Marcus Shows He’s Set to Carry On and On, If Raiders Will Let Him

The superstar emerged from the Raider dressing room Sunday evening, an hour after shredding the New York Jet defense with his running, diving, passing and catching.

A police officer standing guard at the door called out to another cop.

“Hey, Mo, here’s Marcus.”

Officer Monrow (Mo) Mabon, Marcus Allen’s personal security escort from dressing room to car at the Coliseum, hurried over. Mabon is an off-duty policeman who works Coliseum security. His official business card says he is a member of the LAPD’s “Anti-Terrorist Division.”

Makes sense. You don’t send a meter maid to ride shotgun on Marcus Allen, one of the most valuable pieces of property in the NFL.

Allen, according to the first cop, is the only Raider accorded such individualized postgame protection.

“A couple times people (fans waiting outside the locker room) have mobbed him, knocked him down,” the officer explained.

Knocked Marcus Allen down? The Jets should be out here picking up some pointers. On the field Sunday, Allen rushed for 76 yards, scored two touchdowns on patented, short-yardage power dives, caught two passes and threw a beautiful, 16-yard halfback option pass to Todd Christensen to set up the first touchdown in a 31-0 rout.

Of course Allen did all this against the Jets, a team in transition--from bad to worse. But it’s still the big leagues, Opening Day. And it’s nothing Marcus hasn’t done to the league’s great teams. Remember his 191 yards rushing two Super Bowls ago?

Allen didn’t have a lot to say about his own performance Sunday.

“I still feel a little sluggish,” he said. “My legs haven’t made it back from two-a-days.”

Don’t be fooled, future Raider opponents. Allen is ready to meet this NFL season head-on. He worked out hard in the off-season, running every morning with O.J. Simpson--”O.J.’s too overweight,” Allen said with a smile. “I had to leave him behind”--and practicing karate every afternoon.

Insiders say that Allen is in the best condition of his life. What Allen says is, “I’m in good shape.”

Raider Coach Tom Flores must think so. He had Allen run the ball 18 times in the first half Sunday. The second half was mostly garbage time. Allen’s per-game average over the last two seasons was 17 carries, about half the action Eric Dickerson gets (or used to get) with the Rams.

It’s no secret that Allen would like to carry more often. He mentioned this to Raider boss Al Davis once, in what some reporters have said was a confrontation but in what Allen says was a conversation. Whichever it was, you fans keeping score, Al Davis won. Giving the star tailback 35 carries a game is not The Raider Way.

Was Sunday’s busy first half an indication that the Raiders would be handing the ball to Marcus more often this season?

“I don’t have the slightest idea,” Allen said, amiably.

Marcus is not the world’s most effusive guy in a postgame interview. Some members of the media consider him quiet. Others have used adjectives like aloof, elusive and arrogant.

Here’s what teammate Christensen said:

“Marcus is a throwback to the old days. He likes to play. A lot of guys take the money and go through the motions. Not him. He loves to play, and he plays with abandon. He dives for touchdowns. He throws his body around and throws blocks downfield.”

Sounds as if Allen is the Pete Rose of football. Charlie Muscle.

“I’ve caught passes,” Christensen continued, “I look, and he’s downfield throwing blocks. I think, ‘What’s he doing down here?’ Marcus does a lot of things you don’t have to do if you’re a superstar.

“He is a superstar, and he’s got a star’s personality and presence, and there’s nothing wrong with this. His aloofness is perceived as arrogance. He knows he’s good. He understands what his contributions are. He knows he can’t please everyone, and he doesn’t try.”

Allen has been, at times, unhappy with stories about him in the local press. Yet recently, in a meeting with L.A. reporters, he allowed, “Maybe I’m too sensitive.”

Outside the locker room, however, a different Allen emerges. Sunday, Marcus took half an hour to make the 150-yard journey to his car. He signed maybe 100 autographs, shook hands, chatted, smiled and generally charmed the socks off the hundreds of fans who waited around hoping for this kind of personal interaction with their gridiron heroes.

It was performances like this that endeared Steve Garvey to L.A. fans.

Little kids nipped at Allen’s heels like puppy dogs. Pretty girls eased in to deliver their best smiles. Men slapped his back. Mo, the Anti-Terrorist, kept a watchful eye.

Several other players hurried through the crowd, not stopping for the fans.

Finally, Marcus eased into his black Ferrari. He signed several more autographs for kids walking alongside his moving car, then he was off in a cloud of dust.

“Ah, man,” snorted a disgusted older fan, who seemed to be waiting for Marcus to come to him for to give an autograph, “he jumps right in his car and drives off, just like that.”

It was a pretty good day for Marcus Allen. But hey, you can’t please everybody.