A late-night treat: Gruden on Letterman

Bucs coach talks about the Raiders, their owner and his nickname.

By BRUCE LOWITT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 5, 2003

"I wish," the coach of the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers said.

For six minutes Letterman questioned Gruden about his history with the Super Bowl-losing Raiders and owner Al Davis, who traded him to Tampa Bay for four draft picks and $8-million, as well as outspoken Bucs players Warren Sapp and Keyshawn Johnson.

And Chucky, the nickname Gruden carries because of his resemblance to the Child's Play doll.

"Are you tired of that Chucky nonsense?" Letterman asked.

"Yeah, a little bit," Gruden said, laughing.

Former Raiders running back Harvey Williams came up with the nickname in 1998, Gruden's first year in Oakland.

"He went the wrong way on a handoff, and I just kind of lost my mind," Gruden said. "Of course, there's 80,000 fans calling me an idiot. I just had a breakdown."

The audience roared when Letterman held up a Chucky photo.

Gruden was diplomatic when asked about Davis.

"Is he nuts? Is he a psycho?" Letterman said. "Did you get along with Al Davis?"

"Yeah, I did," Gruden said. "I have a lot of respect for him. He helped me get better."

Letterman also asked if the Bucs knew all of the Raiders' plays.

"We didn't know everything," Gruden said to more laughter. "We knew some of the things. We expected some of the things we were going to see. But I credit our players" for the 48-21 victory.

Did any Oakland plays surprise him?

"They called a couple, I think, but it was late in the game. We were ahead by, I don't know what the score was."

As for Sapp, Letterman asked, "Is he nuts, too?"

"Warren Sapp has legitimately got his own drummer," Gruden said. "I feed off guys with energy, and he's got legitimate energy every day."

"Keyshawn?"

"Same way," Gruden said. "I just saw Keyshawn. He was on the Regis (Philbin) show. 'I'm going to Letterman, man. See you later.' "