Revenge so sweet for rookie Gruden
The Buccaneers defeated the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl 37 on Sunday, capping ex-Raider coach Gruden's first season with the club with its first NFL crown in its first appearance in the title game.
At 39, Gruden became the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, beating the record set by John Madden of the Raiders back in 1977.
Gruden's presence on the sidelines opposite a team he helped build at Oakland added spice to the Super Bowl, as did the unprecedented four draft selections and $8 million that Tampa Bay paid the Raiders to get him.
Bucaneers owner Malcolm Glazer clearly thought Gruden was worth the price.
"He came from heaven and he brought us to heaven," Glazer crowed. "We were waiting for the right man, and the right man came."
Gruden had admitted it would be an emotional week for him. But when the game was over he tried to steer away from questions about whether it was especially sweet to beat Raiders' owner Al Davis, who had made him one of the lowest paid coaches in the league.
Nor did he care to discuss whether he felt he had to deliver a Super Bowl victory to make good on the price the Bucs paid for him.
"I am really tired of answering that," he said. "You know, I can't ever live up to that, but I am going to do the best I can.
"I am so happy for our players. For us to come here as a new staff and new team and win the Super Bowl, I think it speaks volumes about the city of Tampa and our team."
Gruden credited former Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy with laying the groundwork for this success.
Dungy was dismissed after the Buccaneers made their second consecutive first-round playoff exit last season.
"Tony Dungy did a great job, and I reaped the benefits of a lot of his hard work," Gruden said.
His players agreed, but also said that Gruden's fire was the element they needed to put them over the top.
"From day one, Jon Gruden came in and told us we were winning a championship," safety John Lynch said.
"He told us that. He came in the first day with us, and it was a tough job replacing the person we had a lot of affection for. He deserves a lot of the credit for this. He really communicated."
Gruden said he had spoken to some of his old colleagues after the game. And despite his joy in victory he acknowledged that he felt an array of complicated emotions.
"It has been an emotional week. There's a lot of feelings I can't describe, but it's better left moving on talking about the victory for our team tonight," Gruden said.
The Raiders headed back to Oakland with a pretty good chance that their current cast of characters missed the last title opportunity they are likely to have.
"It was pretty much slim pickings for us," said Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown, who was held to one catch for nine yards in the 48-21 Super Bowl loss "We just stunk up the place tonight."
Not only are the Raiders collectively the oldest team in the NFL, but next season they face severe salary cap issues that will likely spell significant personnel changes.
"You never know when you're going to get back to the Super Bowl," safety Rod Woodson said.
"I've been playing for 16 years and I only made it three times.
"I've been on some great football teams, but you never know how long it's going to be before the next time."
The Oakland Raiders' top-rated offence suffered under the onslaught of Tampa Bay's number one defence which harried quarterback Rich Gannon and smotheredfellow receiver Jerry Rice.
But coach Bill Callahan said the problem wasn't all caused by the Buccaneers.
"I really felt it was us," Callahan said. "For one reason or another, we just couldn't get our rhythm going.
"We came in at the half. We regrouped. I felt our guys fought extremely hard in the second half to come back and cut it back down to a 13-point game, a two-possession game.
"Time ran out," Callahan said. "It wasn't enough. We just didn't get it done today."
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