Jon Gruden was an excellent football coach, but handling personnel was not his forte. He even made a hilarious admission during Monday night’s game between the 49ers and St. Louis Rams about one of his personnel mistakes back when he was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
After watching Niners kicker Phil Dawson boot a 54-yard field goal — Dawson’s third of 50-or-more yards this season — Gruden offered a great self-effacing line.
“Can you believe I cut him, Mike? I cut Phil Dawson. I need to have my head examined!”
Dawson is in his 17th NFL season and has posted a career 84.5 percent mark on field goals. Gruden’s Raiders signed Dawson as an undrafted free agent in 1998, but they cut him. Dawson was eventually signed by the Cleveland Browns and had 14 successful seasons with the team. Obviously Gruden whiffed on that one. It’s nice to hear him criticize himself in such a funny way. His commentary all night was excellent.
