Raiders’ Allen Ends His Holdout

Marcus Allen’s long, silent holdout ended Friday morning. He came in, told Coach Mike Shanahan he was glad to be back and was sent out to take his physical examination.

Allen won’t dress for today’s exhibition against the Bears but he’s scheduled to play in next week’s regular-season opener against the Chargers.

It was not a negotiated settlement. Al Davis stuck to his no-talk posture throughout the five-week absence. Allen will play for the $1.1 million due him on this, the option year on his three-year contract.

Allen reportedly wanted something more in line with the $1.356 million Bo Jackson will get, for playing half a season. A friend of Allen’s, however, said that Marcus “just wanted to be shown some respect.”

Said Allen Friday: “The reasons for the holdout are personal. I don’t want to elaborate on them. I just felt it was time to go back to work.”

Allen’s salary actually puts him second in the league among running backs, to Eric Dickerson. Of Jackson’s total, $996,000 is in deferred bonuses.

Allen has been in five Pro Bowls and is the Raiders’ all-time leader in rushing and touchdowns. He led the league in 1985 with 1,759 yards and was named most valuable player by the Associated Press, the Sporting News and the Professional Football Writers Assn.

He had a string of 11 100-yard games that stretched into the third game of the ’86 season, when he sustained an ankle injury against the Giants. His rushes dropped by one-third and his season total fell 1,000 yards to 759.

Beset by more injuries in 1987 and ‘88, his rushing totals stayed relatively low--754 and 831 yards, respectively. He maintained his value by playing hurt, including most of last season when he had a cast on his broken left wrist, and by moving gracefully to fullback to accommodate Jackson. Allen’s teammates have voted him the team’s most valuable player in four of the last five seasons.

“I talked to Marcus this morning,” Shanahan said. “He said he’s ready to go.

“He said it’s good to be back, he’s looking forward to going. Obviously, I’m happy he’s here. His negotiations with Al and the things he had to get done are between him and the front office. At the same time, I’m glad he’s here to play football.

“Marcus is very sharp and he keeps himself in excellent shape. it always takes a few days to get back in football shape where you get used to the contact phase. It takes a week or so. It’s going to be a little different for him.”

Without Allen and with a group of young backs operating behind a rearranged line, the Raider running game has been a dead letter so far in the exhibition season. It has totaled 166 yards, including 39 on quarterback scrambles.