Mittwoch, 23. Januar 2013

Sabotage?


No, it was not me who was sabotaged as I have not posted anything recently. It was more a mixture of holidays, NFL playoffs and a heavy workload.

But now let's start the new year of sports and the recent news from the NFL are a good way to start off. Today the front pages of all sports news are filled with the alleged "sabotage" of Super Bowl XXXVII by then Oakland Raider head-coach Bill Callahan. Well, such rumor might not be that shocking if it came from the "usual" unknown source, but it definitely is almost shocking that the allegations come from two Hall of Fame wide receivers: Tim Brown and Jerry Rice, both played for the Raiders back then.

So how credible is this? When Rice made his allegations on ESPN and backed comments by his former teammate he, well, sounds like somebody who is still not over the loss. And he seemed to fully understand what he was actually saying. But could this be true? Could it really be that a coach, who has a chance to win the most prestigious title in US sports, intentionally sabotages his team to hand the win to his former boss, who happened to be his mentor and the coach of the opposing Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

To pull this off, you certainly must have the means to succeed. This could arguably be the case, as the head coach of a team certainly could influence any game in order to sabotage it. But could he do it without anybody realizing what he is doing? It is hard to imagine, as NFL sidelines are crowded with coaches who would at the very least be highly suspicious if their boss influenced the game in a negative way. The same is true for the players. It takes a joint effort of all participants to win a game and I am not convinced the effort of a single person - even the head coach - could lose a game.

But let's turn to the incentives side of things. Why would he do it? Because of loyalty to his friend/former boss/mentor Jon Gruden? Losing a Super Bowl will certainly cost you. It will cost you in terms of money and discounted lifetime earnings. In addition to this you will lose a lot of "utility", as winning this title is the ultimate achievement in any career in professional football. But could the benefit from letting Gruden win out-weight the losses and the associated risk of getting caught while doing so?

I do not think this is plausible at all. Callahan is now an Offensive Coordinator (Dallas) and I think his career would have taken some different (more favorable) turns had he won back then. I think it is save to put this to rest and think of it as the bitterness of two former great players.