Raiders owner Al Davis wasn't done talking when he concluded his weird press conference announcing the firing of Lane Kiffin and the hiring of Tom Cable on Tuesday evening.
Davis also had a conversation with reporters, and he made some strong accusations against the New England Patriots. Davis said that the Patriots tampered with Randy Moss before acquiring him in a trade from the Raiders during the 2007 draft.
The quote from Davis is below, although it's a little confusing because Davis refers to both former Raiders employee Mike Lombardi and Patriots coach Bill Belichick as "what's his name."
From the San Jose Mercury News:
But what's his name knew he could run, he's a friend of Belichick's. Mike Lombardi. 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.
Davis is clearly bitter that the Raiders unloaded Moss for a fourth-round draft pick, only to see him set a new NFL record for receiving touchdowns in his first year with the Patriots. But I wouldn't read much into the tampering claim. The bottom line is that the Raiders freely gave Moss to the Patriots, and it's too late for them to take that mistake back now.
