Oakland Raiders: Rich Gannon apologizes for rant
By Chase Ruttig
Jan 29, 2014; New York, NY, USA; NFL former quarterback Rich Gannon speaks on Sirius XM on radio row in preparation for Super Bowl XLVIII at the Sheraton Times Square. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Rich Gannon went off on the status of the Oakland Raiders yesterday during his radio appearance with SiriusXM NFL Radio as the former leader of the last glory days at the Coliseum was none too pleased about the current direction of the franchise in the midst of Dennis Allen’s firing. Reaching rock bottom with an 0-4 start, Gannon attacked everyone involved in the Raiders offices for becoming accepting of the losing ways in Oakland during a long rant that gained significant traction on Wednesday.
Now on Thursday morning Gannon is backtracking slightly from his harsh statements towards his former team, noting that after his passionate rant there are good people within the organization and that his anger was placed towards wanting to see the team he succeeded with get back to their former glory. Going as far as saying he “loves” the Raiders organization despite his anger placed towards the frustrating state of the franchise.
Gannon is a modern Raiders legend and is the last quarterback who captured the imaginations of Oakland fans thanks to his memorable run in the early 00’s where he along with Jon Gruden brought the franchise back to relevance it hasn’t seen since. Because of that he probably did not need to apologize for going in on the Raiders struggles so harshly, but being the kind of person he is Gannon didn’t want to allow any assumptions out there that he is turning his back on the franchise. Everyone has a rant from time to time, especially about the sad state of the Raiders, so Gannon’s incident yesterday should be water under the bridge in no time at all.