Jackson Calls In the Press : He Is Expected to Sign Raiders’ Contract Today

Amid declining suspense, Bo Jackson’s lawyer called a press conference for today in Auburn, Ala. Jackson, himself, has told intimates that he’ll sign a long-term contract with the Raiders to go along with the long-term contract he already has with the Kansas City Royals.

For the time being, he would be a Royal first and a football player only during baseball’s off-season. The Raiders, of course, would live for the day that he decides to be a Raider first and a Royal alumnus.

“I don’t know if we’re close to an agreement,” said Jackson’s lawyer, Richard Woods, from his office in Mobile, Ala., Monday. “I’m optimistic. . . . We don’t have any substantive differences.

“I have to sit down with Bo and go over it. I have not been face to face with him since two weeks ago in Kansas City, and there’s only so much you can do by telephone. From what I understand, I think what we have worked out is going to be satisfactory to him.”

Asked if Jackson intends to sign with the Raiders, Woods said: “I think that’s true. There is not any question that he wants to do both. Bo would like to play for the Raiders at the end of the baseball season.

“We’re not sitting in mystery here. You can blame the delay on the lawyers.”

Guessing around the National Football League starts at $3 million for the price and five years for the term of the contract. Jackson’s Raider salary would almost certainly be pegged to the number of games he plays. He will probably get a huge signing bonus. The low guesses are in the $500,000 range.

For that, though, the Raiders would be getting considerably more than a part-time backup to Marcus Allen. They would be securing the National Football League rights to one of the highest-rated runners ever to play college football, the 1985 Heisman Award winner, the top choice in the ’86 draft, whom they acquired this year with a seventh-round draft choice.

But can anyone play two major league sports with overlapping seasons?

Did the young prodigy say his playing with the Raiders would be a “hobby?”

Raider reaction ranges from jubilation to amusement to something less than amusement.

“It’s kinda like ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ ” said Howie Long, laughing. “Bo must have had the frontal and the rear lobotomy.

“Hey, if he can pull it off and get us to the Super Bowl, I tip my hat to him.

“My wife is in love with Mel Gibson, my kid wears William Perry sneakers and my in-laws root for the New York Giants, so my ego has taken enough of a beating. Bo can compare football to hunting and fishing, I don’t care.”

Said Todd Christensen: “Another opportunity for headlines for the silver and black. We seem to thrive on it.

“Who cares? You know what I think it is? How do you gauge a young man’s ego? Now he’s with all those great rookies. He’s just one of the crop with Mark McGwire, Kevin Seitzer. In baseball, he has his moments when he hits his home runs but, over 162 games, you can’t be the focus of attention. In football, it’s different. Maybe that bothers him.”

Said Mike Haynes: “I wasn’t as much surprised as I was elated. When he was going into the draft, I saw so many highlight films of him and I’ve never seen a running back with the speed he has. I hoped wherever he was going, I wouldn’t have to face him twice a year. Now I’m glad he’s here.

“Maybe this is where he wants to be anyway, and he just doesn’t know it. If he gets here and the fire starts, maybe he’ll give up that silly game, baseball.”

Curt Marsh said: “It’ll be all right, if he can get us into the Royal dugout.”

Marcus Allen? “No comment.”