Dorsett Jr: Johnson's Ball Doctoring 'Didn't Make A Difference' In Super Bowl
DALLAS (105.3 THE FAN) -- The New England Patriots have been accused of deflating footballs in the AFC Championship in what's been deemed "Deflate Gate". But this "scandal" could pale in comparison to what reportedly occurred in Super Bowl XXXVII.
Before that game, Tampa Bay quarterback Brad Johnson had difficulty gripping the ball. His solution?
"I paid some guys off to get the balls right," Johnson admitted to the Tampa Bay Times. "I went and got all 100 footballs, and they took care of all of them."
Anthony Dorsett Jr., a member of the Oakland team that lost to the Bucs 48-21, says it's the first time he's hearing about Johnson's actions.
The former safety think there's no place in the game for illegally gaining an edge -- no matter how small the advantage.
"It's hard enough to go out there on Sunday, Monday -- whenever the game is -- to actually put together a win on a weekly basis," said Dorsett with Shan & RJ on 105.3 The Fan. "Anytime you're going out there and trying to undermine guys who are out there breaking their backs to try and bring a victory -- it's definitely going to be a problem."
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
But Dorsett admits that Johnson's actions had little impact on the outcome of the game.
"That really didn't make a difference in our game," said Dorsett, pointing out that he doesn't feel cheated.
Dorsett says that Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden -- who came over from Oakland the previous season -- simply knew Rich Gannon and the Raiders' offense too well.
In practices leading up to the game, Dorsett says Gruden played the role of Gannon "to a 't'", mimicking everything he did and providing great insight into the quarterback's actions.
"It's hard to go into a game like that in that situation when you're running a man's offense that installed it...The only way we were actually going to have a chance to win that game was going to be on defense and trying to get some turnovers."
In the end, it was the Raiders offense that turned the ball over five times -- all Gannon interceptions. Oakland forced just one turnover.
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