Mackovic: Raiders Play Dirty

The instant replay controversy arising from last Sunday’s Raider-Chief game wasn’t enough? Now it has company.

Coach John Mackovic of the Chiefs charged Tuesday that the Raiders had deliberately tried to injure his players. At his weekly press conference in Kansas City, he showed film from Sunday’s game and two previous meetings, which he said proved his assertion.

“No question about it,” Mackovic said.

He specifically mentioned Greg Townsend, Howie Long and Lester Hayes and showed footage of them in action. Long drew a penalty after the free-for-all just before the end of the first half that he said later was “justifiable,” but which he claimed stemmed from his efforts to aid another participant in the fight, Sean Jones.

Townsend, the Raider who did most of the fighting, tore the helmet off a Chief player, Mark Adickes. Adickes has a twisted neck and is questionable for the Chiefs’ game Sunday against the Browns.

Hayes was claimed to have speared Carlos Carson, forcing Carson out of the game.

Raider Coach Tom Flores had no comment Tuesday. Another Raider spokesman, however, called it “far-fetched BS.”

That was Hayes. He said he didn’t lay a finger on Carson.

“The thing is, I never had an opportunity to,” Hayes said. “The first series of the game, I was on Stephone Paige. That was the only series that Carlos Carson played.

“As a matter of fact, I played a very, very clean game. Because I know that the individuals on Park Avenue in New York (NFL headquarters) have me under very, very close scrutiny.

“I think Coach Mackovic is a cry-baby and a sore loser. He’s probably under fire and looking for a scapegoat. I think it’s an excuse for blowing a 17-0 lead (the Raiders won, 24-17) in front of 74,000 distraught fans. So be it.”

Mackovic, referring to Pittsburgh Steeler Coach Chuck Noll’s comment in the 1970s about “a criminal element” among the Raiders, said:

“Perhaps Chuck Noll’s never had another ally. Perhaps no one else ever said, ‘I agree.’ But I learned a long time ago if you speak the truth you can be a majority of one. I believe that wholeheartedly.”

The Raiders, actually, have reformed, or claim to have tried. In the last two years, Flores has told his players to stop fighting and getting the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties they used to collect so gleefully.

In a recent Sports Illustrated poll of NFL players, three Raiders were included among the 10 cleanest players: Marcus Allen, Mike Haynes and Long.

Mackovic said he was “not on a crusade.”

“I’m sure this is going to rankle some people,” he said. “But I believe there is a time and a place for a lot of things.

“Of course, I haven’t been in the NFL a long time. I didn’t play in the league, and I’ve only been coaching in the NFL for six years. But I think I can appreciate what’s right and what’s wrong.”