Under Watchful Eyes, Townsend Plays It Clean : Raiders’ Embattled Defensive End Gets a Key Sack in 14-10 Win Over Seattle

Greg Townsend knew that all eyes would be on him Sunday in the Coliseum after all that was written about his suspension for dirty play last week and the resultant reinstatement that permitted him to play against Seattle.

So the Raider defensive end took advantage of the attention in the way he knows best--with his arms wrapped around Seahawk quarterback Dave Krieg.

Townsend’s sack of Krieg as the tense, defensive game neared its end didn’t give the Raiders their 14-10 win but it went a long way toward saving it.

“I’m sure the officials were watching me close, and I know I felt like everybody was watching me,” a smiling Townsend said later in the Raiders’ dressing room. “I wanted to prove a point, that I am just a normal guy who plays aggressive football--and who contributes to this team. I felt good just to be in the game, but that sack was something special. Especially special after what went on during the week.”

Less that two minutes remained when the Raiders’ Chris Bahr missed a field goal and the Seahawks took over on their own 20. In 34 seconds, Krieg had Seattle in Raider territory as he completed three straight passes, two to Steve Largent.

It was third and three on the Raiders’ 46 when Krieg dropped back for the make-or-break pass in Seattle’s desperate bid to pull the game out. The Raiders’ mobile deep defense forced Krieg to look, and look again, but before he could throw the 6-foot 3-inch, 240-pound Townsend crashed into him.

Krieg fumbled and Seattle tackle Mike Wilson fell on the ball but it was a 12-yard loss.

On fourth and 15, Krieg threw a harmless incompletion intended for Largent and the Raiders took over. The game ended one play later and the Raiders had pulled even for the year at 3-3 after losing their first three.

“I know how the Seahawks run their two-minute drill and I knew if I could run fast enough I could tire my guy out,” Townsend explained. “I wasn’t really rushing straight at the passer on that play. I was running to make my man run and I ran away from him--right into the quarterback.”

Townsend is a big man, but he showed his speed as far back as high school when he ran the 440 for Dominguez High in Compton.

“There’s a certain knack I have for rushing the passer, I know, but I’d like to get in sometime to show what I can do in other situations,” he said. “I’d like to get in more action, to be more involved. In all my (four) years here I’ve only played in passing situations.”

Townsend also made two other tackles and deflected a pass to help the Raiders shut down Coach Chuck Knox’s usually explosive Seahawks, who came to town with a 4-1 record.

“We didn’t convert on third down the way we should,” Knox said. “That was the story.”

Seattle made only 3 of 12 first downs on third-down situations. Usually Townsend’s situations.

Townsend had been suspended last Wednesday by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle after the league office disclosed that films of last week’s Raider game in Kansas City showed he committed three flagrant fouls on one play. On Saturday the league temporarily rescinded its ruling pending a final review of the case this week.

“I felt all along that if they would take a look at the new evidence we had, that the suspension might be lifted,” Townsend said. “The evidence we presented shows that I was provoked twice, by (offensive guard) Brad Budde and (quarterback) Todd Blackledge, before I responded.”

The NFL film had allegedly shown Townsend spearing Budde, stepping on Dave Lutz’s face and tearing the helmet off Mark Adickes during a free-for-all melee near the end of the first half.

Even though Townsend missed two days of practice, he said he didn’t feel the incident hurt his effectiveness.

“For one thing, I was fresh,” he said with a laugh. “I was out at practice watching what was going on both those days, and when I learned Saturday morning that I was going to play, I hit the books and really studied the defensive playbook.

“Mentally, I felt a lot of stress when I heard about the suspension, but I felt so good about getting back to the team that I don’t think it hurt me.

“It also helped that I had the support of my teammates, and I even got support from the opposition. Some of the Seattle guys said they knew I wasn’t a dirty player.

“Having all that support was great for my morale and it kept me from getting down on myself. I kept a positive attitude.”

Coach Tom Flores fretted about the distractions caused by the Townsend affair, such as being forced to add defensive end Elvis Franks to the roster on Wednesday and then having to drop him on Saturday, but as might be expected, the win soothed his feelings.

“I know I’ve said it before, that I’m proud of this team but it’s especially true today because of all the distractions we had throughout the entire week,” Flores said. “For us to come out and play with this intensity was great.

“The disruptions had us changing from plan A to plan B and back to plan A.”

Plan A worked just fine.

Matt Millen, the feisty Raider linebacker, had his own explanation of what Townsend’s suspension meant to the Raiders.

“The NFL front office figured they would hurt us by suspending Greg, but in reality it gave us a focal point to rally around. When they reinstated him, it took our rallying point away and we didn’t know what to do.”

Townsend and the Raiders won’t know until sometime this week whether he will be permitted to play against Miami next Sunday in Florida.

“I feel confident that after the new evidence is studied that I’ll be in the lineup,” Townsend said. “I had the positive attitude last week and it paid off. I can’t change now.”