Mark Davis Having 'No Idea' the Raiders Could've Signed Tom Brady and Gronk is the Most Believable Part of This Whole Saga

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You have to hand it to Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. Out of every million working Americans who retired from their careers, 999,998 go off to enjoy the fruits of their labors. To reap the rewards of all that hard work. Traveling, spending time on their hobbies, writing their memoirs, maybe finally replacing the stopper in the toilet tank that keeps running if you don't remember to jiggle the handle. But Brady and Gronk have been the other two. What they've done since Gronk "retired" in 2019 and again this year, and Brady "retired" back in February has been the complete opposite of fading into a life of quiet obscurity. 

I mean, how many major stories have these guys produced? Gronk perfecting the "Will he or won't he?" routine he pulled after his first retirement. Brady became the center of a tampering scandal that cost the Dolphins two draft picks and got the owner suspended. His unretirement back to Tampa clearly came on the condition that Bruce Arians would be fired. (Arians decided he really wanted to step away from the sidelines in the same way Field Marshall Rommel was allowed to kill himself after taking part in a plot to kill the Fuhrer, in that it was only their earlier championships that allowed them to leave with some dignity.) Then there was his sudden leave of absence that the Buccaneers keep changing their story on. And the rumor that he's been gone from Bucs camp for over a week in order to do singing Furry cosplay on Fox prime time:

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And now, we get the plot twist that both players were there for the taking in Las Vegas, if only Jon Gruden had wanted them:

It's been absolutely incredible. This saga has already taken so many twists and turns you couldn't fit them all into a simple documentary, like Manti Te'o's non-existent dead girlfriend. This calls for an epic limited series, like House of Dragons. We need at least 10 episodes to sort out all the drama and intrigue. Not mention, the comedy. Which is provided, predictably enough, from North American sports' favorite comic side character. 

Source - Raiders and Aces owner Mark Davis said Sunday he doesn’t remember particulars of a deal that would have brought quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski to Las Vegas in 2020. …

“I heard about (White’s comments),” Davis said. “That was what — two to three years ago or something? I don’t know, man. Talk to Dana. I remember that Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay. That’s basically what I remember.

“I have no idea. Dana has the stories. I love Dana. He is a great, great promoter. Why would this make me upset? I was busy watching (the Raiders beat Miami 15-13).

Congratulations to Mark Davis for being the one character in this tale who's actually playing to type. While Jon Gruden is refusing to return anyone's phone calls and Brady looks more and more Machiavellian for the way he's been orchestrating everything behind the scenes (even while under contract with New England), Davis is just being Davis. 

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And I believe him. It's probably true that he knew nothing about it. Gruden and Mike Mayock were offered a package deal the greatest player in history and his generational-talent teammate, and probably never discussed it with the boss. Two players who would've changed the course of the Raiders franchise just as they were planting their flag in Las Vegas, and it was deemed to be on a "need to know" basis. But the owner didn't need to know. Gruden and Mayock just let him sit up in his office playing Mario Kart Double Dash, have a snack of Animal Crackers and milk and take a nap. While they committed to building the franchise he owns around Derek Carr. 

Who knows what the Butterfly Effect would've been if, say, Davis insisted on signing these two. Brady home games in a dome for the first time in his career. Gronk lining up opposite Darren Waller, the best tight end duo he's ever been a part of. A Raiders team that went 8-8 and then 10-7 last season would likely have been a Super Bowl contender. Who knows? Maybe those emails that sank Gruden's career as part of a clearly targeted leak never see the light of day, and he's being hailed as the genius who resurrected Brady's career. If not a two- or even three-time Super Bowl champion.

But it never happened. Because, according to Mark Davis at least, he knew nothing about it until Dana White told the world. And one of the most bizarre offseason stories of our lifetimes just keeps getting bizarrier.