Millen Has No Simple Solution : Raider Linebacker Says the Only Answer Is to Win

Gone Hollywood?

Matt Millen showed up for the Raider press breakfast Wednesday morning dressed as usual: a battered baseball cap with “Hysterical” on it--he doesn’t know what it means and can’t remember where he got it--a red sweat shirt, shorts and shower clogs.

Of course, it could be pointed out that most Hollywood directors dress that way. The proper conclusion, however, is that the directors have gone Raider, or at least gone Hokendauqua, which is the eastern Pennsylvania hamlet that produced Millen and is near where the linebacker still spends each winter.

In the wake of the Raiders’ 0-3 start, Al Davis has renewed his concerns about the impact of the Southern California environment, a suggestion that his guys have been blinded by the TV lights.

“Well, being very Hollywood, myself,” began Millen, drawing one of the day’s few laughs in the company of a player.

“(Davis) knows people better than anybody,” Millen said. “At least, he knows his own team better than anybody. You’re always a product of your surroundings, so there are going to be guys who are going to get caught up in that, I’m sure. If you want to pursue it, fine. I believe you can pursue that Hollywood garbage but still be a good football player. I mean, look at 1983 and ’84.”

The Raiders have decided to play this one the way everyone else does: without pointing fingers or airing their own gripes about a certain struggling unit of the team.

This, of course, does limit the debate over what’s wrong but Wednesday the Raiders found the man who could walk the line between diplomacy and anger.

“Of course, there’s no excuse,” Millen said. “It’s pathetic. You’ve got to look at yourself to see, ‘What’s the deal?’ A team with as much talent as we have? Granted, they (the Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins and New York Giants) are good football teams, but we’re supposed to be a good football team, too.

“You’ve got to realize, we’re in a situation now, one more loss (a 12-4 record) won our division last year. This is only the fourth week of the season. People have got to realize, including me, we can’t afford any more.”

How about the loss of leadership, another management concern?

“That’s another thing, that’s a joke,” Millen said. “I mean, leadership--if you have 22 grown men out there and you need somebody else to say, ‘Hey, c’mon, do the job,’ then you don’t deserve to be out there.’ That’s pathetic. I’ve always felt that’s very overrated. You’ve got to be your own leader.

“The feeling I’m getting, maybe everybody is waiting for somebody else. Maybe that ties into the leadership thing. They’re waiting for this big leader to come around and say, ‘Hey. I’m the leader now.’

“You’re going to have to take it on yourself. Hey, if you need a big play, then somebody make a big play. Don’t wait for somebody else to do it. We didn’t practice for six freaking weeks to lose three games. That’s pathetic.

“We have to get back to basics. I’ve been taught that since Day 1. When you start pressing like this--and we were pressing Sunday, I could feel it in the huddle--everybody is trying to do something extra. That’s the time to get back to basics, take care of the little things first. The big things will take care of themselves.

“When you’re backed up against the wall, hey, tackling is very important. Read your keys. Get rid of all the thinking, get back to reacting.”

Of course, the tackling has been going pretty well, with only three touchdowns allowed in the last two losses.

That stands in contrast to an offense that has no touchdowns in that time, which has prompted questions not only about the personnel but about the scheme, although not out loud recently by any Raider.

“And you won’t hear (the scheme) discussed,” Millen said. “Teams have tried to take advantage of what we’re doing since 1964, when Al put the system in, and for 20 years, they’ve won. All of a sudden, they come up with something they’re going to take advantage of? I disagree.

“It all goes back to the (Vince) Lombardi-type thinking: ‘We’re going to run this play and run it and run it and execute, and it’s going to work. And we’re going to make it work.’ ”

How about parallels to last season, when the Raiders started 1-2?

“The only parallel that can be drawn is when the season’s over,” Millen said. “Then you can take a look back and say, ‘We started off 0-3 but we still did a job. We had some people who wanted to get it right and did it.’ Or you can say, ‘Some people folded their tents because other things were more important to them.

“The only thing is to go out and get the job done. It sounds so cliche-ish. Someone asks, ‘What’s wrong with your team.’ And you say, ‘Oh, we’re not doing the job.’ It sounds so ridiculous.

“It doesn’t pay to get too analytical now.”