All True

Neil Hayes writes this column in praise of outgoing Raider quarterback Rich Gannon. He is right, of course. If any other NFC team had gone to the Super Bowl in 2002, Gannon would have owned them and become Super Bowl MVP. He's the best Raider quarterback since Plunkett, and certainly deserves the same level of admiration as Lamonica and Stabler. We may not see his like again for many years. Collins might become more consistent. Tui may yet overtake him, and if Walter recovers fully from his shoulder injury he could be a star. But Rich Gannon is not only one of the best Raider quarterbacks I've ever seen, he's one of the best quarterbacks I've ever seen. He duelled with the best of his time: Favre, Manning, McNair, Brady, and beat them as often as not--sometimes, as in his comeback win over Manning's Colts in 2000, in spectacular fashion. I'll never forget his brilliance in the Monday night game against Denver in 2002, where he completed twenty straight passes to blow out the Broncos in a crucial game that saved the Raiders' season.

Gannon's Career Stats:

Completions: 1,533; Attempts: 2,448; Completion Percentage: 62.6; Yards: 17,585; TD: 148; INT: 50

Gannon leads all Raider quarterbacks in Completions and Completion percentage. He's #2 behind Ken Stabler in total yardage. His touchdown/interception ratio is the best by far of any Raider QB (I know. Differnent rules in the 1970s. Still, check out the list sometime. It's stunning.) And given the brevity of his tenure it's amazing how many TD passes he threw.

There are two reasons I've dumped on Kerry Collins as much as I have. First, I resented the ingratitude so many sportswriters and fans showed for Rich Gannon when Collins came to Oakland. The coaches knew better than they did, and Gannon started last season. Still, it was disgusting to watch them denegrate the man's accomplishments in favor of a clear inferior. The second reason is that, after so many years of Gannon, it's unsettling to watch a man play like an average quarterback again. I'd become accustomed to greatness, and the fall to the fair-to-middling has been painful.

It's the same way some people feel about Sean Connery as James Bond. They never recovered when Connery hung up his tux, and while I have never run down George Lazenby, Roger Moore, or Pierce Brosnan, true Connery fans feel a need to. Rich Gannon is my Connery, and I don't know if any QB the Raiders will have from now on will quite measure up. Gannon did more than Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, or any other player to make my team relevant again. I'll miss him.

Deserve a ceremony? A statue and his name on the stadium would be more like it.