The Tennessee Titans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars rather handedly in the 1999 AFC Championship Game. The Jags jumped out to an early 14-7 lead before it was all Titans in the second half. Tennessee went on to score 26 unanswered points and cruise to a 33-14 victory. Former Jacksonville defensive end Renaldo Wynn has an explanation for the halftime adjustments.
On Friday, Wynn told Mike Meltser and Seth Payne on Sports Radio 610’s MaD Radio that then-Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had literally obtained a copy of the Jaguars’ playbook prior to the game.
“You know why we fell short in that AFC Championship game?” Wynn asked, via CBS Houston. “After that I ended up getting coached by Gregg Williams. And Greg Williams was, at the time, defensive coordinator by the Tennessee Titans. First thing he said when he came in the door was ‘Hey, you know why you lost?’ With a lot of other explicit words with that. He said he had our play book. Greg Williams had our play book. Our game-plan on offense. [He] had our playbook.”
Wynn later played for the Washington Redskins when Williams was defensive coordinator there, and he told the hosts that Williams acquired other teams’ playbooks as well. He would not elaborate on how Williams allegedly got them in his possession.
“I’m sorry Gregg, I had to put you out there,” Wynn said. “You can’t go no lower than what you’ve been already.”
Williams, who was just hired as DC for the St. Louis Rams, certainly can go lower. There may be nothing worse than being caught on audio tape urging players to target the knees and heads of opponents, but stealing playbooks would be up there. If there is proof — and I’m not sure how there would be — Williams could find himself in a lot of trouble yet again.
