Moment of Truth Hurts Davis, Feels Great to Gruden

When the truth sprinted down a sideline of grass-scuffed, Grudely-awakened Oakland Raiders, it was screaming.

Al Davis was wrong.

When the truth danced around so many fallen Raiders turned into Ground Chucky, it was laughing.

Al Davis was wrong.

When the truth finally stopped long enough for Jon Gruden to dab the Gatorade from his saucer eyes, it spoke calmly, clearly, and for five decades worth of victims who could not speak for themselves.

Al Davis was wrong.

The kid won. The old man lost.

The kid’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers whipped the old man’s Oakland Raiders, 48-21, in Super Bowl XXXVII Sunday, and make no mistake.

If Raider boss Al Davis had a chance today to keep Jon Gruden instead of trading him to Tampa Bay as he did last February ... well, he would probably still make the trade, the stubborn fool.

But now it’s official, certifiable and undeniable, even in the deepest, darkest reaches of the Raider empire.

Al Davis was wrong. Jon Gruden was right.

Notarized with a world championship.

On an emotionally heated night at Qualcomm Stadium, the former coach of the Raiders looked as if he were coaching, well, the Raiders.

The kid’s team had more pride and poise.

The kid’s team showed more of a commitment to excellence.

Just gloat, baby.

“The last thing I would ever do is gloat,” Gruden said afterward, surrounded by his wife and three freckled little boys. “I’m not even going to go there at all.”

No need. Nothing Gruden said could match the surreal scene of redemption as the final seconds ticked on the beginning of his stardom, and the end of Davis’.

While Gruden hugged and bounced off players on the sidelines, Davis stewed in a luxury suite.

While Gruden left the field surrounded by dozens of police and fans, Davis left quietly with his cronies.

“I’m so happy for Jon, I just hope that this ... “ said Raider tackle Barry Sims, his voice trailing off. “Ah, I’m not gonna say it.”

He hopes that this convinces Davis that coaches are more than just props?

Doesn’t every Raider?

If Davis doesn’t know it now, he never will.

In becoming the league’s youngest Super Bowl-winning coach at age 39, Gruden was clearly the game’s MVP, even if he won’t be driving a new Cadillac this morning.

“He is so tough, so tough, that he never lets anything show,” said defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. “But we knew what this meant for him. We knew how emotional he was.”

Emotional, but crazy effective.

Gruden constructed an offense about which the Raiders had little clue, outgaining the league’s top-rated attack by nearly 100 yards.

“They were getting plays off where we didn’t know what they were doing,” admitted Rod Woodson, Raider safety.

Gruden oversaw a Kiffin-run defense that was so quick and smart the Raiders were convinced that Gruden was using his Raider knowledge against them.

They even abandoned their no-huddle offense because of it.

Said Raider guard Frank Middleton: “It would have been easier if Gruden wasn’t there. We called a lot of audibles where it seemed like they knew them. Like they knew what was coming.

“It made a difference.”

Countered Gruden, unsmiling: “That must be a conspiracy theory. I’m not validating that.”

Gruden so thoroughly attacked the Raiders from the inside out that one might think he was still a Raider.

Actually, earlier in the week, he was.

For an entire quarter during Thursday’s practice, Gruden pretended he was Rich Gannon.

According to his players, he began furiously calling and changing plays in an imitation of the Raider quarterback.

“I was very intimidating under center,” Gruden said with a grin.

So intimidating that the defenders had difficulty rushing the passer while holding their sides.

“He did great,” said safety John Lynch, “because we were laughing so hard.”

Gruden did complete two passes while making one major point.

“I wanted our team to just get a feel for what it was going to be like with him at command,” Gruden said.

It worked. Gannon was the league’s MVP and the Buccaneers treated him like Al Davis’ white silk lint.

At halftime, Gannon had a 10.5 passer rating. By the end of the game, he had been intercepted five times, the last one returned by Dwight Smith 50 yards for the game’s final, and most colorful, touchdown.

As Smith streaked past Gruden, the normally scowling coach spun and danced.

“You are in the Super Bowl, Dwight Smith going right down in front of me for another touchdown, it is kind of hard to stand there and be tranquil, you know what I mean?” Gruden said. “It’s a hard deal.”

Later, with red-and-pewter confetti falling around him, Buccaneer owner Malcolm Glazer was doing a different sort of dancing.

“He came from heaven, and he brought us to heaven,” Glazer said of the coach who cost him $8 million and four premium draft picks.

Last winter Glazer looked like a rube. Today, he looks like, well, a smart rube.

As for Gruden, he seemed weary of everything but the victory.

“I had a very emotional week,” he said, adding, “You hear guys laughing behind your back talking about he said, she said, this thing and that thing. I take a lot of pride in this profession. I do the best I can.... It’s just been a very emotional week.”

And where do you go from here?

“Going back to the hotel to have a hell of a good time, that’s where we’re going,” he said.

What, you were thinking Disneyland?

Al Davis, meanwhile, will return to his daily battles in Oakland, where at least he will have six months to forget about this biggest of defeats.

Just in time for Marcus Allen to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.