The last time the Oakland Raiders made the playoffs was when Rich Gannon was quarterback in 2002. He won the NFL MVP and helped the Raiders to a Super Bowl appearance that year, but the team hasn't registered a winning season since. Gannon was (again) critical of the organization in the wake of Dennis Allen's dismissal.
Allen, the team's head coach since 2012, was fired by the Raiders on Monday and shortly thereafter the team named Tony Sparano his replacement for the remainder of the season. Sparano is now Oakland's ninth coach in the past 14 seasons, dating back to Jon Gruden in 2001. As a result of the obvious ineptitude, Gannon criticized the employees of the organization on his Sirius XM radio show.
"People out in Oakland, in that building, players, coaches, front office, people in business, accounting -- stealing," he said, via this ESPN article. "They ought to give the check back. ... When you lose like that, how can you go to the bank and cash the check? Should be embarrassed. ... They're stealing. That's a problem."
The Raiders have started the season 0-4, and dating back to 2013, they have lost a league-high 10 straight games beginning with a home loss to the Tennessee Titans on November 24. And this is just customary for an Oakland Raiders team that has compiled a horrid 53-127 record since 2003 and hasn't had a coach since Gruden (1998-2001) complete three full seasons. However, owner Al Davis served as the general manager from the '60s until he passed away in 2011, and toward the end of his tenure the franchise hadn't seen any success. His son, Mark Davis, decided to hire Reggie McKenzie, the former Green Bay Packers director of personnel, as general manager in 2012, but the team has gone 8-28 since then.
As a former member of the team, Gannon's frustration and criticism is not unfounded. In 2009 the Raiders tried to ban Gannon from their facilities because of his scathing remarks as a CBS analyst and did not want him attending television production meetings prior to the team's games. However, the two sides made amends and repaired the relationship, but Gannon's radio rant may upset the organization again.
"They have a sign in front of their building that says, 'Commitment to Excellence.' They ought to take it down. It's false advertising; [it should say] 'Commitment to Mediocrity,'" Gannon added. "It's a culture and environment that has existed for years. ... You let things slide, don't pay attention to detail ... and don't have a high degree of professionalism and account in that building, that's a problem."
The Raiders head into their bye in Week 5 with a lot of issues to take care of. They'll face the San Diego Chargers on October 12.
