This, too, shall pass, Gannon says of sideline spat

Rich Gannon was able to draw on one particular personal experience while sympathizing with Vikings quarterback Brett Favre about the overpublicized sideline spat with coach Brad Childress during Sunday's 26-7 loss at Carolina.

The former Vikings quarterback, who played 18 seasons with four teams and was the league's MVP in 2002, had a similar experience while playing for the Raiders and then-coach Jon Gruden.

It was Oct. 8, 2000, and Oakland was engaged in a physical, back-and-forth game against the visiting 49ers. The Raiders were trailing, but not by much, when Gruden pulled Gannon aside.

"It was the second quarter and he said, 'I'm thinking of putting Bobby Hoying in. You're getting beat up pretty bad,'" said Gannon, now a CBS game analyst. "I about had a seizure on the sideline. As a quarterback, that's the last thing you want to hear."

Naturally, the TV cameras captured it all.

"It became an ugly scene," Gannon said. "Afterward, it was fodder for the media and it was not good. You hope to avoid those things, but stuff happens during the course of a game, and the sidelines are an emotional place. A lot is going on. But we always said, 'What's said on the sideline stays on the sideline.'

"That's why I don't think this will be an issue [for the Vikings]. I think Brad is a sharp guy, and so is Brett. I think they'll talk about it and move on. I don't think anybody is trying to undermine anybody else's authority. It just gets this way sometimes."

Favre's reaction this week was relatively tame compared with Gannon's nine years ago. Favre simply pulled his arm away from Childress as the two engaged in what Favre termed a "heated exchange."

"I had some past scars," Gannon said. "I got jerked around by a guy, Denny Green, that one year in Minnesota [1992] that was unfathomable. We were 8-3 and he sat me down. We go to the playoffs and he puts Sean Salisbury in there. And it was just a disaster."

Gannon also was involved in quarterback controversies in Kansas City under then-coach Marty Schottenheimer.

"We were 13-3 twice, with home-field advantage and one of the best defenses in football," Gannon said. "And Steve Bono starts the first playoff game and plays horrible that first year, 1995, and we lose to Indy 10-7. The other year, 1997, I started the last seven games of the year and then Marty decides in his infinite wisdom to start Elvis Grbac. And [Grbac] is not even physically well enough to play in the game in terms of his conditioning, and we lose to Denver 14-10. It was ridiculous. You don't forget stuff like that."

In other words, the Vikings' quarterback situation still looks pretty good, spat or no spat.