National Football League

Sparano buries Raiders' first quarter of the season with buried football

Published Oct. 7, 2014 1:46 a.m. ET

foxsports

Whatever the Oakland Raiders are doing this season, it isn't working. So maybe it's time to bury the past.

Or in this case, a football that represents the past.

Apparently that's the mindset of interim head coach Tony Sparano, who has the daunting task of righting the ship of the 0-4 Raiders after the team fired Dennis Allen last Tuesday.

Sparano took the literal route to prove a point during a recent practice, gathering his players and dropping a football into a hole that he actually dug in the ground.

"What this ball represents and what this hole represents are the first four games of the season, the first quarter of our season," Sparano told his team, via a video posted on the team's website, before making them actually cover the football with dirt.

We agree that Oakland's first four games should be buried under a big pile of dirt, but Sparano isn't the first to pull off this move.

As you might recall, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick made his players bury a football in during the 2001 season after a loss to the Miami Dolphins dropped them to 1-3. The Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl.

Looks like we'll see the Raiders in Glendale, Arizona, for Super Bowl XLIX!

OK, maybe not. But hopefully they can win a game or two.

GIF via Bleacher Report

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