3:10 p.m., Jan. 13, 2003--University of Delaware alumnus Rich Gannon, the National Football League’s Most Valuable Player, will lead the Oakland Raiders against the Tennessee Titans in the American Football Conference title game at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 19.
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| Photo courtesy of the Oakland Raiders |
The winner will advance to Super Bowl XXXVII to take on the National Football Conference champion, which will be either the Philadelphia Eagles or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Those teams will meet at 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 19, in Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium.
The Super Bowl will be played Sunday, Jan. 26, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
Gannon, a star quarterback for the Fightin’ Blue Hens from 1984-86, directed the Raiders to a 30-10 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday, Jan. 12, to advance to the AFC championship game.
Against the Jets, Gannon threw 20 completions in 30 attempts for 283 yards. He threw touchdown strikes to Jerry Porter and Jerry Rice.
Gannon was drafted out of UD in 1987 by the New England Patriots, who took him in the fourth round with designs on changing him from a quarterback to a running back or defensive back.
He was traded to the Minnesota Vikings only two weeks after New England drafted him because he insisted on being a quarterback. He played for the Vikings until 1992, spent the 1993 season with the Washington Redskins, then sat out the 1994 season after shoulder surgery.
He played with Kansas City from 1995-98 but left the Chiefs as a free agent in 1999 to direct the Oakland offense.
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