NFL Meetings : Raiders About to Sign Former UCLA Kicker Lee

The Raiders are about to sign John Lee, the record-setting UCLA kicker who bombed out in St. Louis after being drafted higher than any other kicker in the 1980s.

Lee’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, says they have reached agreement. Lee will compete with Chris Bahr, who has been the Raider kicker as long as the team has been in Los Angeles, but who struggled last season.

“I feel great,” Lee said Wednesday from his home in Downey. “I was disappointed, the way things went with St. Louis. I was very close to just becoming a businessman with my dad.

“As soon as I heard from Leigh that the Raiders were interested, I just said, ‘Hey, this is a golden opportunity to stay here and perform.’ ”

Lee was a two-time All-American and the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s all-time leading kicker when he left UCLA in 1986, although he has since been eclipsed by Washington’s Jeff Jaeger, 80 field goals to 79.

Lee still holds the NCAA career marks for percentage, having made 85.9% of his field goal tries, 69.4% of his kicks of 40 yards or longer, and 96.4% of those under 40 yards.

He was a No. 2 draft choice in 1986, the highest a kicker was chosen since Russell Erxleben went No. 1 in 1979. Lee received a big contract with a $240,000 signing bonus but had a horrendous rookie season and was unceremoniously cut in the next training camp.

“I try not to think about it,” Lee said. “It was probably the worst experience of my life.”

Steinberg suggested that several things got him--the switch to kicking without a tee, the loss of his family/Korean-American community/UCLA support system, the pressure he was under in St. Louis.

“A lot of things happened,” Lee said. “I just wasn’t comfortable there. Mentally, you’ve got to feel confident.

“Gene Stallings (then the first-year Cardinal coach) and I had a great relationship off the field, let’s put it that way. He has a different philosophy. I’m not going to disagree with it. He turned them around last season. I don’t want to burn any bridges. But the guy who replaced me was something like 8 for 19. That organization is almost like a black hole for kickers.”

The two hot trade rumors here are Joe Montana to the San Diego Chargers, and Tony Dorsett to the Denver Broncos.

Charger Coach Al Saunders said that the San Francisco 49ers indicated a willingness to talk about Montana for two No. 1 picks plus a player--Billy Ray Smith or Gary Anderson or Kellen Winslow.

Said Charger owner Alex Spanos: “We’re looking not only at Montana, we’re looking at any quarterback we can.”

However, 49er Coach Bill Walsh doesn’t like being asked about it.

“Look, let’s get one thing straight,” Walsh said angrily, pointing a finger at a writer. “We have never shopped him around. The San Francisco 49ers have never shopped Joe Montana to anybody. Just so we’re straight on that.”

The Broncos and Cowboys acknowledge that they are talking about Dorsett.

They just haven’t said much.

“Tom Landry’s comment was, ‘We need players more than draft choices,’ ” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said.

NFL Notes

It was a quiet day at the National Football league meetings.

The owners reviewed the cases of the 49ers and Broncos, who offered playoff bonuses. No further action was taken against San Francisco owner Eddie DeBartolo, who has already been fined the maximum $50,000, but Commissioner Pete Rozelle’s prerogative was increased to $500,000. No action was taken against Denver owner Pat Bowlen, who was offering only trips to Hawaii.

Is the Raider-Kelly Stouffer speculation cooling down? George Boone, Cardinal player personnel director, says the Cardinals have talked to the Raiders, but not in a long while. New Raider Coach Mike Shanahan, who has been described as cool on Stouffer, proved as much Wednesday. “I think he could be an excellent player,” Shanahan said. “I just didn’t have him down as a No. 1 draft choice. The Cardinals are going to want a No. 1 for him.” Shanahan has also been described as remaining high on Marc Wilson, adding to the speculation that Wilson will be re-signed and brought back as the No. 1 quarterback.

The celebrity game: Cities here to remind the league of their expansion candidacy are bringing in their stars. Oakland brought Mayor Lionel Wilson, Baltimore brought tennis star Pam Schriver, and San Antonio had Mayor Henry Cisneros. Cisneros, long considered a rising star in the Democratic party, took the opportunity to introduce himself to Cardinal Coach Larry Stallings, and noted that they attended Texas A&M; at the same time. Said Stallings, politely: “What are you doing now?”