what he was trying to get out of you." Brown told the network he never went to Davis with his complaints about Callahan. Instead, he said, he sought out senior assistant Bruce Allen. "You were afraid that somebody was going to take a shot at him, because you thought that he was provoking guys to almost do something of that nature,'' Brown said. Cornerback Charles Woodson has been an outspoken critic of Callahan, saying last week that the coach "really made this thing personal. When things get personal, it's not a good situation to be around people that it's personal with. I won't play for him. "He's not the type of person you want to be around. He's just really brought a really negative vibe to this team over the course of the season." Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Frank_Nabbit Report post Posted January 6, 2004 Too bad Romo didn't snap on him Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted January 7, 2004 Yeah...let me take the side of Romo, Woodson and Brown. Callahan was right...this is the dumbest team in the league. "First off, he didn't want the veteran players back, and so we're back and he doesn't like that" Guess what? HE WAS RIGHT. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Winter Of My Discontent Report post Posted January 7, 2004 Yeah...let me take the side of Romo, Woodson and Brown. Callahan was right...this is the dumbest team in the league. "First off, he didn't want the veteran players back, and so we're back and he doesn't like that" Guess what? HE WAS RIGHT. erm. I think that was only a small sliceof the problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted January 7, 2004 Callahan was right...this is the dumbest team in the league. "First off, he didn't want the veteran players back, and so we're back and he doesn't like that" Guess what? HE WAS RIGHT. Callahan told his offensive line that he wished he could play his defense against them because they were all fat pieces of shit. Then Romo beats the ever living hell out of some guy during a practice and gets a fine...Woodson and Garner skip a practice and get suspended, fined, and told not to even come to the game. Callahan was the idiot for his inconsistency and trying to break all of his football players esteem down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gert T 0 Report post Posted January 7, 2004 While I am no pro-Callahan, how about having some pride, and playing like men. Teams have won before without liking their coach. And Raiders fans, were Brown's claims of changing the offense correct? If so that's terribly stupid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted January 7, 2004 "While I am no pro-Callahan, how about having some pride, and playing like men." This IS the Raiders we're talking about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted January 7, 2004 and it appears as though Bill Callahan is headed to Nebraska Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
