Townsend to Finally Get Started

After signing a reported $2-million, two-year contract earlier this week, linebacker Greg Townsend will play in his first exhibition of the season tonight when the Raiders (2-1) face the Chicago Bears (3-0) at Soldier Field.

Townsend is the second-highest-paid defensive player in Raider history behind defensive tackle Howie Long, who will earn $1.1 million this season.

“I always wanted to get into Howie’s neighborhood,” Townsend said. “Now I can go next door and borrow a cup of sugar.”

Townsend, whose neighborhood as a child was Watts, added: “My family wasn’t rich at all by a long shot. We were three paychecks from being homeless.”

He joined a gang but never got into serious trouble with the law.

“I was just in a gang for a short time,” Townsend said. “It was a territorial thing. If other kids came into our territory, we tried to run them out. Violence wasn’t really the thing. Maybe a fistfight, but that’s as far as it went.

“Now they’ve got guns and drive-by shootings. That’s something that we didn’t do.”

Sports provided Townsend with an outlet.

Despite starring in football, basketball and baseball at Dominguez High in Compton, Townsend was not recruited by any colleges, so he considered enlisting in the Army.

He changed his mind and enrolled at Long Beach City College after a coach saw him play in a prep all-star game. After playing at Long Beach, he earned a scholarship to Texas Christian, where he led the team in tackles.

Joining the Raiders in 1983, Townsend developed into one of the top defensive players in the NFL. He has 71 sacks in seven seasons, including a career-high 11 1/2 in 1988, when he led the AFC.

Although ’88 was Townsend’s best year, he had problems off the field, sitting out 30 days before the season because of a second positive test for marijuana.

Townsend had been smoking marijuana for 15 years but didn’t think he had a drug problem--until the suspension.

“Where I come from, (smoking marijuana) was everyday life,” Townsend said. “I thought I could do it and still live a normal life. I thought as long as I wasn’t out there stealing for it, it was going to be OK--as long as I could support my own habit. But I got a cold slap in the face in ’88 and it woke me up.”

Then he developed a food dependency in the off-season and ballooned from 247 pounds to 274, becoming especially fond of potato skins and sweet rolls.

Townsend struggled to learn a new position last season after being moved to linebacker from defensive end, where he had played for six seasons.

“The frustration came because I was getting used to a new position, and that position called for me to do something that I wasn’t used to doing,” he said. “Once I got it down pat, then everything became fun.”

Adapting to his new position, Townsend recorded a season-high three sacks in a game against the Washington Redskins and had two sacks against the San Diego Chargers.

“I’m not really a linebacker,” Townsend said. “The Raiders just put it down like that. I don’t know why. I line up in a three-point stance, and I’ve never seen too many linebackers in a three-point stance. I just figure they do it to throw off opposing teams by saying I’m a linebacker, and (then) I line up in a three-point stance at defensive end.

“The real name for the position I play is ‘over end.’ I line up in a three-point stance in a linebacker spot. And I’ll drop off into pass coverage on two or three defensive calls, but it’s seldom if ever called.”

Asked if he feels compelled to play better to justify his contract, Townsend said: “I don’t feel like I have to justify anything. I feel I just have to play football and contribute the best way I know how.”

His contract dispute behind him, Townsend has three weeks to prepare for the NFL season. “I know what I have to do: just a little extra work, and I’m willing to do that,” he said.

The Raiders respect Townsend’s work ethic. His teammates say he’s not a pass rush specialist who concentrates on sacks but is also effective against the run.

“He’s so smooth on the pass rushing game that it draws a lot of attention to him,” Bob Golic said. “He’s just as strong against the run. He has the ability not only to play strong at the attack, but to make a lot of plays chasing people. He has so much speed coming around the outside that they have to slide people hard to cover him, which really helps out on the inside.”

Raider Notes

Raider tailback Marcus Allen will miss tonight’s game because of a pulled right hamstring. . . . Raider defensive tackle Howie Long, sidelined by a strained calf the last two weeks, will probably play. . . . Riki Ellison is expected to make his first start at inside linebacker for the Raiders.