A Tale of Two Players

By MikeBullock  |   Friday, November 20, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

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Over a decade ago, embattled quarterback Rich Gannon came to Oakland, amidst disgruntled sighs and hearty boos from loyal Raider fans. The guy hadn’t done much of anything in the NFL up to that point (unless “getting sacked” was something to brag about) and his reputation preceded him. Raider fans simply had to have faith that new coach Jon Gruden knew what he was doing and hope for the best.

Earlier this year, Bruce Gradkowski landed in Oakland, amidst one giant yawn of apathy from Raider fans, who were too busy wondering why current starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell seemed content to fulfill his “draft bust” potential. Not many paid much attention at all to former Tampa Bay QB, and favorite of the aforementioned Gruden, Gradkowski. That is until recently.

When Gannon arrived, his only true asset, and the part of him Gruden loved was his dedication to learning a system, then mastering it. While many see football as a battle of powerful men trying to physically impose their will on one another, Gannon and Gruden saw it as a chess match. A game where each move was calculated and strategic, dependant on the last, just as the next was dependant on it. The two became one of the most cerebral coach/quarterback combos in NFL history, and fell just shy of Superbowl glory more than once.

Gradkowski’s backers say the same things about him. He’s a gym rat, a film room junkie, a student of the game out to master the system so he can use it to drive his team to certain victory. The similarities in the mental approach between Gannon and Gradkowski are uncanny. Unfortunately for the newcomer, his coaching counterpart is Tom Cable, hardly an offensive mastermind on the level of Jon Gruden. While Coach Cable has been hailed as an offensive line genius, that intelligence has yet to translate to offensive mastery as a whole.

And so, just as he did in St. Louis and Cleveland, Gradkowski will most likely fail to achieve the success Gannon enjoyed. Instead of joining the ranks of great Raider QBs, he’ll be mentioned with the Jay Shroeder’s, Vince Evans’ and Rusty Hilger’s of historical footnote fame.

While Gannon had many great players around him, Gradkowski has few. Gannon had a veteran receiving corps, with Tim Brown and later, Jerry Rice, Gradkowski has rookies, never-weres and has-beens.

Gannon had one of the best offensive lines in the game, Gradkowski has a prescription for pain if he can’t run for his life behind this porous group.

In another life, on another team, with other players and a better coach, Bruce Gradkowski might blossom into the next Rich Gannon. However, here on Earth, with Tom Cable, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Robert Gallery and the rest, it’s just another stop in an unsuccessful career for a QB with great potential that has yet to be realized.
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