Characters Are Missing From Cast

Neal Olkewicz is delighted to be back for his third Super Bowl, but the Washington linebacker said he misses some of the old characters.

He told Ken Denlinger of the Washington Post this one about John Riggins:

“In the meeting room once, after one of his late-night binges, John got up and said, ‘Hey, Joe, you go ahead and fine me, I don’t care. I’m not going to practice today, but let’s just go out and kick their butts.’

“He walked out.

“I think Gibbs had a heart attack every time he saw Riggins raise his hand.”

Dumbest question of the week: Dexter Manley was asked, “If you were a tree, what tree would you be?”

Manley: “What?”

Funny thing is, Washington teammate Jeff Bostic actually had an answer to the same question.

“A weeping willow,” he said.

Trivia Time: When Denver receiver Sam Graddy finished second to Carl Lewis in the Olympic 100 meters at the Coliseum, who did he beat out for the silver medal? (Answer below.)

Jay Schroeder, who has been imitating John Elway in Washington workouts, is familiar with the subject.

In the 1977 City high school playoffs, Elway was the quarterback as Granada Hills scored a 28-27 overtime win over Schroeder and Palisades.

In 1980, Schroeder mopped up for Tom Ramsey as UCLA beat Elway and Stanford, 35-21. In 1986, Elway led Denver to a 31-30 win over Schroeder and Washington.

Times staffer Tom LaMarre, who used to cover the Raiders for the Oakland Tribune, had to laugh when he read that John Madden thinks football is becoming overspecialized.

“Madden was one of the first to use multiple specialists,” LaMarre said. “Situation substitution--that’s what he called it. ‘It’s the wave of the future.’ he said.”

Denver tackle Dave Studdard, who will be matched against Dexter Manley, is from the University of Texas, where one of his hobbies was collecting rattlesnakes.

He told Greg Logan of Newsday: “We’d be hunting wild hogs and you’d hear rattlers all over the place. We’d catch them, tie a rope around their heads and throw them over our shoulders. They’re strong snakes. Sometimes, I couldn’t hold them with one arm.

“Then, we’d take them back to the dorm and throw them in guys’ rooms. Nobody got hurt, but a lot of guys learned how to climb walls without any hooks.”

Add Manley: Of John Elway, he said, “I’d like to nail him in the back, right between the numbers.”

Elway wears No. 7.

Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, on Bill Russell’s problems in Sacramento: “The players are upset with a lack of rhyme to his substitution pattern, and the writers are ticked about his lack of regard for their existence.

“Kings’ practices are closed, with the media waiting them out in the dressing room. At the close of the workout, Russell will send a player to retrieve them. By that time, however, Russell will have ducked out another door.

“When confronted, he smiles and says he has other things to do.”

Trivia Answer: Ben Johnson of Canada.

Quotebook

Jeff Chatham, second-leading scorer on Brigham Young’s undefeated basketball team: “Since I’ve been here, the guys have never teased me about being the only black on the team. They’re too nice to even tease about it. So, I tease them about being white.”