Tom Cable breaks Randy Hanson's Jaw?

Well, here we go. Just when I was getting excited, that irrational exuberance that Raiders fans get sometime between the start of free agency and opening night when everything comes crashing down.

Nancy Gay, who's been AWOL from her perch at the Chronicle since we re-named the Hater of the Week Award, now writes for AOL's NFL Fanhouse. And it's a doozy:

Two NFL sources have told FanHouse the attacker was Raiders' first-year head coach Tom Cable, and "that Hanson never saw it coming."

So, Tom Cable sucker-punched the guy Lance Famously tried to fire right before Al broke the overhead projector, breaking his jaw. Outstanding.

I personally agree with Greg Rosenthal at PFT, who nominates "CABLE, BUMAYE!" as the 2009 Raiders Slogan.

Apparently that's what the players were chanting before practice. Nancy Gay, in one of the lamest sentences I've read, writes,

Earlier, as players took the practice field they were heard chanting "Cable Bumaye!" (Cable Kill Him) -- a reference to the infamous chant made famous by boxing fans in Zaire when Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the 8th round during the Rumble in the Jungle fight in 1974.

Thanks for the history lesson. Meanwhile, Mike Florio reports that Tom Cable told Mark Schlereth that nothing happened:

During halftime of the Panthers-Giants game on ESPN, Chris Berman relayed some info from Mark Schlereth.

Schlereth says he has spoken to Raiders coach Tom Cable, and that Cable claims "nothing happened" between himself and assistant coach Randy Hanson.

If true (and for now we're not inclined to think it is), that would directly contradict the report from Nancy Gay of FanHouse, who wrote earlier tonight that it was Cable who cold-cocked Hanson earlier this month, sending Hanson to the hospital.

Ouch.