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Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009

Cable a smash-mouth coach?

Details murky on Raiders altercation

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NAPA -- Defensive assistant Randy Hanson was involved in an altercation with another member of the Raiders coaching staff earlier this month and treated for an injury at a Napa hospital.

NationalFootballPost.com first reported the story Monday morning, and several Internet reports that followed identified coach Tom Cable as the person who punched Hanson. None of those stories cited a named source.

Napa Police Lt. Brian McGovern confirmed Monday afternoon that a 41-year-old member of Oakland's coaching staff was treated for an injured jaw.

Lt. McGovern said he isn't permitted to name the coach who was injured. However, several people within the organization, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that it was Hanson.

Hanson has not been at practice for more than a week, according to several players. He was reached by phone at the Raiders year-round facility in Alameda and said, "I can't talk right now."

Cable refused to address the matter after practice Monday, other than to say: "It's an internal issue that we are dealing with, and that's all I'm going to say."

ESPN's Chris Berman reported that colleague Mark Schlereth said Cable told him, "Nothing happened."

"Something happened, yes, but it's being blown out of proportion," one of the people within the organization said. "It didn't go down the way it's being reported."

Two people in the organization with knowledge of the situation said Hanson verbally assaulted Cable during a coaches meeting.

The incident occurred Aug. 5, according to a statement made by Hanson to the Napa police.

Hanson sought treatment Aug. 6 at Queen of the Valley Hospital, a short distance from the Raiders training camp headquarters at the Napa Valley Marriott and two adjacent fields.

Queen of the Valley staff notified the Napa Police Dept. because of protocol that requires a hospital to contact police whenever it suspects someone is the victim of an assault.

Hanson, 41, is identified in the police report as "a 41-year-old member of the Raiders staff." He told police that he had been assaulted by another staff member the previous day at the training camp site.

Lt. McGovern said Hanson refused to tell investigators who struck him or whether there were any witnesses. He did not press charges.

"At this point, without his cooperation, the case is closed," Lt. McGovern said.

Cable had not mentioned the incident in any of his numerous news conferences until asked Monday.

One of the people within the organization said he doesn't think Hanson will be welcomed back by Cable as part of the staff.

Several players said they did not witness the alleged attack but were aware of Hanson's absence in recent days.

"I was wondering where he's been," cornerback Stanford Routt said. "I just thought he wasn't feeling well or something."

Hanson is in his third season with the Raiders, his first in his current capacity. This marks his second run-in with a Raiders head coach in less than a year.

Former coach Lane Kiffin suspended Hanson for a week for comments Hanson made in the locker room after the Denver Broncos beat the Raiders 41-14 in the regular-season opener Sept. 8.