For some reason and I dont know why Bill Callahan did not like me, Rice said. In a way, maybe because he didnt like the Raiders, he decided, Maybe we should sabotage this a little bit and let Jon Gruden go out and win this one.
For Rice, a universally respected player who was named by NFL Network as the greatest in NFL history, to say that he believes one of his former coaches actively wanted to lose a Super Bowl is shocking. ESPNs Trey Wingo stopped Rice and asked him if he realized the magnitude of the accusation that Callahan once threw the Super Bowl. Rice said he understands the weight of his words.
Yeah, I know exactly what Im saying, Rice said.
Until Brown made his bombshell accusation on Saturday, the biggest controversy to come out of Super Bowl XXXVII was the fact that Raiders center Barrett Robbins abandoned the team the day before the game. Rice blames Callahan for that, too: According to Rice, Robbins was so demoralized by Callahan announcing in a team meeting that he was going to call mostly pass plays that Robbins decided to bail on the Super Bowl.
With Barrett, he was frustrated, like, You cannot do this to us at the last second. Maybe thats why he decided to not show up, Rice said.