Will Too Much of a Good Thing Be Bad for Allen?

Running backs come and go. Bo Jackson is coming. Is Marcus Allen going?

Who would you have running for the Raiders if you were running the Raiders?

Bo? Marcus? Bo and Marcus? Excuse me--Marcus and Bo? (Billing counts in this town.)

Would you stay with the current starters, Marcus and Steve Smith? How about Steve and Bo? How about Steve, Marcus and Bo? (Dare to be different.) How about Bo and Bo? (Remember, he can do two things at once.) How about Greg Bell and Eric Dickerson? (The trading deadline is Tuesday. Dare to be really different.)

Those “Marcus Is Out of Here” rumors were running wild Sunday. They were running wilder than Marcus, who picked up 41 yards in 12 carries in what some at the Coliseum suspected--or expected--would be his last game as a Raider.

The game itself was pretty interesting--24-17, Los Angeles over Seattle.

The postgame was even more interesting.

Question: Marcus, what about the possibility that this was your last day as a Raider?

Allen: “Well, you know, I’ve got a little devil on this shoulder and a little angel on the other shoulder. I’m in conflict. I can’t say what I really want to say.”

Q: Has it been a distraction?

Allen: “Oh, hell, yeah! At times I find myself reflecting on what’s happened. It’s only human.”

Q: Do you think you’ll still be a Raider next week? Is that what you want?

Allen: (Laughs.) “Next question!”

Q: Is this situation frustrating you?

Allen: “Well, I think an athlete should be at peace when he goes into a game. All the question marks should be eliminated. But that’s not the way we do things around here.”

Q: What about the rumors that you’ll be traded to San Francisco?

Allen: “Hey, if those rumors are true, it’s not a bad team to go to. But whatever happens, happens. Either way, I figure I’ll be with a winning team.”

Q: But how about it, Marcus? Do you want to remain a Raider or don’t you?

Allen: (Laughs.) “Oh, I don’t know. Let me think about it for a while.”

After the game Sunday, Allen lingered around the field, soaking up the scenery, like a kid leaving home for the Army. He looked like a man taking a last look. Had there been roses, Marcus would have stopped to smell them.

But is he going anywhere?

Coach Art Shell said absolutely, positively, definitely, read-my-lips no.

It wasn’t his favorite subject. Shell understandably preferred to talk about Sunday’s game, in which the 5-1 Raiders outmuscled the Seahawks the way Shell outmuscles Chuck Knox.

Allen, too, would rather talk about something else. But he’s no fool. He knows juicy gossip when he hears it.

“Makes good copy, I guess,” Marcus said.

Damn straight. When there is talk of trading the Raiders’ all-time leading rusher and touchdown-scorer, I’m sorry, but it is more than just good copy. It is necessary copy.

Steve Smith scored the first touchdown Sunday. Smith started all 16 games in 1989. The trading or benching of Marcus Allen is important to Smith’s work and well-being. If Allen moves to fullback to make room for Jackson, what becomes of Smith? How would Smith feel about being second-string?

He didn’t say. But he minced no words about how he felt about Allen being no-string.

“Marcus Allen is a great player and a great team player and one of the best tailbacks ever,” Smith said. “And it would be a terrible loss to let him go.”

Do the Raiders need to let anybody go? Is there enough work to go around? Can a happy football team risk having unhappy players? Should they get something for Allen while they still can?

What about Greg Bell? How does his health affect all this? Bell hurt his leg Sunday. Maybe he should call Dickerson at Indianapolis General Hospital to ask about that $10-million miracle injury cure.

And what about Napoleon McCallum? McCallum’s broken hand bothers him some, but he is eager and willing to play. He didn’t run once Sunday. About all Napoleon could do was stand around with his hand inside his shirt.

Bo Jackson occupied the sideline Sunday. Bo’s getting his football suit out of mothballs. Bo wants to play, but who doesn’t? Marcus doesn’t exactly feel like giving up football to take Olympic bobsled lessons.

“Bo is just a bonus,” quarterback Jay Schroeder said. “He has to come in ready to play football.”

Hey, Bo was born ready to play football. But does that mean you don’t play Marcus? Or do you play them together? Or would that give Schroeder a little devil on one shoulder and a little angel on the other shoulder?

I don’t know.

But there’s one thing I do know.

I do know that if I were running a football team right now, the last thing in the world I would do is help San Francisco.