Bill Callahan Denies Allegations - East Idaho News
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Bill Callahan Denies Allegations

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Getty S 012313 Raiders?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1358952729249David Paul Morris/Getty Images(ALAMEDA, Calif.) — Former Oakland Raiders head coach Bill Callahan responded to reports that he changed the playbook less than two days before the Raiders 48-21 Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers in 2003.

Both former Raiders wide receivers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown said in interviews that Callahan undermined his own team because of his close relationship with then Tampa head coach Jon Gruden.

“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 Tuesday in a statement. “To leave no doubt, I categorically and unequivocally deny the sum and substance of their allegations.”

Brown told Sirius XM NFL Radio that he believed Callahan changed the playbook because his friendship with Gruden and that he hated the Raiders.

“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,” Callahan said. “I think it would be in the best interests of all, including the game America loves, that these allegations be retracted immediately.”

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