Marc Wilson Just Isn’t the Type for a Quarterback Controversy

Marc Wilson never reads a newspaper. Not even the comics or Dear Abby.

He watches the evening news but turns off the TV when the sports guy comes on.

Why?

“Why do you think?” Wilson said Sunday, after leading--sort of--the Raiders to a 13-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

I guess it’s because Wilson thinks there’s an outside chance that some wise guy sportswriter or TV person will write or say something that might hurt his feelings.

Now why would he think a thing like that?

Just because Wilson has thrown a lot of interceptions and is the quarterback of a team not often referred to as Air Flores, that’s no reason for anyone to say nasty things about him.

OK, maybe once in a while. Like on a cable TV sports show Sunday morning, when the announcers were discussing Wilson and weren’t exactly nominating him for the Hall of Fame. They speculated on the possibility that Wilson would have to have a good game Sunday or face losing his job to Jim Plunkett.

And Plunkett isn’t even in uniform. He’s on the injured list. Sunday he was walking the sideline in street clothes, right down there with James Garner.

Wilson kept his first-string status alive for next week with his performance Sunday. He was 11 of 22 passing for 204 yards.

How many interceptions? None. He alertly dumped the ball out of bounds when his receivers were covered.

Wilson even threw a 49-yard Raideresque bomb to Dokie Williams to set up the game’s only touchdown on a day when the two offenses took us all back to the days of leather helmets and drop kicks.

“I thought I played pretty well,” Wilson said when asked to evaluate his day’s work.

He certainly made a great comeback. On the Raiders’ first offensive series, on third down, Wilson was sacked and fumbled away the ball to the Seahawks.

On the sideline, James Garner started warming up.

But Wilson rallied the Raiders, marching the club to two field goals and a 6-3 halftime lead. Or was that the fifth-inning score?

The thing about Wilson is, nobody is sure yet if he is the Raider quarterback of the future, or past, or what.

He doesn’t bowl you over with his commanding presence on the field or off, which may be one of his problems, if he has any problems. Marc Wilson just does his job.

“The position of quarterback,” Wilson explained, “is one that makes a person seemingly the leader. We’ve got a lot of leaders on this team. I don’t feel like I’m a leader, or need to be. I play quarterback, and that’s as far as it goes.”

Not exactly your classic snarling, sneering, eat-nails field general. Wilson is a nice fellow. He would make a great next-door neighbor. He would probably clip your side of the hedge.

He won’t even say anything nasty about his critics in the stands, who, on occasion, boo him. He swears he doesn’t hear any of that stuff. And he swears he doesn’t care whether he is accepted as a quarterback by the fans and media.

“You’re making this out like a big crusade,” he said, “and I don’t care.”

He just shows up for work every day. He has not discussed the Raider quarterback situation with Plunkett, because they’re both quiet guys.

Plunkett is healthy and ready to be activated, and could be at any time. Will the Raiders activate him? Who knows?

The Raiders are giving Wilson votes of confidence now as their quarterback. Tom Flores is saying publicly that Wilson is the team’s quarterback, period. Does Wilson feel solidly entrenched in the position?

“That’s not for me to say, that’s for Tom to say,” Wilson said.

Wilson will be the starter next Monday night when the Raiders play the Rams and Dieter Brock. An interesting quarterback matchup in that one. Two fellows who have taken their lumps from the media and fans this season. Two fellows who have been successful recently, and two guys who have their teams in the playoffs.

But two fellows whose playing styles constantly seem to toe the fine line between stardom and boredom.

Two regular guys who happen to play quarterback. Wilson, asked if he is often recognized in public, says he doesn’t know because he hardly ever goes out in public.

He’s a family man, lives near the beach but isn’t into surfing or beach volleyball.

“I haven’t played beach volleyball,” Wilson said. “They might not like my serve, anyway.”

After Sunday’s game, Wilson went around the locker room, congratulating and thanking each of his offensive linemen.

“We’ve come a long ways,” he said. “We were 1-2 and people were counting us out.”

How the heck does he know that?