SUPER BOWL XXII : WASHINGTON REDSKINS vs. DENVER BRONCOS : Notebook : He Is Playing Studdard, So Studdard’s the Best

One of those mini-battles in Super Bowl XXII here Sunday will match Denver Broncos offensive tackle Dave Studdard against Washington Redskins defensive end Dexter Manley. Of Manley, Studdard said: “I’d say he’s probably in the top five at his position. That’s pretty fair. Or even top three maybe.”

Asked to evaluate Studdard, Manley started a recitation of top offensive tackles and then stopped mid-sentence . . . hardly a normal place for Manley to hesitate.

“Hey,” he said. “Studdard’s the best.”

That’s Coaching Tip A on pregame oratory: Talk up the opponent.

Manley does have a solution to beating Studdard, however, and it has to do with chasing John Elway.

“I can’t wear football cleats,” he said. “I’ve gotta wear track cleats to get to John Elway. With those track cleats, I can definitely get around Studdard.”

Steve Watson, Denver’s forgotten wide receiver, what with the so-called Three Amigos prancing through opposing secondaries and videos, does not seem to harbor hard feelings about the attention paid Vance Johnson, Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel.

“I don’t need that,” he said. “Anyway, they put a lot of vertical pressure on the defense and create a lot of opportunities for me underneath.”

Not to mention business opportunities.

“I went out and bought a Taco Bell franchise,” said Watson, alluding to the commercial done by the Three Amigos.

Watson has also been cut in for a share of the nickname business. He is known as the Gringo.

By the way, do the Three Amigos speak Spanish?

“All I’ve heard,” Watson said, “is adios. “

One of the people with a network microphone is Harry Carson, who was on the other side of the interviews a year ago as a New York Giants linebacker. Carson enjoyed himself during the Giants’ 39-20 victory over the Broncos.

“I don’t want to see you, Harry,” called Bronco Coach Dan Reeves.

“You ought to be glad I’m over here,” Carson said, meaning, of course, the other side of a microphone rather than the other side of the line of scrimmage.

Are the Denver Broncos really a one-man team?

Running back Sammy Winder, addressing the media on the subject:

“You guys say that. I don’t never say that. You guys say that. Where do you get it from?”

No one answered.

“Somebody has to block for John Elway,” Winder said. “Somebody has to catch the ball when he throws it. He’s a heck of a ballplayer, but he has good talent around him also.”

Although Jay Schroeder will be a bench-warmer for the Redskins Sunday, he can’t be unhappy about his situation when he considers the alternative.

The Redskin quarterback from UCLA recalled his days as a struggling minor league baseball player.

He spent five seasons--1979 through 1983--in the Toronto Blue Jays’ farm system, never playing above Class A and never hitting higher than .234. He was basically an outfielder but also caught and played first base and third base.

“I could still be riding buses and getting $10 a day in meal money,” Schroeder said. “I don’t think I should have stayed in baseball. I gave it my best shot and it didn’t work out. I took a risk going into football with Joe Theismann still there, but I’m in the Super Bowl and I’m a lucky guy.”

Redskin running back George Rogers is irked at his predecessor, John Riggins, for critical comments Riggins made recently about Rogers and the team’s running game.

“I think when you get out of football, you should stay out,” Rogers said. “John was a great player, a legend, so anything I say may be held against me. Still, I don’t think we deserved the criticism.”

Safety Tony Lilly of the Broncos says that the atmosphere here is more conducive to concentrating on the business at hand than it was in Pasadena last year, when the Broncos were bombed by the Giants.

“We’re not here for shopping, sweaters, Super Bowl hats and all that,” Lilly said. “We’re here just to get Super Bowl rings. All that stuff hurt us last year--along with a quarterback named Phil Simms.

“Here we’re in a pro stadium instead of a college environment and being so close to Hollywood. Everybody is handling it better, too. Last year, everybody was in awe, a little up-tight. Nobody knew what was going on. Now we’re more relaxed.”

Brent Musburger, CBS sports announcer, had this observation about all the Super Bowl hype:

“You get yourself so involved in it that you lose sight of the fact that it’s just the NFL championship game.

“Duane Thomas (former Dallas running back) had the best Super Bowl line of all time when he said, ‘If the Super Bowl is the greatest thing that ever happened, why are they having another one next year?’ ”

John Madden, who was replaced by Tom Flores as coach of the Raiders nine years ago, is in San Diego this week to film “John Madden’s Super Bowl Special,” to be televised Saturday night at 7 on Channel 2. He had this to say about Flores’ recent retirement:

“It really surprised me. I talked to Tom when we came out to televise the final game of the season, when the Bears played the Raiders. Tom indicated to me he was going to coach one more year.”

So was Flores forced to retire?

“Nah, no way,” Madden said. “I guess he started thinking about having to go to the Senior Bowl and all that, and decided he’d had enough.”

No, said Madden, he’s not coming back to coach the Raiders. Why would he? He makes an estimated $6 million a year from commercials, personal appearance and television work.

Times staff writer Larry Stewart and special correspondent Bob Wolf contributed to this story.