SAN FRANCISCO – The Raiders had regained what they felt was their
rightful place in the football world.
Having disposed of Tennessee in the AFC title game, they were returning
to the Super Bowl. In one of the capital cities of Raider Nation – San
Diego. To surely put a beatdown on upstart Tampa Bay and wipe the smirk
off former coach Jon Gruden's grill.
But a not-so-funny thing happened to the Raiders on their way to
recapturing past glory since that memorable Jan. 19, 2003, evening at
the Oakland Coliseum. They lost their way.
In a tragic comedy kind of manner.
And while things appear to be on the upswing in Oakland, this past
week's reports of an alleged punch thrown by coach Tom Cable that broke
the jaw of assistant Randy Hanson are just the latest in a long line of
missteps, slip-ups, gaffes and embarrassing headlines that have
enveloped the team since that 41-24 thumping of the Titans.
How bad has it been? Two of the more revered Raiders in the franchise's
history have more than winced through it all.
"It's been awful; it's been trying," said former quarterback Jim
Plunkett, a two-time Super Bowl champion, the MVP of Super Bowl XV and
now a team broadcaster.
"It's been a very difficult six years for all of us. Being a former
player, a fan … it eats you up to watch the team continue to lose and
always finding a way to do that."
Plunkett's coach for those two title seasons, 1980 and 1983, is also in
the broadcast booth.
"I had to accept it in a quiet way, not being around the area all the
time," said Tom Flores, who lives near Palm Springs and commutes to
games. "It would have been tougher if I had been here, but … being able
to go home kind of helped me a little bit. I got away from it."
Flores was the first quarterback in Oakland history.
"But still, wherever I go, everyone says, 'What's wrong with the
Raiders? What's going on with the Raiders? How are they going to do?' "
Flores added with a laugh: "I don't know how they're going to do. I keep
trying to be positive, but it was hard to be positive the last six
years. Now, I think I can be positive."
Plunkett and Flores, both at Candlestick Park to work the Raiders' 21-20
exhibition loss to the 49ers on Saturday, were talking of their team's
24-72 record since 2003, the worst six-year run in NFL history. And
that's not counting the embarrassing 48-21 loss to Gruden's Buccaneers
in Super Bowl XXXVII.
Perhaps more painful than the oft-decrepit play, though, has been the
off-field turmoil.
Indeed, the Raiders' Six Years in the Wilderness began the week of that
Super Bowl, when center Barret Robbins went AWOL.
Oakland has since endured or, as some suggest, created myriad controversies:
• Bill Romanowski shattering teammate Marcus Williams' jaw in an
on-field training camp brawl.
• The failed Randy Moss and Art Shell experiments.
• An unhappy Jerry Porter arriving at camp wearing a replica of pro
wrestler "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase's title belt.
• JaMarcus Russell not signing a contract until after the first game of
his rookie season.
• The Lane Kiffin fiasco and Al Davis breaking out an overhead projector
to explain Kiffin's firing.
Now we have the Cable-Hanson dust-up, which grew legs Friday with the
Napa Police Department saying it was reopening its investigation into
the alleged incident.
Nnamdi Asomugha, an All-Pro cornerback drafted in the first round out of
Cal in 2003, has known nothing but the Raiders' six-year stretch of
football hell.
"After a while, the more things you hear, you get used to it," Asomugha
said. "You know, it's not a surprise or a shock, so then it's not
something that distracts you because you've been through it before."
But doesn't it get old?
"Um, it got old early," Asomugha said with a weary smile. "It got old my
first year, yeah."
