They Are Willing to Be Patient : Greg Bell: With Raider options running out, he waits on injured reserve.

Greg Bell, a former tailback of note, has vanished from the public scene as quickly as Cat Stevens.

Bell scored 33 touchdowns in two seasons with the Rams, complained about his contract, was shipped to the Raiders last spring for the cost of postage, took his spot in line behind Marcus Allen, then Bo Jackson, and most recently accepted a four-week assignment on injured reserve with a two-week ankle sprain.

Some career move, huh? A 1,000-yard rusher for the Rams in consecutive seasons, Bell has gained 164 yards and scored one touchdown for the Raiders in 1990.

Naturally, he’s miserable, inconsolable, wishing he could turn back the clock. Bring back the Rams, the fame, the carries.

Guess again.

“I’m much happier,” Bell said.

They don’t give Bell the ball as much with the Raiders, but the paychecks keep coming, bigger than ever. He’s getting more money for less work.

Bell isn’t griping about his reduced role. In fact, he seems as content as an injured reserve hostage could be, this after two productive and volatile seasons with the Rams and their infamous management team.

Bell gained 1,212 yards in 1988 and earned $450,000. He made $475,000 last season in return for 1,137 yards and 15 touchdowns.

He didn’t like the rate of return for production and said so publicly. The Rams, in turn, didn’t like Bell’s tone and traded him to the Raiders for a fourth-round draft choice and a base salary reportedly near $600,000.

Some questioned why Bell would leave a potential Super Bowl winner, the Rams, for the Raiders, who hadn’t made the playoffs in five years and already featured the star-studded backfield of Allen and Jackson. They scoffed when Bell predicted that the Raiders would have a better chance of winning in 1990 than the Rams.

Seen the NFL standings lately?

Bell said that personal goals mean little to him now, that he talked his way off the Rams to rid himself of a front-office team led by Vice President John Shaw that places a premium on profit, not winning, while maintaining a chokehold on player salaries.

“I was willing to give all that up (starting) for that thing there,” Bell said, pointing to an enlarged poster of a Raider Super Bowl ring in the team’s front lobby. “And I think we have a better chance here than over in Anaheim. It boiled down to that. I felt I could contribute to a world championship--maybe not be the MVP--but I could put a ring on my finger.”

As his former team slips deeper toward oblivion at 2-5, Bell has to bite his lip to keep from spewing his rancor. His contempt for Shaw remains strong. It doesn’t hurt that the Raiders are 6-1.

“I knew the Rams weren’t going to be a Super Bowl team because at some point the upstairs was going to kill the downstairs,” Bell said. “If you put too much weight on the floor, the bottom’s going to drop out.

“I’ll say it now, I said it earlier this year, I said it last year: It ain’t the players or the coaching staff as to why the Rams are 2-5 now, it’s the general manager. Point blank. And I guess right now, I’m in the driver’s seat. (Shaw) used to tell us that he was sitting in the driver’s seat. We’re in the driver’s seat right now. The Rams, they’re parking cars.”

Bell’s situation with the Raiders remains cloudy, however. He sprained his right ankle against the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 14 and was put on four-week injured reserve Oct. 20. Because of a bye last week, Bell will miss only three games. But there’s another problem.

The Raiders have only three “free” roster moves remaining for the regular season. Players activated after the team’s five allotted moves have been used must clear league waivers before returning.

The Raiders have four key players yet to recall from injured reserve: Bell, cornerback Garry Lewis, tackle Bruce Wilkerson, and tight end Mike Dyal.

Since any of the four would almost certainly be claimed if exposed to waivers, it means one will probably have to spend the rest of the regular season on injured reserve.

Depending on injuries and other circumstances, that player may well be Bell. “I don’t even worry about it,” Bell said.

Bell said he hasn’t seen much of the Rams this season, but he has reached this conclusion after reviewing some game film:

“They look bad,” Bell said. “Their defense is, who-ow. You can blame (defensive coordinator) Fritz (Shurmur), but I always blame the people who can make a change. John Robinson, they don’t give him the power to make changes. No one makes changes but John Shaw.

“The only reason the Rams aren’t sitting where the Raiders are is that they don’t have quality backups. When somebody goes down for them, they’re down. When Howie Long goes down, we’ve got enough quality there to back Howie up.”

Bell is a prime example of his own theory. After his ankle injury, he was replaced in the lineup a week later by Bo Jackson.

Poor draft selections and personnel decisions have also hurt the Rams, Bell contends. Take the team’s first pick of 1988. Please.

“Take nothing away from Gaston Green,” Bell said of that draft’s 13th overall selection. “But I told them point blank, to John Shaw’s face, that (Buffalo’s) Thurman Thomas was the best back of the draft. (Shaw) tells me (Thomas) has a bum knee.

“If he was so afraid of that knee, why did he go out and sign a guy for more money (Curt Warner) who had a worse knee? I’m talking a total reconstruction.”

Bell, in another obvious dig, said that the Rams will not return to glory until they employ front-office policies more similar to those of Raider owner Al Davis.

“Every athlete coming out of college knows that you’re treated like a piece of meat,” Bell said. “They stick you in front of a camera. They stick you, poke you. You’re livestock, and that’s fine. We know that. But just like Seattle Slew was treated like royalty, that’s how Al Davis treats you here. John Shaw treats you like livestock. Once you’ve done your duty for him, he doesn’t put you in bluegrass stables in Kentucky, he puts you on the auction block.”

Bell, finished with a morning rehabilitation session on his ankle, went boisterously about his business. Would he be back this season? If so, will Allen and Jackson let him back in the backfield? If not, would Bell care?

“I could bitch about it, but we’re winning,” he said. “And I’m making better money than I was with the Rams. My career’s going to do well here, I think. If not, I’ll do well in the movies or something.”