Ugly melee was Round 2 of nasty personal feud
OAKLAND >> The Raiders were hoping to carry the fight to the Denver Broncos, but what they got from wide receiver Michael Crabtree wasn’t what anyone had in mind.
On the Raiders’ second possession, Crabtree and his main antagonist, Aqib Talib, started a melee that had roots dating back to last season’s regular-season finale in Denver.
By the time it was over, with 11:46 left in the first quarter, Crabtree and Talib were ejected along with guard Gabe Jackson in a game the Raiders won 2114 at the Coliseum.
Crabtree, Talib and Jackson were gone from their respective locker rooms when the game ended, leaving coaches and teammates to sort it out. All could be subject to NFL discipline in the form of fines or suspension.
The bad blood began to boil on the previous play, when Denver cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said Crabtree sucker-punched him in the stomach. Harris gestured toward the Raiders sideline, making an uppercut action, as he was being helped off.
Then on a 5-yard run by Marshawn Lynch, Crabtree continued to block Talib into the Denver sideline after the whistle, at which point the Denver cornerback was caught by cameras holding a chain that he had torn from Crabtree’s neck.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Talib did the same thing in last year’s 24-6 win by the Broncos in Denver to close the regular season.
Crabtree ended up without a helmet, and a fight began that moved along the Denver sideline and toward the end zone. Jackson, meanwhile was
involved in a separate altercation, during which he was penalized for shoving an official.
“Bottom line is we can’t afford to lose one of our top receivers and then our starting guard because he went over to help his buddy,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “We can’t get two guys tossed like that . ... I like to count on my guys to do the right thing, keep their composure.”
Said Denver coach Vance Joseph: “I don’t like it and it’s unacceptable. We can’t lose one of our best players because of personal battles ... we can’t have it. It’s non-negotiable.”
It was the first time Crabtree and Talib had squared off since the chain-pulling last season. When the two teams played on Oct. 1, Crabtree was sidelined with a chest injury.
Leading up to that game, Talib was asked if he was concerned how Crabtree would react based on the first incident and said, “I’m not worried about Crab boy’s chain. I’m not worried about any of that.”
Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, who helped put the game away with a 54-yard reception late in the fourth quarter, wasn’t with the Raiders last season but
was aware of the Crabtree-Talib dynamic.
“We all know something was going to happen,” Patterson said. “It was just a matter of when. Everybody was ready and prepared for it.”
Linebacker Bruce Irvin said, “Those guys got a history going back and forth with each other, so it really wasn’t surprising. We’ve got to keep our composure and just play football. It’s about winning, taking care of each other and getting ready for the next week.”
Quarterback Derek Carr said the tension was
evident immediately.
“It was getting chippy early,” Carr said. “When the fight broke out, I just ran over there and tried to calm the situation . ... I kind of stepped away, but as soon as I saw it — it went to another level. We could all feel that. It wasn’t just a push and shove kind of thing . ... Hopefully everything just stays here today. We can move on and be better next time.”
Harris doesn’t sound as if he’ll be forgetting what Crabtree did any time soon.
“He sucker-punched me.
I have never seen that in the NFL,” Harris said. “He just came out wanting to fight. He didn’t want to play football ... it was a run play, I was playing man, and I wasn’t even doing anything. He just came in there, was like, ‘Bam,’ hit me right in the middle of the stomach, and I just lost my breath.”
Perhaps the most reasonable response came from Raiders defensive lineman Denico Autry.
“I was on a bike warming up,” Autry said. “But I love my money, so I’m going to stay on the sideline.”