He’s New Behind Mike but Doesn’t Need Prompting

You have to admire Todd Christensen’s timing.

No, he’s not running pass routes again. He’s now a commentator for NBC, and on Sunday, he and play-by-play partner Charlie Jones will work the Raiders’ game in Seattle against the Seahawks.

Coincidentally, it’s the Raiders’ first game since Tuesday’s announcement that it will be staying in Los Angeles.

Christensen, who enjoys the spotlight as much as anyone, will have a captive audience for some pearls of wisdom about his former team.

NBC has high hopes for Christensen, and this week he’s been showing off some of his on-camera abilities while filling in for Roy Firestone on ESPN’s “SportsLook.”

One thing about Christensen: He’s not afraid to speak his mind.

So, Todd, tell us, what did you think about the latest Raider news?

Christensen, feigning a yawn, said: “I’ve really been on pins and needles. How long has this thing been going on, a couple of decades?

“I mean, this is really startling. The best offer won out. Wow, shocking.

“It was just a case of Oakland not being able to deliver the goods.

“You’ve got to give credit to the owner. He really kept his poker face through all this.”

If Christensen sounds a bit cynical . . . well, he is.

After 10 years with the team, he was unceremoniously cut before last season.

So, the former tight end is not real tight with his former team.

“Hey, it’s not an unusual story,” Christensen said. “Few players get out when they should. Then they’re cut and are bitter about it.”

Ill feelings might better describe Christensen’s viewpoint.

“I don’t harbor any great bitterness,” he said. “I don’t lie awake nights and think about it.”

How’s his relationship with owner Al Davis?

“I don’t know,” Christensen said. “There really is no relationship. We haven’t talked. But there’s no animosity, at least not on my part.”

And Christensen has positive things to say about the current team.

“I do see things that indicate they’re righting the ship,” he said. “The defense, in particular, looks good, and I think the offense will come around.”

Then, breaking out in a laugh, he added: “How’s that sound? Is that objective enough?”

In 1986, Christensen led the NFL in receiving with 95 catches for 1,153 yards and eight touchdowns. In 1988, his totals were 15 catches for 190 yards and no touchdowns.

Then, during the off-season, Christensen had his gall bladder removed and came into the 1989 training camp about 30 pounds lighter.

When the team cut down to a 60-man roster, Christensen was gone.

“They knew all along they were going to cut me,” he said. “They could have let me know.

“By the time they cut me, it was too late for me to try to catch on with another team, particularly since I was the highest-paid tight end in the league (at $750,000).

“All I wanted, after 10 seasons, five All-Pro seasons and two Super Bowls, was an opportunity to compete for my job. They never gave me that opportunity.”

The latest word on scrambling is that NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, in a letter to Congressman Jim Bates of San Diego this week, said there will be no scrambling of TV signals this season.

Tagliabue said the league will look at various options for next season. “As you know, these are complex issues, technologically, legally and contractually,” Tagliabue wrote.

A reduced capacity at the Coliseum should mean more sellouts and televised Raider home games.

But the Raiders’ decision to stay in Los Angeles is not all good news for television viewers.

In the TV contract effective through 1993, there’s an antiquated rule that limits networks to a single telecast in areas where an NFL game is being played.

So Los Angeles, with either the Rams or Raiders usually at home, will continue to be deprived of network doubleheaders.

With both the Rams and the Raiders on the road, CBS gets to bring in a doubleheader this weekend.

It will be the Rams playing the Buccaneers at Tampa Bay at 10 a.m., with the announcing team of Brad Nessler and Dan Jiggetts. Nessler, a newcomer, has announced for the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons.

At 1 p.m., the Washington Redskins will be at San Francisco against the 49ers, with Pat Summerall and John Madden.

Bound to happen: ABC’s Dan Dierdorf asked Monday night: “Is it possible for Jerry Rice to go an entire game without being a factor?” So, of course, a few plays later Rice’s 20-yard reception set up San Francisco’s game-winning field goal against the New Orleans Saints. Before that, he had one catch for six yards.

New show: “Roggin’s Heroes,” starring Fred Roggin (who else?), is scheduled for syndication early next year. It will feature wacky footage from more than just sports, and there will also be guests each week. Already, several stations in major markets have bought the program and plan to show it on Saturday nights at 7:30.

TV-Radio Notes

It works out nicely Saturday that USC-Penn State will be on ABC at 12:30 p.m., then Stanford-UCLA on Prime Ticket at 3:30 p.m. . . . Two new GGP Sports-produced shows will make their debuts on Prime Ticket this weekend--the pregame “College Football Today” Saturday at 3 p.m. and “College Football Review,” with Saturday highlights, Sunday at 9 a.m.

The Clippers, unable to make deals with Prime Ticket and Channel 5, made a pretty good arrangement with Channel 13. The five-year contract, which goes into effect in 1991-92, starts at $90,000 per regular-season game and goes to $125,000 per regular-season game in the final year of the contract. The average is $112,703. That’s not as much as the Lakers get from Channel 9, but pretty good. . . . The Clippers are still without a cable deal for next season.

The NBA announced that “NBA Inside Stuff,” produced by NBA Entertainment, will be carried by NBC on Saturday mornings during the season. Ahmad Rashad and newcomer Julie Moran will be the hosts. . . . The NFL has granted a five-year license to NTN Communications of Carlsbad, creators of the popular TV-football computer game QB1, which is played in conjunction with live football telecasts. Among those involved in the development of the game are Don Shula, Hank Stram, Bill Walsh and Don and Bob Klosterman.

Ratings game: The TNT telecast of last Sunday’s New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles game got a Turner Broadcasting-record rating of 7.3, meaning it was watched in 7.3% of TNT’s 49 million homes. The previous high for TNT was a 6.8 for a Chicago Bulls-Detroit Pistons NBA playoff game May 30. . . . Monday night’s San Francisco-New Orleans game on ABC got a respectable 18.0 rating and 32% share.

Sanity check, please: Channel 4’s Brett Lewis plans to don football togs and play tight end with the semi-pro Bandits Sunday for a feature story. . . . Attention, Ram fans: Eddie Doucette’s “Rams Report” is broadcast weeknights following Jim Healy on KMPC, and the “John Robinson Show” is broadcast every Friday and Monday at 7:40 p.m. The Robinson show is also carried by KMPC’s sister station, K-LITE (101.9 FM), on the same nights at 8:20 p.m.

Attention, rotisserie football players: FNN Sports has a new show, “Fantasy Football Weekly,” which is televised every Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The hosts are George Siegal and Wayne Root. . . . Attention, horse racing fans: Del Mar has put out a 57-minute historical video, “Where the Turf Meets the Surf.” It was produced by Joe Burnham, narrated by Pete Smith, with script by Jay Hovdey.

For the record: It was incorrectly reported in Monday’s editions that NBC’s Will McDonough thinks Buddy Ryan is among several NFL coaches who won’t be back next season. There is speculation that Ryan, who is in the final year of a five-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, might not be back, but McDonough doesn’t agree. He said on “NFL Live” last Sunday that he believes Ryan will be re-signed sometime during the season.