Bradley Called the Shots, Made Big Plays to Keep Raiders

Throughout the long fight for the Raiders--a fight that matched Los Angeles against Oakland for many months--the heavy favorite seemed to be Oakland.

Indeed, most of the nation was surprised last week when the club agreed to stay in Los Angeles.

Who brought in the longshot?

If the Coliseum is refurbished as planned; if in a few years the Raiders and USC are playing there in one of the world’s finest stadiums; if in time the Olympics come back to Los Angeles, the following are the four names to remember:

Tom Bradley. Last spring, when the fight seemed lost on the day of the Raider news conference in Oakland, it was Mayor Bradley who insisted that in the end, Los Angeles would win. And it was Bradley who conceived the Los Angeles game plan. He was a coach whose judgment and timing were flawless on every big play.

Bill Robertson. The game was won this summer when Bradley reappointed Los Angeles labor leader Robertson to the Coliseum Commission. As a veteran of years of collective bargaining, Robertson worked smoothly with Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, USC Athletic Director Mike McGee and the other players to make the game plan succeed.

Ed Snider. As the head of Spectacor, which owns or manages 25 stadiums and arenas in the United States, Snider saw the future in a refurbished Coliseum. After Bradley had led the way to privatization, Snider picked up the ball at the Coliseum and kept running with it, even after his multimillionaire partners had dropped out.

Al Davis. The Raider owner had the patience to wait for Bradley and Robertson to form the interference for Snider.

First to last, the one indispensable individual was the mayor. If the stadium is renovated as scheduled, it should be thought of as the Bradley Coliseum.

The next step for Coliseum management? Parking.

Looking ahead to their years in a modern new stadium, more football fans are concerned about where they’ll park than probably anything else, except where they’ll sit.

For Raider games, the problem might lessen in a facility reduced from 90,000 to a capacity of about 70,000. But for USC’s big games, the difficulty remains.

One possible solution is a network of comparatively inexpensive, well-policed parking lots in the Coliseum perimeter linked to the stadium by an ample number of shuttle wagons moving through roped-off streets.

Most football fans will accept shuttle service if it’s fast and efficient.

Down the line, more help could come from the community’s new light rail lines--if there is timely shuttle service from station to stadium.

Bill Walsh, the NBC analyst who as San Francisco’s coach of the 1980s developed the 49ers into a multiple Super Bowl winner, has, with writer Glenn Dickey of the San Francisco Chronicle, come out with a book, “Building a Champion,” which helps explain how he did it.

Mainly, the book says, Walsh did it as the most original talent scout of his day.

Whereas NFL teams usually draft either for need or by taking the best available athlete, the 49er coach focused on what he thought of as his particular types.

The Walsh philosophy: “If there’s anything a player can do to help the 49ers, (we) want him.”

Accordingly, 49er field scouts were required to collect 20 videotapes of each possible San Francisco choice--the player’s 10 best college plays, and his 10 worst.

Studying the tapes, Walsh, disregarding club needs, searched first for athletes who seemed to be 49er-types. Second, he looked for the college man of whom he could say: “If that’s the worst this guy did, we want him.”

And even into the ‘90s, the 49ers, are winning with Walsh’s choices.

After two weeks of regular-season football, the Rams and 49ers still seem to be the best in the NFC West.

Going into their home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, the Rams, however, are still more than two months away from their first date with the 49ers this season. It’s a strange schedule.

Meanwhile, the Raiders have come out of two games against AFC West rivals with a two-week winning streak that will be on the line Sunday at the Coliseum against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Those were two bruising games,” Raider executive Al LoCasale said of the club’s victories over Denver and Seattle. “The AFC West has become one of the most physical divisions in the NFL.”

If so, a major reason is that AFC West coaches are reacting to a lack of take-charge quarterbacks in their division.

The coaches are putting more stress on defensive toughness and on running the ball, which makes for a more physical team.

As it happens, the Steelers have also been a defensive-running team this season under Coach Chuck Noll, who, 30 years ago, called Los Angeles home. Noll and Raider owner Davis were assistants on Sid Gillman’s first Charger team, the year before Charger founder Barron Hilton moved operations to San Diego.

Matt Millen, the 49er linebacker who led the charge that saved the day in San Francisco Sunday, has become something of an expert on the NFL’s two conferences in his second season with the NFC’s 49ers after nine years with the AFC’s Raiders.

He has come up with the first credible explanation for the current Super Bowl dominance by the NFC, whose 1980s teams won eight of 10 NFL championships.

Noting that the conferences are otherwise about even--the AFC holds its own in regular-season games against NFC teams--Millen said:

“The difference in the Super Bowl (since 1981) is simply that (49er quarterback) Joe Montana has been there four times.

“If it hadn’t been for Montana, I think the AFC would have won more (1980s) Super Bowls. In fact, an AFC team, the Cincinnati Bengals, nearly beat Montana two years ago.

“Leaving San Francisco’s four wins out of it, the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins and New York Giants won only four of the 10 Super Bowls for the NFC in the ‘80s (when) the Raiders alone won twice for the AFC.

“I think the reason for the NFC’s Super Bowl superiority boils down to one thing. Montana is a super quarterback.”

In the 1970s, it was the other conference that dominated year after year.

Said Millen: “Having played against Terry Bradshaw, I’d say the main reason was Terry Bradshaw,” who led four 1970s Pittsburgh teams to victory in the Super Bowl.

“I’ve only played against three quarterbacks who strike fear into your hearts,” Millen said. “I mean, the fear of what could happen on the next play. They are Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and, in his early years, Dan Marino.

“The old Steelers were much like the 49ers today. Their Jerry Rice and John Taylor were Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. Their Roger Craig was Franco Harris. But it was Bradshaw--his presence--that made them go.”

Millen was asked to take an instant word-association test.

“The word is Bradshaw, “ the examiner said.

“The ball is gone,” Millen said.