slow night - Brown to retire as a Raider

BigJoe · July 2005

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- Tim Brown will end his prolific NFL career with the Oakland Raiders after all. ''Tim will sign a one-day contract and retire as a Raider,'' team spokesman Mike Taylor said Wednesday. A news conference is planned for later this month to recognize Brown, the former Heisman Trophy winner and longest-tenured player in franchise history. Brown was released last August when he refused to accept a greatly diminished role in coach Norv Turner's offense. He signed with Tampa Bay to play what turned out to be his last season with former Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Brown, who turns 39 on July 22, played the first 16 of his 17 seasons with the Raiders, and always hoped to be remembered as the organization's greatest receiver. He was the last former member of the Los Angeles Raiders and the person young players turned to for advice. The self-proclaimed ''Mr. Raider'' holds most of the club's receiving records, and his 240 games with the team are the most in franchise history. Brown was a first-round draft choice by the Raiders in 1988 out of Notre Dame. The Raiders are happy he's part of the team again, even if he's no longer on the field hauling in passes. ''I'm glad to hear that,'' fullback Zack Crockett said. ''When you hear Tim Brown's name, you hear nothing but Oakland Raider. You don't hear Tampa Bay. We followed in his footsteps with the Raiders. That's excellent for him. He's one of those guys who paved the way for everybody.'' With the Raiders, Brown had 1,070 catches for 14,734 yards and 99 touchdowns. Last year with the Buccaneers, he had just 24 catches for 200 yards and one touchdown. Brown is tied for third with Steve Largent on the career receiving touchdown list with 100 and second all-time behind Jerry Rice for career receiving yards with 14,934. His 1,094 career catches ranks third. In his final season with Oakland, he had 52 catches for 567 yards and two touchdowns. Brown also helped the Raiders reach their first Super Bowl in 19 years after the 2002 season. The team is planning to honor him before training camp opens at the end of this month in Napa. ''We hoped he would wait until training camp to do something formal, but he has something pending that necessitates he make a formal announcement now,'' Taylor said. The story was first reported by NFL Network.