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He spoke for three minutes, used a bit more than 400 words and took no questions. Call it Bill Callahan's Get-me-outta-this-burg Address.
On the day after the most sour Raiders season imaginable, Callahan read from
a sheet of paper, touching on themes of responsibility and professionalism and
the rest of the coach-in-peril mantra.
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But he never mentioned the word "Raiders," didn't refer to the franchise's "greatness," and if he mentioned Al Davis, it only came later, after he pulled his sedan out of the parking lot and headed home through the rain.
No, Bill Callahan was not fired Monday, though he reportedly has packed up most
of his office. It was something worse -- he was abandoned.
And those three tense minutes made you realize exactly why this was inevitable,
from the moment Davis hired him as a Rich Gannon-pleasing stopgap to replace
Jon Gruden almost two years ago.
Because even through the Byzantine Raiders murk, it's obvious that Callahan,
a year removed from a Super Bowl berth, must be fired and that a more secure,
instinctive man must replace him.
Dennis Green, perhaps, though his price might be too high. Someone with a track
record players can respect and the ability to explain himself in public. Someone
to carry a franchise through injuries while the owner is submerged in his cocoon,
plotting who-knows-what.
Someone such as Gruden. Someone Callahan can never be. Callahan knows it, too
-- you could tell by the marks of 12 losses and a thousand secret defeats etched
on his face.
He made it clear that he felt he was standing up for a principle when he deactivated
Charles Woodson and Charlie Garner for Sunday's finale in San Diego.
But who stood behind him when Callahan made that argument? Who knows what Callahan
stands for? Why he should keep this job? Nobody knows, maybe not even Callahan
anymore.
"They need to bring in somebody positive," Woodson suggested about
an hour before Callahan's brief soliloquy. "Somebody with a positive outlook
on everything.
"This guy just has such a negative outlook on things and such a negative
vibe that it transfers to his team."
Will someone step forward now and explain what qualities earned Callahan this
job in the first place? Other than fiscal prudence and football convenience?
If, in Callahan's immortal words, the Raiders were the dumbest team in America,
what does that make their coach? Or the man who hired and kept him?
"I had to do what was necessary, as any leader would do in any organization,"
Callahan said of the deactivations. "I cannot and I will not accept lack
of discipline on this football team.
"I've continually maintained that standard of discipline in my two years
as a head coach here and in many respects . . . unbeknownst to the general public,
that standard has been consistent throughout this season."
But what about his ridiculously light one-day suspension of Bill Romanowski
after the linebacker broke a teammate's eye socket with a sucker punch? Or the
swift decline in on-field discipline? Or his unwillingness, or inability, to
address any of those topics publicly?
Those questions went unanswered Monday, again, by Callahan and by the Raiders
brass.
But Woodson, who started the public brawl by blasting Callahan in November,
was taking questions Monday -- about missing curfew Saturday night, about his
teammates' anger over Callahan's actions, about his desire to re-sign with the
Raiders as long as Callahan is fired.
Woodson said that the deactivation was just Callahan's petty way of saying to
heck with Woodson, though Woodson used a more colorful term than that.
"That's just the kind of person he is," Woodson said. "Obviously,
he has something going on internally that he's dealing with that makes him act
that way."
Perhaps Callahan deserves to be isolated, abandoned because the players and
executives figured out (a little too late) that his was a personality that bred
insurrection.
While several other NFL coaches were fired on the traditional "Black Monday,"
there will be a Silver and Black Tuesday for Callahan, or Wednesday or Thursday
. . . Until then, abandoned.
Now we'll see if Davis has any magic left. He's the man who gave Gruden and
Mike Shanahan their first NFL head-coaching jobs. And also the man who could
not co-exist with either.
If Davis follows his past, he'll avoid the big names, because Davis has never
paid top market price for a coach. He'll hire another young sharpie -- as he
did by grabbing Gruden to follow Joe Bugel.
Davis will take his time, interview top candidates from the ranks of NFL offensive
assistants (New England's Charlie Weis? Dallas' Sean Payton or Maurice Carthon?)
and try to find the new Gruden.
But he did not find it in Callahan. Two years, three minutes and about 400 words
later, we can all be sure of that.