Raiders Coach Says his Life Was Threatened by Team’s Head Coach

If the National Football League (NFL) is supposed to be all about entertainment, then score points for the Oakland Raiders for living up to that promise. Known this year for not scoring points on the field, and for the most abysmal quarterback play in a non-strike year in…well, forever…the Raiders are offering entertainment off the field instead. Already, Al Davis, the owner of the league’s worst franchise over the past decade, has come under constant attack for his meddling in the football activities of the team – most often to the team’s detriment – and for bad decisions in general.

Last summer, it was rumored that the team’s head coach, Tom Cable, struck one of his assistant coaches and broke his jaw. Snippets of that story have surfaced over the past several months, but now more details are emerging as the Napa police and district attorney have become involved. The assistant coach, Randy Hanson, told police and reporters, "From my blindside, Tom Cable threw me from my chair and into a piece of furniture that a lamp sat upon. He was screaming, ‘I’ll f--- kill you! I’ll f--- kill you!’ And I have no reason to believe he wouldn’t have killed me if they hadn’t pulled him away. If my head would’ve hit a different way, I might be dead right now."

The incident took place on August 5, and it has been noted that Hanson’s comments were corroborated by several other members of the coaching staff who were present during the incident. Said Hanson’s attorney, John McGuinn, "this really is a textbook case of felony assault." Cable has apparently retained the services of a criminal defense attorney, and it is rumored that he is seeking a plea deal to avoid jail time. Even if he manages to do that, it is highly unlikely that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will let the behavior pass without league punishment, so Cable’s days in Raiderland appear to be limited. Either way, what appears most certain is that the team will continue to entertain (in the news if not on the field) in the years to come.