Hey look, another listicle of Super Bowl stuff. This time it’s the Sporting News who is ranked what they deem to be the ten worst Super Bowl performances by a quarterback in history. They have 53 to choose from. Coming in at number three was Rich Gannon in Super bowl 37, behind only Craig Morton in Super Bowl 12 and Kerry Collins in Super Bowl 35.
Completions: 24 for 44, 272 yards, two touchdowns
Turnovers: Five interceptions (three returned for touchdowns)
Quarterback rating: 48.9Gannon set two infamous Super Bowl records with five interceptions and three pick-sixes against the Bucs in Super Bowl 37. To be fair, Tampa Bay’s three defensive touchdowns all came after the game was well in hand in the second half, and Gannon’s two touchdowns brought the score to 34-21 in the fourth quarter. Still, his performance was a big reason why the Bucs won the game 48-21 and safety Dexter Jackson became only the third defensive back ever to win Super Bowl MVP.
Writer Zac Al-Khateeb uses the words “to be fair” but leaves out a couple important details. Neither of which fall on Gannon’s shoulders.
First and foremost, the Raiders were facing the man that designed their offense. There was only one coach who could beat that Raiders team and league MVP Rich Gannon and it was Jon Gruden, who was standing on the opposite sideline watching his former OC use his playbook. Some Raiders players also said Callahan got nervous and tried to change the offense days before the game, which only made things worse.
Secondly, there was the whole Barret Robbins debacle. As if the above situation wasn’t bad enough, Gannon would suddenly be without his All-Pro center for the game because he had gone down to Tijuana Mexico (the game was in San Diego) two days before and missed his medication, causing a bipolar episode. When he was tracked down and brought back to the team, he was told he would not be playing and likely was in no shape to play anyway. It’s hard to imagine a QB having a tougher set of circumstances with which to work.
Super Bowl week is a double-edged sword for fans. You get to think about Super Bowl trophies past, but also the most recent trip which is not such a fond memory.
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