Silver and Black Report

Photo Credit: Darryl Bush (originally published in SF Chronicle)

January 19, 2003… the last time the Oakland Raiders participated in a conference championship game.

The Silver & Black advanced to the Super Bowl with a 41-24 home win versus the Tennessee Titans.

That was a daylong celebration for the Raider Nation. It began with the early tailgating, which then erupted onto a Network Coliseum parking lot concert featuring Metallica.

Yes, with Bob Rock on bass, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich played Fuel, Master of Puppets, Sad, But True, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Seek & Destroy and Battery – as if the Raider faithful needed more adrenaline prior to the contest. (Yup, click on any of those songs to watch the performance on youTube)

League MVP Rich Gannon was 29-41 for 286-yards, three scores and no interceptions. His 2-yard scamper for a score early in the 4^th quarter ignited a crowd that was at a fever pitch all afternoon, but Zack Crockett’s 7-yard run with 3:25 remaining was the final nail in the Titans coffin.

“It’s amazing what you remember at funny times,” said Tim Brown after the game. “It’s just a great feeling to know that after watching this for 14-years, watching people play this game, to actually be on your way, it’s pushing a dream boat.”

Brown, 36 at the time, had nine catches for 73-yards.

Oakland only ran the ball 17-times that afternoon – a norm for that team, who were carried by an epic year-round performance from Gannon.

Tennessee ranked second in the league that year versus the run, but 25^th against the pass. Unfortunately for them, the Silver & Black were the leagues best passing club.

“Tennessee’s got a great defensive line, a good set of linebackers, but their defensive backs are kind of suspect,” stated starting left guard Frank Middleton. “We knew that going in. You have to take advantage of that.”

The attendance: 62,544. Not one person in that building will forget the on-field celebration, Bill Callahan hoisting the Lamar Hunt trophy and the melodic chants of “RAAAAAIDERS,” that rung loudly at the house of thrills.

Veterans like Brown and Gannon joined Bill Romanowski, Jerry Rice, Rod Woodson, Charlie Garner and Lincoln Kennedy on the field stage to celebrate their Super Bowl berth.

On that Sunday nine-years ago, Oakland felt right at home… as AFC champions.

GAME NOTES

• Anthony Dorsett, who played for the Titans on their 1999 Super Bowl team, recovered a fumble that eventually led to a score that gave the Raiders a 21-17 lead.
• The Titans fought hard that weekend. Steve McNair played a tough contest and with Joe Nedney declared out at halftime, it curtailed Jeff Fisher’s strategy throughout the game. A 50-yard field goal attempt was nixed, and when Craig Hentrich attempted a punt at a crucial spot in the contest, the Raiders special teams, featuring Crocket, Tim Johnson, Eric Johnson and Clarence Love tackled the punter at the Titans 16-yard line. A few plays later, Sebastian Janikowski booted a field goal to make it 27-17 with 4:29 left in the 3^rd quarter.
• Oakland ran only one running play over the first three quarters.
• “We were making a lot of dumb mistakes out there,” starting linebacker Eric Barton said. “Fortunately, we sucked it up and stopped it. That shows the character of this team.” The Raiders compiled 14 penalties for 127 yards, as they landed some vicious hits on McNair and battered the Eddie George, who ran the ball for 67-yards on 15-carries. “McNair played like a true warrior today,” said Callahan. “He had no quit in him, no die in him.”
• “We fought all year long,” Rice said after his 5-catches for 79-yards. “When we lost four straight games, this team stuck together and now we’re going to the Super Bowl.”
• Doug Jolley had 3-catches for 13-yards and a score. Jerry Porter had 4-receptions for 52-yards and a touchdown. Garner tallied 7-receptions for 55-yards and one touchdown.

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The Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins have battled 33 times, with the Silver & Black leading the series 19-13-1 [including playoffs]. At Miami, the Dolphins have a 9-8 record against the Silver & Black. Oakland holds the edge 10-4 in front of their fans.

In 2007, Oakland went into South Beach and trounced the Dolphins 35-17. Daunte Culpepper made a triumphant return, accounting for five touchdowns (ran for three and threw for two) against his former team.

“The only thing I felt bad about is I didn’t have a chance to show the fans here me healthy as a Dolphin,” Culpepper said. “But now I had a chance to show them today, and I’m glad I was able to do that.”

Culpepper led the team out of the tunnel and on his first score; he looked at the crowd, pointed to his surgically repaired knee and signaled, “ok” to the stands.

“There were a lot of questions about my knee,” he said. “Everywhere I would go, people would ask me about my knee. I wanted to say, ‘Hey, I’m OK. I’m getting better every day.’”

Justin Fargas ran for 179-yards on 22 carries, LaMont Jordan tallied 74-yards on the ground and Jerry Porter scored twice.

“What’s he going to guarantee next week?” Warren Sapp said of linebacker Joey Porter after the game. “It’s tough when you run your mouth.”

Here are some images from that match-up, exclusively from SBReport.net:

Daunte Culpepper running into the end-zone.

Jerry Porter (84) celebrating with Ronald Curry after a score

Ronnie Brown stuffed by Warren Sapp and Terdell Sands.

Culpepper giving the ‘ok’ to Dolphins’ fans.

Culpepper and Trent Green exchanged pleasantries after the Raider win.

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Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist

Insidebayarea.com posted a report that former Oakland Raiders wide receiver Jerry Porter had $312,000 worth of jewelry stolen.

Porter told officials that someone took his jewelry from his vehicle while he went for a facial at a Bay Area salon.

According to staff writer Peter Hegarty, Porter was going to speak to the Alameda police about the happening this afternoon. Porter did not show up for the meeting and officials are still sorting out the details of the robbery.

The 31-year old still resides in Oakland.

He was cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars at the start of the 2009 campaign after signing a six-year, $30 million contract with them in 2008.

Porter’s best season came in 2003 when he tallied 688-yards and 9 touchdowns, being a key cog in Rich Gannon’s league MVP campaign. He teamed up with hall of fame bound targets Jerry Rice and Tim Brown to form the most prolific offense of that season in reaching Super Bowl XXVII.

In 2004 an 2005, Porter compiled 140 catches for 1,940 yards and 14 touchdowns. But in 2006, he publicly feuded with Art Shell and demanded to be traded. He was deactivated and inactive for most of the season even suspended without pay for conduct detrimental to the club for four games.

“There’s guys every year that might not want to be on a team, but, hey, part of this business is you play with who you’ve got,” Shell stated that season. “If we have somebody on this team that’s here, whether he said he wants to be here or not, if he’s doing what he’s supposed to do, then we’ll go to work.”

The NFLPA intervened and the suspension was dropped to two games.

Porter was drafted in the second round of the 2000 NFL draft.

OTHER NEWS

• Steve Corkran confirmed a story that had the Raiders interested in rehiring defensive line coach Mike Waufle.
• Earlier in the day, Jon Condo was added to the Pro Bowl roster.