Doug Jolley Dishes on His Super Bowl Experience

This is an account written by Doug Jolley, a former TE. Doug actually came to BYU as a QB, I believe out of St. George, but ended up being an All-MWC TE and was drafted in the second round by the Raiders. Doug went on to play for the Raiders, Jets, and Buccaneers.

I have to preface this article by saying that Doug Jolley is one Cougar that I will always look up to. When I walked on in 2001, I was a complete nobody, and Doug always went out of his way to make sure I was taken care of. In our summer workouts before school started he let me use his locker so my stuff wouldn’t get stolen, and he and Justin Ena always made sure I had someone to lift with.

I have a lot of respect for Doug Jolley, probably more than anyone else I played with. He deserved to be in the Super Bowl, and I think you will enjoy his story. — Markell Staffieri

“Thank you, Markell Staffieri, for asking me to participate in this blog. I enjoy reading about the Cougs and getting the inside scoop of the goings-on in Provo and with the current and former players. Thank you, Quinn. You are doing a great job for all of us to keep up with our favorite football team. I was asked to write about playing in the Super Bowl, so I will do my best to express my experience.

"I played in Super Bowl XXXVII with the Oakland Raiders against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We had a great season, went 11-5, and won the AFC West. Our quarterback, Rich Gannon, had an incredible year and won league MVP.

"I loved playing for Rich. He took care of me, taught me how to run routes, and got me the ball. He knew what it took to win. It was a long, grueling season, but we were rewarded with a first round bye in the playoffs. We beat the Jets in the second round and the Titans in the AFC championship.

"The Super Bowl was held in San Diego that year. We went to SD the day after the AFC championship. I tried to treat the game like any other game and prepare the same way. That was nearly impossible, and our practices that week proved it. They were not as crisp as in the previous weeks.

"Tuesday was media day. We went to the stadium to meet the press and take pics. It was a mad house. There were celebrities everywhere. I sat in the stands and took it all in. Every day after during lunch we had press conferences. I hate talking to the media and think it is a distraction. There were amazing parties every night we were invited to, but I didn’t go. I would just go out to dinner and then try to get some sleep.

"At all hours of the day and night, there would be hundreds of fans trying to get pics and autographs. Raiders fans are amazing. They are very loyal, even during losing seasons.

"I have never gotten more phone calls than during that season. I had so many people calling for tickets that I put on my voicemail recording the phone number to call for tickets. During Super Bowl week, I had to turn my phone off. Each player was allotted 15 tickets. I could have used about 1,500. Face value of the tickets was $400. Scalpers were getting about $3,000 apiece for them.

"I remember calling my dad and asking him if he’d rather take the family to the game or have a new car. My family went to the game.

"One thing a lot of people will remember about that Super Bowl was that our All-Pro center went AWOL two days before the game. He was a good guy, but was an alcoholic and had bipolar disorder. The pressure got to him, and he ended up in the hospital and missed the game.

"The atmosphere at the game was definitely different. You could feel the tension in the air. During the game, it was hard not to think about how many people worldwide were watching. Because of all the festivities, we were in the locker room a lot longer than normal before kickoff. It was very quiet, guys were nervous, and we couldn’t wait for the game to start. It hurt us having so much time before kickoff, and we came out flat.

"Once the game started, though, it didn’t feel much different than a normal game. We got behind big and never recovered. We tried to make it close in the third with a couple touchdowns, but never got close and ended up losing 48-21.

"What I remember most about the game was Tampa’s defensive speed. After every catch I made, I got hit hard by about five guys. They were all over the ball. When they made interceptions, it was amazing how fast they were. I was at a loss trying to tackle them. I ended up playing with the Bucs in 2006, and Derrick Brooks is hands down the best defensive player I’ve ever played with.

"It was Bill Callahan’s first year as head coach of the Raiders and we were playing against the Raiders' previous year's head coach, Jon Gruden. This was a definite advantage for the Bucs. We were using Gruden’s offense, and he knew us (and our quarterback) inside and out. Often, we would get to the line of scrimmage, and John Lynch would call out the play we were running before the ball was snapped.

"I believe that if it weren’t for the Gruden advantage, we would have beaten the Bucs and been Super Bowl champs.

"Playing in the Super Bowl was an amazing experience, one I will cherish forever. It seems like a long time ago and I don’t remember all of the details, but I hope this recap suffices.” — Doug Jolley