Unhappy McElroy Traded to Seahawks

The Raiders didn’t trade running back Marcus Allen or quarterback Steve Beuerlein on Tuesday, but they did rid themselves of someone they apparently considered an undesirable player, sending safety Vann McElroy to the Seattle Seahawks for a draft choice.

McElroy, 30, was a star in the Raider secondary until he was put on injured reserve for nine weeks in 1989 because of a hamstring pull that McElroy did not believe was serious.

He didn’t regain his starting position, held out during training camp after his salary was reduced by $225,000 and languished on the bench, playing only on special teams this season.

McElroy said Tuesday he doesn’t know what went wrong between him and owner Al Davis.

“There was a point when I would have died for this team,” McElroy said.

“I gave everything I had on the field. It’s tough to swallow. You could see it if a guy was at the end of his career and had nothing to offer. But I’m nowhere near that.

“The guy (Davis), for some reason wanted to rub my face in the dirt. Why didn’t they respect me enough and not protect me (allowing him to become a Plan B free agent)? Why did they wait all this time?”

Raider officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

McElroy sold his home before training camp, anticipating a trade. He and his family have been living at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport.

“We’ve had our suitcases packed for five weeks,” he said.

The Raiders’ 1990 media guide describes McElroy as “one of pro football’s best” free safeties. He played in the Pro Bowl twice during his nine-year career and has 31 interceptions. McElroy said he was told that he was at the top of his game last year when he was put on injured reserve.

“It was a four-week injury,” he said.

But in the summer of 1989, the Raiders pressured McElroy into signing an injury clause that deducted $10,000 from his salary for every game he missed. Then, in an interview Dec. 21, McElroy wondered why he wasn’t playing after he recovered.

He said that the Raiders used that interview against him in negotiations last summer, saying he had an “attitude problem.” McElroy said he couldn’t think of any other reason why he was being treated as he was.

“That’s the only thing I’ve been told,” he said. “They said it was the fact that I had an attitude problem, that I shouldn’t have said some things in the paper. And I said, ‘If I’ve got a bad attitude, why was I elected team captain?’

” . . . The only reason I said those things was because I’m a competitor and I wanted to play football. If that’s wrong, well, that’s wrong.”

McElroy said he asked the Raiders to leave him unprotected as a Plan B free agent after the 1989 season but that the team refused.

Then in mini-camp last spring, McElroy was encouraged when he regained his starting free safety position.

The team and his agent, Scott Casterline, sought to work out a new contract. McElroy, who made $575,000 last year, said Davis and the Raiders’ negotiating team were talking about a new contract in the low $600,000s. He didn’t bother with the formality of signing an offer sheet that would have guaranteed his 1990 contract at $575,000 again.

When the June 29 deadline passed, however, the Raiders were free to offer McElroy any salary they chose.

“Then, four days before training camp, they lowered the offer $150,000 without any warning,” McElroy said. “I couldn’t believe it. Check my history, I’m not the kind of person to hold out. When the team came back from London (after an exhibition game), it was very obvious they were not going to come off the offer.”

McElroy said the team left him no choice but to hold out, and kept pulling money off the table until the offer dipped to $350,000, $225,000 less than he made in 1989.

“That’s a joke,” McElroy said. “It was obvious (Davis) was going to stick it to me and there was nothing I could do about it.”

McElroy kept waiting for a trade, but it didn’t happen. Left with no options, he reluctantly reported to camp Sept. 10, a day after the team’s opener against Denver. He signed for $350,000.

McElroy said he never took his case to Art Shell because he knew it was out of the coach’s hands.

“You can’t jump in and blame people because hands are tied,” McElroy said. “I wasn’t going to force the issue with the coaches. Al Davis is going to do what he’s going to do.”

McElroy said his only regret is not being able to play for Shell, whom he admires.

“I think he’s an excellent coach and has the respect of his players,” he said. “This has nothing to do with the coaches or players--I respect them, and I think the feeling is mutual. It’s been a real tough situation the last year.”

McElroy’s agent said the Seahawks are already talking about extending McElroy’s contract beyond this season.