Raiders vs. 49ers: These Days, They’re More Friendly Rivals

Those once-bitter rivals, the Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers, meet tonight at 6 in the Coliseum to open the exhibition season, all mellowed out. As they say in Southern California, their heads are in a different place these days.

They weren’t always so cordial, and least of all in 1967, a year after the merger of the American Football League into the National Football League, when the upstarts from the East Bay finally got a chance to get it on with the aristocratic 49ers.

They fought an exhibition war, complete with a pregame ceremony on Treasure Island, the mid-point of the Oakland Bay Bridge, for a coin flip.

“That was neutral turf,” Raider executive assistant Al LoCasale says. “Lou Spadia (49er owner at the time) almost died when he lost it.”

The 49ers spared Spadia further trauma, winning the game, 13-10, before 53,254 fans at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, or 35,000 more than the Raiders had ever drawn for a home exhibition. This demonstrated NFL superiority once and for all, or at least until the next summer, when the Raiders started their roll of 13 victories in the subsequent 16 exhibitions.

Tonight’s 18th in the series will open the Raiders’ glamorous exhibition season, which was designed to appeal to the buyers of the Coliseum’s new luxury boxes.

Tonight’s combatants have won four of the last five Super Bowls. Coming in next will be the Redskins and Dolphins, meaning that the Raiders will have presented all five winners and 8 of the last 10 participants from the last five Super Bowls.

The only problem was that they couldn’t get clear of litigation and were loathe to start spending the $12 million to build the boxes, in case they were ordered back to Oakland.

Without the opening of luxury suites or an old grudge to settle, what remains is a nice, glamorous exhibition.

The coaches, Tom Flores of the Raiders and Bill Walsh of the 49ers, are more like old friends than old rivals.

“I was talking to him the other day,” Flores said recently of Walsh. “He was telling me he was going to play his regulars for so many passes and so many runs.

“I said, ‘Could you tell me when you’re going to do each?’ ”

What fire remains will be saved for their regular-season game here Sept. 22. Common sense and the participants promise that neither team will show the other a lot, or anything at all, tonight.

Quarterback Joe Montana of the 49ers, asked in a recent telephone conference call what he expected to learn about the Raiders, said: “Nothing. We’re pretty basic in preseason games. Especially when we’re going to play the game in the season.”

The Raiders will probably be just as basic. In their three years here, they’re 4-8 in exhibitions and 31-10 in regular-season games. Observers have learned not to make too much of what they see, and especially what they don’t see, in Raider exhibitions.

The Raider staff is now working primarily toward the Aug. 20 cut to 60 and is eager to see its young players in action. Said Flores, speaking of third-round draft pick Tim Moffett, who was impressive in rookie scrimmages: “You think he’s good, but you want to be assured.”

Tonight is when the rookies can begin to assure. An early form chart on them:

Biggest surprise--Reggie McKenzie, a 10th-round run-stuffing inside linebacker from Tennessee.

Looking good--Moffett, a third-round wide receiver from Mississippi; quarterback Rusty Hilger, the No. 6 from Oklahoma State.

Right behind them--Jamie Kimmel, a fourth-round inside linebacker from Syracuse, who signed too late for the rookie scrimmages but has looked good.

OK--No. 1 pick Jessie Hester, a wide receiver-burner who signed too late for the rookie scrimmages. He has dropped some passes in drills, caught others.

Too soon to tell--Stefon Adams, the second third-round draft pick, a college wide receiver who is being switched to cornerback. He missed a week with a sore hamstring and may be a long-range project.

Hottest duel among rookies--Dan Reeder, the No. 5 pick from Delaware, vs. Steve Strachan, the No. 11 from Boston College, for a fullback spot. Neither is physically gifted, but both are hard workers, and the staff likes them.

Up against it--Mark Pattison, a possession-type receiver who was a No. 7 from Washington. He and free agent Gordon Jones have been impressive but seem to be in a four-receiver race for a sixth spot on the roster.

The 49ers, meanwhile, are working on post-Super Bowl recovery. In their last defense, after their 1982 victory over the Bengals, they went 3-6 in the strike season. Walsh went into solitude after the season and accused Montana of having had too many distractions. Montana had been doing a lot of TV work, and on one day off had flown east to do a commercial.

On the other hand, Montana hadn’t had a bad season. He passed for more than 300 yards in a record five straight games.

“I don’t even like to look back at it,” Montana said. “The season was strike-shortened. Nobody seemed like they wanted to be there. It was like we said, ‘Let’s hurry up and get this thing over with.’ . . . He (Walsh) had to point somewhere.”

In the recent off-season, Montana, the toast of the City by the Bay, moved to Palos Verdes Estates, where his wife, Jennifer, grew up and where he says it’s easier to find a nice beach. He has bumped into several Raider players, though he’d rather not say which ones.

“They’re pretty good guys,” Montana said. “They all have that image. But if you get them aside, they’re fine. I just think that’s mostly on the field.”

If he doesn’t see much of that image tonight, it’s all right. He’ll be back in six weeks.

Raider Notes First strings are expected to play between a quarter and a half of the game, then not return. Bill Walsh said that he once played a team that put its regulars back in in the fourth period, going for the victory. Tom Flores said later that he had played the same team, the Redskins. . . . The sensation of the 49er camp is wide receiver Jerry Rice, the No. 1 pick from Mississippi Valley State, whom Walsh says he expects to become a starter by the season opener. That would bench Fred Solomon, who caught touchdown passes in 10 straight games last season. Said the San Francisco Chronicle’s Ira Miller: “Rice is like Ronnie Lott. You could tell just by looking at him the guy was great.” . . . Cliff Branch probably won’t play because of sore hamstrings. Jessie Hester will start on the left side. That doesn’t mean that Hester is the third wide receiver on the depth chart. The Raiders don’t flip flop wide receivers, so there is a hierarchy on each side. On the left, it’s Branch and Hester. On the right, it’s Malcolm Barnwell and Dokie Williams. . . . Center Dave Dalby, who had been questionable with a groin pull, is expected to play. . . . The Raiders released kicker Mike Prindle, a free agent from Western Michigan. They’ll dress 79 players. . . . The Raiders say they’ve sold 52,000 tickets for this one, which would put them near their local record for exhibition tickets distributed. However, much of that comes from season-ticket sales, and the local exhibition no-show factor is traditionally high.