THE MATCHUP : If There’s One Thing Lester Hayes Has Learned, in a Costly Way, It’s That Covering Broncos’ Watson Is Far From Elementary

No more declarations of war. No more appeals to Congress or calls to the Pentagon.

Lester Hayes, the All-Pro cornerback of the Raiders, says he was just trying to help the media, just trying to sell another paper or two, when he declared war on Steve Watson, John Elway’s favorite receiver with the Denver Broncos.

Hayes made that declaration after Watson caught 6 passes for 79 yards in Denver’s 16-13 victory over the Raiders last season.

Less than a month later, the Broncos defeated the Raiders again, 22-19. Watson caught 5 more passes for 82 yards, one a 12-yard touchdown throw from Gary Kubiak that sent the game into overtime.

The Raider coaching staff later reflected on Hayes’ war cries and concluded that they had done more to inspire Watson than sell newspapers. The result was a fine of undisclosed amount.

Looking back Wednesday, when the Raiders were otherwise looking ahead to Sunday’s battle with the Broncos in Denver for the AFC West lead, Hayes tried to say that he would have nothing to say about Watson. “He’s already cost me too much money in fines.”

What Hayes meant was that he would never again declare war on Watson. Still, he couldn’t resist talking about him. After all, Lester Hayes has never met a topic he didn’t like.

And his duel with Watson is a pivotal aspect of Sunday’s game, the resumption of a personal rivalry that may have turned a bit bitter during the Raiders’ recent 31-28 overtime victory over the Broncos at the Coliseum.

Watson caught 4 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. The proud Hayes was annoyed, but more by his belief that Watson and the other Denver receivers were using a chop block of the type that is illegal in the NFL.

“The first thing I try to establish with an opposing receiver is a peace treaty,” Hayes said Wednesday. “The first thing I say is, ‘Please block me high so that we can have a peaceful Sunday.’

“Steve told me that he would be fined if he didn’t chop block. They’re the only receivers that do it. It’s vicious and dangerous. I lost my cool a few times and malfunctioned mentally. If he does it again, I’ll have to keep my composure.”

Hayes was penalized twice for having his hands in Watson’s face, once after having first been cited for being offside. The pair also wrestled briefly on the sideline after a tackle by Hayes in the first quarter, at which point Hayes was yanked briefly by secondary coach Willie Brown, concerned about Hayes’ composure.

Said Hayes, in reflection: “Willie reminded me that this wasn’t a title bout between the heavyweights of the NFL--Lester Hayes and Steve Watson. This was a football game and I had to cease that nonsense.”

Why the hands in Watson’s face?

“Steve Watson is 6-4,” Hayes said. “He’s one of the tallest receivers I face.

“I noticed that Steve had a freshly shaved face and I wanted to do a facial survey on behalf of the leaguewide poll I’m taking. I learned that Steve’s a Gillette Atra Plus blade man.”

Hayes, of course, was already aware that Watson, a 28-year-old Temple graduate in his seventh NFL season, is more than that. He’s one of the league’s unsung receivers, having caught at least one pass in 44 straight games and compiled more yardage since 1981 than any other AFC receiver, and more than any NFL receiver except Green Bay’s James Lofton.

“I have a lot of respect for Steve Watson,” Hayes said. “He’s got great fortitude. He never gives up on a pass.

“I’ve known him socially from some of the Pro Bowls we’ve been in together, and he seems like a good guy.

“But this season, some of their receivers are using the chop block, and it’s created some nasty feelings. I don’t like it, but I can’t worry about it.”

Reached in Denver, Watson acknowledged that he and the other Bronco receivers use a blocking technique that Hayes may not see much, and that he definitely told Hayes there was a fine involved if he failed to employ it.

“Last year it was voluntary,” Watson said. “But this year, it’s mandatory. I just don’t see what the big deal is. I’ve been doing it my entire career. You can see guys doing it a hundred times a game if you’re looking for it. I’m taken back a little that Lester made an issue of it because the way we do it is cleaner and safer than the way it can be done on the interior line. It’s not a cheap shot. That’s not my style.”

Watson said he is simply trying to take out the cornerback or safety by going at his knees, a one-on-one tactic known as a cut block and distinctly different from the illegal chop block, in which one blocker stands up his opponent and a teammate then cuts him down at the knees, a tag-team operation.

“There’s not another team that’s as aggressive or does as much downfield blocking as we do,” Watson said. “We think it makes the secondary a little leery and enhances our pass routes. I mean, Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes are a class act. The Raiders have two All-Pros at the corners. If you’re not aggressive, they’re going to eat you up and eventually take over.”

Hayes seemed to be trying to re-establish his aggressiveness in the scuffle with Watson on the Coliseum grass.

“He was holding me on the ground. He wouldn’t let me up,” Watson said. “I think it was his way of saying, ‘I don’t like the methods you’re using, don’t do it again.’

“Lester is a nice guy, but his and my style clash, and I don’t think the Broncos are going to change just because Lester doesn’t like it. I mean, I can say for sure that we’re not going to change.”

Is this bad blood?

Watson said it was more a difference of style. He said he would hate to see it erode the mutual respect and end their relationship.

“Some people say Lester has lost it, but I don’t believe that,” Watson said. “He’s still a physical cornerback, still a good one. I don’t want to lose my respect for him over something as silly as this.”

Said Hayes, talking about the man he didn’t want to talk about:

“As far as (there being) bad blood, no. It’s a feeling of having Steve Watson covered and having John Goose Gooden Elway still get a split-fingered fastball in there.

“I think the confrontation is between John Goose Gooden and our secondary rather than between Steve Watson and (wide receiver) Vance Johnson and our secondary.”

Johnson, a rookie from Arizona whose development has accelerated Elway’s, said by phone Wednesday that intimidation is in the eye of the beholder.

He said that Hayes, in the Coliseum game, was constantly warning him to refrain from blocking his legs, but that the same Hayes, on one tackle, nearly pushed him onto the warning track.

“As a rookie who had heard about Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes all through college and seen them in their commercials, I was really intimidated, really disappointed in my performance,” he said.

“I went in thinking they were superman and found out they were human. I’ll be better prepared this time. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m hopeful of making some big plays.”

It sounds like war without the declaration.