Raider Strikebreakers Can Do the Regulars a Big Favor in Denver

Whatever you think it is that the National Football League is staging in lieu of its regular games, tonight’s represents a gift to the Raiders, a fact illustrated dramatically by the nation’s oddsmakers, who last week put out a dual line:

If the strike ended, the Denver Broncos were 4 1/2-point favorites.

If not, the Raiders are a 10-point pick.

So, in return for Jack Donlan and Gene Upshaw keeping Todd Christensen and his wealth of curls--wait ‘til he finds out he not only won’t get free agency, but his hair has to fit in his helmet, too--on the picket line, the Raiders have become the recipient of a 14 1/2-point swing. Most years, you have to score two touchdowns to get that.

The Raiders--remember rebuilding? Rusty Hilger’s woes?--are now in first place in the AFC West, with a combined record of 3-0 for their two squads (2-0 for their regulars, 1-0 for the strikebreakers), and now they’ll have two authentic forces back, the newly-crossed Howie Long and Bill Pickel.

The Broncos are 1-1-1 (1-0-1 for the regulars, including that overtime tie with the Green Bay Packers, which was bad enough; 0-1 for the strikebreakers, a 40-10 wipeout by the new Houston Oilers at Mile High Stadium.)

And depressed? You think the oil glut was hard to take here?

Broncos’ Coach Dan Reeves suggested last week that one more strike and he’d retire.

“You think Dan is sick now?” striking linebacker Ricky Hunley said. “The Raider scabs are going to kill us.”

Pat Bowlen, one of the new breed of owners--meaning he’s just paid a huge amount for his franchise, he’s conciliatory toward the players and he’s kept far from any lever of power--spent last week damning the Management Council, for which he may yet win the customary $250,000 fine for breaking ranks.

He also called Pete Rozelle to ask that Wednesday’s reporting deadline be extended. Turned down, Bowlen said that if any of his players wanted to return afterward, he’d pay them for this week anyway, despite the fact that they couldn’t play.

Things could have been worse, of course. The rumored return of the Raiders en masse didn’t happen. If nothing else, though, the rumor torpedoed Bowlen’s week.

“My greatest fear,” he told Denver writers as last Wednesday’s reporting deadline neared, “is that we’ll go out on the field Monday night and guess what? They’ll have a lot more familiar faces than just Howie Long or Bill Pickel.”

And he didn’t mean Al Davis and Tom Flores, either. What he’s already up against seems difficult enough.

The great irony is that the Raiders made no early preparations to put together a strike team, refusing to tie up the players they cut in camp with those $1,000 contracts, while the Broncos signed more than 30.

Also, there is the fact that the new Raider quarterback, Vince Evans, wasn’t contacted by the Broncos, even though he was still living in Denver.

Why not?

“I didn’t even know that,” Reeves said last week.

Well, let’s see, who do these guys have that you’ve ever heard of?

OK, then who plays the skill positions?

Quarterback--Ken Karcher, Tulane ‘86, undrafted, cut in camp by the Broncos and New Orleans Saints. 6-1, 200. Denver writers say he’s immobile, with an average arm.

Halfback--Joe Dudek, Plymouth State ’86. Actually, you may have heard of him, since Sports Illustrated threw its weight behind him for the Heisman over Bo Jackson. However impressive he may have been while tearing up the ECAC Division III, as a pro, he’d never made an active roster until this.

Wide receiver--Steve Watson. The ninth-year Bronco who had 1,000-yard seasons in ‘81-3-4, lost his job at age 30 to Mark Jackson but rejoins the lineup after crossing the picket line.

Veterans Billy Bryan, Dave Studdard and Jim Ryan also crossed. None played last week, however.

Why not?

“Well, it wasn’t my thinking, it was theirs,” Reeves said. “Their feeling was they came in, two on a Thursday, two on Friday. . . . They didn’t feel they’d practiced enough with the new guys to be able to protect themselves.”

Reeves says he has no complaint about that.

Of course, he does note that the offensive line broke down against the Oilers, because . . . “Two of our offensive linemen (Bryan and Studdard) who came in and practiced with us Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday decided they weren’t ready to play. And we took away a lot of reps those people who eventually wound up playing in the game could have used.”

Of course, Reeves’ implicit rebuke is as nothing, compared to Hunley, who called the four “cowards” who “stabbed us in the back” and “spit in our eye.”

Added punter Mike Horan: “All the guys understand the Billy Bryan School of Economics. You’ve got money on one side and money on the other. Whichever way is the most, you grab it and run.”

John Elway, disenchanted by the strike, is nevertheless honoring it, as are Karl Mecklenburg, Rulon Jones, Vance Johnson and all the other Broncos who’ve made the Raider series so exciting in the ‘80s.

Aside from all that, the rivalry continues.

Raider Notes Hard feelings all around: Said Linden King of Howie Long and Bill Pickel, “They went for themselves and that’s a shame. Maybe a lot of the character we’ve come to expect from so-called heroes isn’t true character.” Greg Townsend called them “fake men” and “Hollywood.” . . . The Raiders bolstered their linebackers, acquiring outside backer Keith Browner, 30th pick in the 1984 draft, from the San Francisco 49ers, re-signing inside backer Ronnie Washington, whom they cut in camp. Washington was a cruncher in exhibitions and almost made the team, missing only, perhaps, because Jamie Kimmel doubled as a long snapper. With Vince Evans and safety Eddie Anderson, the new linebackers will probably be the top candidates to stay on the squad, should the roster be expanded to 49 and the strike ever end. . . . The Broncos drew more than 38,000 last week, the biggest crowd of the weekend, 12,000 more than the next highest, are expecting 50,000 tonight.