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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, August 7, 2005

Raiders QB Gannon retires

Advertiser News Services

Denver fifth-year defensive tackle Mario Fatafehi, a Farrington High alum, gets advice from defensive line coach Andre Patterson.

Jack Dempsey | Associated Press

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Rich Gannon called it quits yesterday, retiring from the Oakland Raiders after missing most of last season with a broken vertebra in his neck.

The 39-year-old quarterback announced his decision at the team's training facility in Napa, Calif.

"As far as the decision to retire, it was an easy one for me," Gannon said. "It really was not my decision. I was not able to continue to play physically."

Gannon, the 2002 NFL MVP, already has signed with CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst after playing 18 seasons in the league. He guided the Raiders to the 2003 Super Bowl before spending much of the last two seasons injured. He threw for 28,743 yards and 180 touchdowns in his career with Minnesota, Washington, Kansas City and Oakland.


ELSEWHERE

Ravens: Baltimore's top draft pick Mark Clayton signed a five-year, $8.2 million contract yesterday, ending a five-day holdout. Clayton, a standout wide receiver at Oklahoma, was taken by Baltimore with the 22nd overall pick. He will practice with the team for the first time Monday.

Redskins-Cowboys: Joe Gibbs apologized yesterday for a remark he made about Dallas fans at Redskins Park during the Washington's Fan Appreciation Day festivities. Asked about the Cowboys as fans screamed questions at him Friday, he jokingly said: "I know we don't have any Dallas people here. They're the ugliest people in the world." He apologized for the comment at the conclusion of his news conference after the Redskins-Ravens scrimmage. "At our fan day, I kind of got caught up in things there and obviously somebody was yelling some things about the Cowboys and I tried to make a joke," Gibbs said.

Jets-Giants: Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey got into a fight with two Jets players on the second play of a joint practice between the teams at Albany, N.Y., yesterday, that also featured an argument between Giants coach Tom Coughlin and Jets defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson. On the second play of a 9-on-7 drill pitting the Giants offense against the Jets defense, Shockey got in a tussle with defensive backs Erik Coleman and Oliver Celestin, and soon all three players were throwing wild punches, touching off a melee involving numerous players from both teams. Order was restored after a few minutes.