| | Brown reaches Super goal after 15 years
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Some of the Oakland Raiders have called
this "Tim's Team.''
And Sunday was Tim's night -- no doubt about it.
After 15 NFL seasons with the same team, Tim Brown is finally
going to the Super Bowl.
Leading into the AFC championship game, Brown wouldn't go so far
as to say his career would have been incomplete without a trip to
the title game. He said he would just look back and consider
certain moments as "missed opportunities.''
There's no need to worry about that anymore. The Raiders are
headed to San Diego, reaching the Super Bowl for the first time in
19 years after defeating the Tennessee Titans 41-24. Oakland will
take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the NFL championship.
"I've been looking at this game for 14 years now and watching
other people go,'' Brown said. "It's a great feeling.''
In the final minutes, the 36-year-old Brown sat on the bench
with a towel over his head as he cried tears of joy. Players walked
by and shook his hand. During the trophy presentation, Brown ran
his fingers along the hardware while holding his young daughter,
Timon.
"Isn't that wonderful?'' Raiders senior assistant Bruce Allen
said as he scurried toward the field to get in position for the
postgame celebration. "I'm glad I'm going with him.''
Brown had two catches in the Raiders' first series, capped by
Jerry Porter's 3-yard touchdown catch that gave Oakland the early
momentum.
Brown finished with nine catches for 73 yards, but stats haven't
mattered much to him. Getting to the Super Bowl has been his
ultimate mission.
"After watching this for 14 years, to play in that game, it's
like being in a dream world,'' Brown said.
Brown and the Raiders were in the same spot two years ago and
blew it. Oakland had the title game at home and was coming off an
impressive 27-0 victory over Miami. The Raiders were the NFL's top
rushing team and the favorite, but were dominated by the eventual
Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens 16-3.
"I'm ecstatic (for him),'' coach Bill Callahan said. "As a
coach, you try to get people to the place they want to go. For him,
to get there is indescribable.''
During the regular season, Brown had 81 catches for 930 yards
and two touchdowns to help the Raiders win their third straight AFC
West crown, but it was somewhat rocky at times. He remained
professional through the season when quarterback Rich Gannon threw
more balls to Jerry Rice and dealt with the emergence of the brash
and confident Porter.
Brown believed all season that he would be in this spot.
He has frequently mentioned how he hopes his wife Sherice waits
until after the Super Bowl to deliver twins. She went on bed rest
this past week and could give birth any day, though doctors say she
could make it until early February.
Brown was called a crybaby last week by Tennessee Titans safety
Lance Schulters, who said Brown always whines to officials or
because he wants the ball thrown to him more. Brown didn't mind
fitting Schulters' label this time.
"He was crying, definitely tears of joy,'' right tackle Lincoln
Kennedy said. "His response to me was, 'I guess I am a crybaby.'''
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