Here's a nice quote from Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable that ought to make quarterback Jason Campbell feel better the day after he was completely upstaged and outperformed by his bargain basement backup in a 16-14 Raiders win.
"Today was about winning the game. It does not necessarily mean Campbell is replaced as the quarterback for the rest of the season," coach Tom Cable said, in a transcript distributed by the team after the game.
Except Cable never actually said those words. NBC Bay Area Laura Behnke was there for the live post-game news conference. She also listened to the whole thing in her live truck after wards to double check and said the Cable quote was anything but.
The Oakland Tribune's Jerry McDonald also reported that Cable said something completely different, and the Raiders just cold changed his quotes in the post-game transcript.
According to McDonald and his treasonous tape recorder, Cable actually said of the Campbell-Gradkowski switcheroo, "Today was about winning this game, what did it take to do that, that was the right choice, obviously, and it worked out, and Bruce (Gradkowski) came in and gave us a lift."
Notice that the official Raiders version of the quote has the words "today", "winning", and "game" in common. Otherwise, you've got an inconsistent verb tense and a reassurance of Jason Campbell's job security in place of otherwise kind words for Bruce Gradkowski.
Conspiracy theorists just might connect this incident with a Chris Mortenson ESPN report before Sunday's game that Al Davis is "upset" with coach Cable and is considering replacing him with offensive coordinator Hue Jackson.
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If the Raiders do actually replace Cable, you'd hope that they at least say nice things about him in their fake-quote interview transcripts after wards.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who thinks Jason Campbell may be the only quarterback in the NFL whom one could call "historically ineffective against the St. Louis Rams".
