Gruden smiles through Media Day barrage

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden handled the Media Day barrage with ease Tuesday while talking abooout facing his former team, the Oakland Raiders, in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Arriving on a charter flight Tuesday morning after skipping his first scheduled media session Monday, Gruden replaced his trademark scowl with a ready smile for the horde of reporters and photographers who descended upon him.

No one received more attention than Gruden, the animated coach who was sent to the Buccaneers by Raiders owner Al Davis last February for the price of two first-round picks, two second-round picks and $8 million.

"There is no way that I will ever be able to live up to the draft picks or whatever the compensation package was," Gruden said. "We are still investigating. I think there is some swampland in Florida that was included in that deal.

"Unfortunately, a contract (extension) couldn't get worked out and in the middle of the night I was traded," Gruden said. "Hopefully, four or five years from now, we'll all be friends."

The Bucs handed Gruden a four-year, $17 million contract and were rewarded with the first Super Bowl appearance in their 27-year existence.

With Gruden absent Monday, the NFL gave Raiders Coach Bill Callahan, who worked under Gruden in Oakland from 1998-2001, the chance to also skip the first media conference and he followed his former boss' lead.

"The craziest thing in the league that could have happened, happened," said Tim Brown, who has spent his entire 15-year career with the Raiders and will play in a Super Bowl for the first time against his former coach. "We're going to make the best of it, but this game is not about Jon Gruden against Bill Callahan. It's about the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers."

Oakland's Jerry Rice, the NFL's all-time leading receiver, will play in the premier event in sports for the fourth time. He won Super Bowl Most Valuable Player honors 14 years ago, yet called Sunday's game the biggest of his career.

"It's been a long, long time," said the 40-year-old Rice, who last played in a Super Bowl eight years ago. "I really thought I would never get back to this game, but I'm here."

Rice, Brown, NFL Most Valuable Player Rich Gannon, four-time Super Bowl champion linebacker Bill Romanowski, and perennial Pro Bowl safety Rod Woodson were among the Raiders on podiums for the afternoon media session.

Six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Warren Sapp, Tampa Bay's most vociferous player, did not provide any fodder for the media or the Raiders. Instead, he appeared humbled by his first Media Day experience.

"It's just one of those things where it's my opinion to say some lovely things at times and some crazy things at times, but I'm almost in awe just sitting here," Sapp said. "You saw Emmitt Smith sitting up here all those years and Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin, and it was just something that you wanted to be a part of."

NFL Defensive Player of the Year Derrick Brooks, quarterback Brad Johnson, receiver Keyshawn Johnson and cornerback Ronde Barber were among the other Bucs who had their own podiums in the morning session.