Pro Football / Bob Oates : Raiders Chalk Up a Win in the Numbers Game

On Saturday night, there were 145,223 spectators at three sporting events in the Los Angeles area, 54,990 watching the Raiders, 48,410 watching the Dodgers and 41,823 watching the Rams.

The Raiders topped the NFL with 61,784 tickets sold that night--nearly 15,000 more than their season-ticket total.

Apparently, they’re beginning to make an impact here. Looking at the crowd, their owner, Al Davis, said: “We aren’t competing with the Dodgers or Rams. We’re just trying to make the Raiders a way of life in Los Angeles.”

As an offensive team, the Raiders were damaged last season by the NFL’s new-style blitzers, including the Chicago Bears. They had a response to that Saturday night, abandoning their Marcus Allen-Kenny King backfield and putting in their biggest fullbacks, with King moving to halfback behind Allen.

“The way the defensive teams are attacking the pocket these days, you’ve got to have a bigger fullback,” Davis said.

That makes Frank Hawkins the probable starter at fullback this year, backed up by special-teams captain Derrick Jensen and rookie Steve Strachan, who was Doug Flutie’s fullback at Boston College.

The Raiders hope Strachan will be another Mark van Eeghen. In today’s football, they need that kind to block for their long-ball passers.

The Heisman Trophy winner this year and the National Football League’s top draft pick next spring will be one and the same.

Moreover, he will be an exceptional all-around athlete.

And he’ll be a running back.

Those predictions were made at Thousand Oaks this week by Gil Brandt, vice president of the Dallas Cowboys and the club’s chief scout. He declined to identify the winner, although he narrowed the field considerably.

“It will be either Bo Jackson or Keith Byars,” Brandt said. “Right now it’s too close to call. If they avoid injuries, it will be an exciting race to the wire with the whole country looking in.”

Byars, who led Ohio State to the Rose Bowl last winter, starts with an edge against Jackson, who was injured last year at Auburn. Byars will carry the ball more often than Jackson, his team plays the kind of schedule that can showcase him more prominently, and he lives closer to an important media center, Chicago.

But if Jackson’s injured shoulder is sound, he and Byars are similarly well-qualified top draft choices.

Who is the greatest all-around athlete in NFL history?

Jim Thorpe might get the most votes. Conceivably, however, the next champion--or perhaps the runner-up--is still in college.

Bo Jackson’s credentials: As a high school track star in Alabama, he set six state records--in the 60-yard dash, 60 hurdles, 100-yard dash, 120 hurdles, long jump, and high jump. He high jumped 6-8, and he threw the discus 149 feet one day without spinning his body.

As a high school pitcher, Jackson threw two no-hitters, and one year he also hit 20 home runs. For the Auburn baseball team this season, he hit .401 with 17 home runs. At his football weight, 220, he reportedly runs 40 yards in 4.3 seconds. He is the first three-sport letterman in 20 years in the Southeastern Conference.

Keith Byars’ credentials: As a high school basketball player in Ohio, he played power forward on a two-time state champion. He was on the state championship 440 relay team. A baseball center fielder, he hit .520. Byars weighs 238, stands 6-2 and reportedly runs the 40 in 4.6. At Ohio State last season, he became college football’s first national triple-crown winner--rushing, scoring and all-purpose yards--since Marcus Allen at USC.

Said Brandt: “Byars can beat you both ways. He led the NCAA in yards gained last season (1,764 yards) and also caught 41 passes.”

Much of the interest in exhibition football has to do with the young talent coming up.

Is UCLA’s Jay Schroeder, 24, an NFL quarterback? Is North Carolina’s Rick Donnalley, 26, an NFL center? They’ll try to prove it for the Redskins here Sunday against the Raiders.

Schroeder hasn’t played much yet, and that’s all right with his roommate, Donnalley, who will be making only his second pro start.

“Jay doesn’t do a lot of complaining because he’s never that sore,” Donnalley told a Washington writer. “When I used to room with other offensive linemen, all we did was complain about how sore we were, and that would make us feel even worse.”

Coaches other than Tom Landry now use the shotgun formation on passing downs, positioning their quarterbacks five or six yards deep.

And on national television last week, former quarterback Joe Namath recommended third-down shotgun passes to all.

But in Pittsburgh, speaking for the Steelers, Coach Chuck Noll replied: “The shotgun can give you a little different look, but it takes away too much from your running game. We’ve never had much trouble defending against it in the past.”