Already persona non grata in Oakland, former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon (who also once played for the Redskins) might not be getting the red-carpet treatment the next time he’s assigned to work a game at FedEx Field.
During his Tuesday show on Sirius NFL Radio (via Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post), Gannon compared the situation in Washington to the morass in Oakland.
Gannon shared his observations from the perspective of a 15-minute sit-down with owner Daniel Snyder. (It’s unknown whether Gannon tried to order the “gabagoo.”)
“Well, you know, ironically enough we were kind of going back and forth, between talking about the situation in Oakland,” Gannon said. “Honestly, this is crazy. And I’m sitting there saying, ‘Is this all that different than in Oakland?’ And I didn’t want to insult him, but certainly I thought the situation was dire.”
So what does Gannon think about the latest move, with coach Jim Zorn designing the game plan and someone else calling the plays?
“It’s a mess,” Gannon said. “And now they’re gonna turn to a guy in Sherm Lewis that’s been out of football for five years. I mean, he was lured out of retirement to work as a consultant, ‘another set of eyes,’ was what Vinny Cerrato said. I don’t think it’s something the coaches wanted. He doesn’t even understand the terminology. When I sat down and talked with some of the coaches, they said, ‘Listen, this guy’s been out of it, we have different terminology, different verbiage.’ My sense is the coaches aren’t happy about it. And they don’t have time, the coaching staff, to stop and to bring Sherm Lewis up to speed. And I think that this is actually going to turn into a disaster for this organization.”
Gannon’s assessment meshes with our Week Six power rankings, regarding the No. 27 team in the league: “So the head coach is good enough to still be the head coach, but not good enough to call the plays instead of a guy who spent the last five years calling bingo numbers? Yes, the NFC finally has found its answer to the Raiders.”