Chucky’s Back, but Wishes He Isn’t

From the moment Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden ran onto the field for pregame warmups Sunday afternoon, he was greeted with lusty boos by a silver-and-black-clad Oakland Raider crowd that was in no mood to welcome back a former coach.

With the feelings between Tampa Bay and Oakland as frigid as they are, it probably will be a hot day in the refrigerator before this relationship thaws ... either that, or when Warren Sapp will have something nice to say about Gruden.

The record will show that Al Davis and Gruden didn’t meet, they didn’t shake hands or even have a chance to trade insults, but the Raiders made the most of an uncomfortable family reunion by introducing Tampa Bay to an 0-3 record, their worst start an eight years, pinning a 30-20 defeat on the reeling Buccaneers before 60,874 at the Coliseum.

Afterward, Gruden said he had no bad feelings toward the fans and even shook hands with some of the costumed Raider followers as he left the field.

“This was a special place for me,” he said. “I’m not going to say anything in the negative.”

As for the 2-1 Raiders, they might have found an easy victory but they also lost starting quarterback Rich Gannon, who left the game in the first quarter after a jarring tackle by Buccaneer linebacker Derrick Brooks.

Gannon, who took a direct hit to his helmet, returned to the sideline, but didn’t play as the Raiders handed over the offense to Kerry Collins. Raider Coach Norv Turner said Gannon did not have a concussion but may have a neck injury, and his playing status would be evaluated this week.

Collins completed 16 of 27 passes for 228 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

“There were so many story lines in this game,” he said. “I think we handled it all great.”

The Hatfields and the McCoys got along better than this group. After two division titles in his last two years with the Raiders, Gruden took off and signed with the Buccaneers for $17.5 million over five years. What’s more, Bruce Allen, who was a Raider senior assistant, bolted to take over as Tampa Bay’s personnel chief.

Davis extracted his revenge, getting $8 million, two No. 1 draft picks and two No. 2 draft picks.

Then, defensive end Sapp, feuding with Gruden, signed a seven-year, $76-million free agent deal with the Raiders. Mix in running back Charlie Garner’s leaving the Raiders for the Buccaneers and 16-year Raider receiver Tim Brown’s being released in training camp and signing with Tampa Bay, plus the still-molten fallout from the Gruden-coached Buccaneers’ 48-21 shellacking of the Raiders in the 2003 Super Bowl, and you’ve got enough of a show to catch Jerry Springer’s attention.

As sometimes occurs, the game struggled to match its pregame hype. The Raiders had a lot to do with that, taking advantage of a struggling Buccaneer offense that lost Garner to a knee injury in the second quarter with the score 6-6.

Gruden said Garner may be lost for the year, and Sapp was sympathetic.

“We’re all six seconds away from flipping burgers,” he said.

Tampa Bay wound up with only 92 yards rushing, but at least the Buccaneers scored their first offensive touchdown of the season, on a 16-yard pass from Brad Johnson to Brown in the fourth quarter.

By that time, Raider fans were in a generous mood and rewarded Brown with a standing ovation to observe his 100th receiving touchdown.

The Raiders, who led, 16-6, early in the third quarter thanks to three field goals by Sebastian Janikowski and Collins’ 19-yard scoring pass to Ronald Curry, finally put some distance between themselves and the Buccaneers.

Johnson’s pass for Dave Moore in the left flat was intercepted by Phillip Buchanon -- one of the draft picks Davis got for Tampa Bay’s signing Gruden -- and he returned it 32 yards for a touchdown and a 23-6 lead.

After Tampa Bay went three plays and out, the Raiders struck again. Collins orchestrated a 67-yard scoring drive in nine plays, including completions of 12 yards to J.R. Redmond and 22 yards to Jerry Porter, the march ending with Tyrone Wheatley’s two-yard touchdown run.

With a little more than three minutes left in the third quarter, it was all but over. Johnson’s scoring pass to Brown and a 41-yarder to Bill Schroeder with 1:52 to go made it closer, but couldn’t keep Gruden from an 0-3 start for the first time in his NFL career.

The Raiders gained 173 yards on the ground, with Wheatley logging 102 in 18 carries.

Sapp breathed a sigh of relief. He wore a huge smile afterward.

“It was a big buildup, a good game and the right outcome. It was a great time. I had to take care of my emotions. It was me covering my emotions ... like, ‘that’s Gruden over there....’

“What did it mean to me? Just a little bragging rights.”