HomeAfter his news conference announcing the firing of head coach Lane Kiffin, Raiders owner Al Davis answered questions from individual reporters, including Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. In the Kawakami interview, Davis said that the Raiders traded Randy Moss because the coaches didn't want him, and went on to allege that the Patriots tampered with the star wide receiver:
Here's the portion of the interview where Davis speaks about Moss, whom the Raiders pawned off for a fourth-round draft choice:
Q: Why did you trade Moss if you knew he was good?
DAVIS: They didn't want him.
Q: They?
DAVIS: Not the coaches. They were coming in brand new. That was a big thing on their minds.
Plus, you know how many teams turned him down. That guy in Green Bay thought he couldn't run anymore. Even Denver, where they'll take anybody, turned him down.
But what's his name knew he could run, he's a friend of Belichick's. Mike Lombardi [the former Raiders personnel executive, who was fired last year]. Mike sold what's his name, Belichick, on the idea that he could run. They tampered with him. I remember Bob Kraft saying that he had to look him in the eye and all that. They went down and worked him out, he could run. He's their team, of course, with the quarterback.
