After former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon said that he’d love to help current Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, Raiders senior executive John Herrera smacked the offer down by saying, “It’s Rich that needs the help.”
Today Gannon said on his Sirius radio show that he was surprised by the harsh reaction to a sincere offer of assistance, and that he won’t make such an offer again.
“You know, it’s amazing,” Gannon said, per David White of the San Francisco Chronicle. “You try just to reach out to somebody and say something, that maybe you can help a young guy, and you get criticized for it.”
Gannon said he simply viewed Russell as a quarterback who might benefit from talking to someone who’s been there before, but that he won’t try to interfere if he isn’t wanted.
“I just was really looking at a young guy that’s really struggled and just thought that I could reach out to help him out,” Gannon said. “I was just looking to figure out a way to go out there and share with them some of the things that helped me as a player and prepare and get myself ready not only for the season but for games each week. I’ve done it with Aaron Rodgers and I’ve done it with quarterbacks in Tampa and Minnesota. But, hey, trust me, I won’t make that call again.”
And so the quarterback who completed 67.6 percent of his passes for the Raiders in 2002 will not be offering any advice to the quarterback who completed 48.8 percent of his passes for the Raiders in 2009.
