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Tim Brown tells teammates his Raiders days are over
Receiver Tim Brown told some of his Oakland teammates, including Jerry Rice, that he won't be playing for the Raiders this season.
"What he said to the guys is that he's not going to be around anymore," Rice said after practice Tuesday. "I don't know what was said, but he's not going to be here anymore.
This basically is going to wake everybody up that this is a business. You can't come in and feel like you've got it made."
Brown met with Raiders owner Al Davis on Tuesday and has another meeting scheduled to discuss his future with the team.
ESPN.com's John Clayton reported Tuesday evening that Davis told Brown he wants him to be Oakland's fourth or fifth receiving option, not the club's first one.
Brown told Davis he still thinks that he can be the top ball-catcher on the team, according to Clayton. Brown is not believed to be considering retirement.
However, team sources told ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli on Tuesday night that Oakland officials would prefer that Brown retire, so that he would have played his entire career with the franchise.
Brown, the longest-tenured Raider, appeared resigned to probably continuing his 17-year career in another city.
"You know, if you asked me that a week ago, I would've said no," Brown said Tuesday of ending his Raiders career and joining a new team. "But certainly, even standing out here, that's not something I want to think about. I don't know what could happen to change what is going on, and certainly you don't want to see anybody get injured or anything of that nature to change your situation.
"I mean, there are going to be things I'm going to have to think about hard in the future, and we'll make those decisions."
Brown took part in position drills Tuesday, but sat out the rest of practice. The receivers got together at the end, Brown said something, and they all put their hands together and cheered "Brown!"
New coach Norv Turner plans to use his young players, and fifth-year pro Jerry Porter is on track to becoming the franchise's receiver of the future. The Raiders also have Rice, 41, and rookies Johnnie Morant and Carlos Francis, along with a handful of other receivers they'd like to look at. Also in the mix is second-year player Doug Gabriel, who has been outstanding in offseason workouts.
So what becomes of the 38-year-old Brown, who finished last season with 52 catches for 567 yards and two touchdowns?
Turner confirmed Tuesday that if Brown does stay with the Raiders his role "wouldn't be what it's been" and that Porter is ready to be a starter.
"This is not an easy decision for anybody," Brown said. "You're talking about the so-called Mr. Raider the last 16 years. ... The timing of the situation, I'd rather do it now than the last cut of the year, for sure."
Brown has been durable, missing only one game over the past 11 seasons, and is a respected leader.
During the Raiders' embarrassing 4-12 season a year ago -- the worst collapse by a team that reached the Super Bowl the previous season -- Brown spoke up in a team meeting and asked his teammates to shut up and play.
It was his effort to get the Raiders back on track after the franchise's worst start in 39 years. It also followed public criticism by cornerback Charles Woodson of then-coach Bill Callahan.
Brown even offered to let his teammates blame him for all the problems instead of their coaches or other players. About 10 of the Raiders watched a Monday night game at Brown's house.
But after the season on his weekly radio show, Brown accused Callahan of sabotaging the season in order to get fired and said some players had to be held back from physically going after the coach.
Callahan later denied it and said Brown was just upset after being told in October that Porter would replace him in the starting lineup.
Brown has been a Raider since they drafted him in the first round in 1988 after he won the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame.
"I think it's a big surprise. When you think about the Raiders you think about Tim Brown," Rice said. "It's a weird game. You never know when this situation might occur. It's going to be weird not having that guy around to pull me through practice."
Brown has caught 1,070 passes for 14,734 yards and 99 touchdowns. He's averaged 13.8 yards per catch and started 198 of his 240 games.
Brown's most productive season came in 1997, when he caught 104 passes for 1,408 yards and five touchdowns. Brown's 11 TDs in 2000 were a career high.
"Obviously I've never been a guy who ran 40 yards down the field, but what I do is what I do, he said. "And if my mind-set is still on doing those things, I believe I can still do them, and my mind is certainly toward still playing football."
Source: ESPN
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