Millen’s Pace Slows, but Not His Success : Pro football: Former Raider, 49er enjoys peaceful off-field lifestyle while helping the Redskins go 6-0 on the field.

On the edge of a Civil War battlefield near the Washington Redskins’ practice grounds, linebacker Matt Millen lives in a new two-story house in a quiet, upscale neighborhood where he starts every day the same way:

First, with his wife, Patricia, he gets breakfast for Matthew, 9; Marcus, 6; Michalyn, 3, and Marianne, 1.

Next, on his way to practice along curving, tree-lined Lee’s Corner Road, he drops off Matt and Marky at Brookfield School.

Then in the first wave of arriving players, he begins another long day at Redskin Park lifting weights with strength coach Dan Riley.

It is a life that seldom strays from the basics, from a routine. That routine includes playing. He has played in all 169 games since he was drafted, and has started 162 times.

And that routine includes winning. It seems to be in fashion wherever Matt Millen plays football:

--Three times in his first NFL decade--the 1980s--Millen was an inside linebacker for teams that won the Super Bowl for the Raiders or San Francisco 49ers.

--Now that the California clubs have leveled off, Millen has moved along to become a starter for a dominating 1991 club, the Washington Redskins, who are 6-0 for only the second time in a half-century.

--Since he left the Raiders, Millen is batting .884. After helping the 49ers go 32-5 in 1989-90, the Redskins’ 6-0 makes Millen 38-5--the best individual record in football.

--In all, counting three years at Penn State, he has spent 15 years in what he calls solid, winning organizations.

“Football players can’t always choose their own destiny,” Millen, 33, said at his home here the other day. “But when you can, the climate and the (locale) are unimportant. (Salary) isn’t too important. The thing that matters is the quality of the organization.”

From high school on, he said, “too many players think more about themselves than about a quality place” to begin a career, or continue it.

Question: What’s good about the Redskins?

Millen: They have the commitment to success that you see in the NFL’s two or three other really solid organizations. Being a Plan B free agent (for the last three years) gives you a chance to pick out teams on (the rise).

Q: What’s different about the Redskins?

A: Of all the teams I’ve played for, the Redskins are the least talented. They’re also the hardest working. This is a team of overachievers--which must be what (owner) Jack Kent Cooke and (Coach) Joe Gibbs want. There are more overachievers here than you see on the Raiders and 49ers and several other clubs put together.

Q: What is your idea of a talented player?

A: Howie Long. Jim Kelly. There are no Howie Longs here, no Derrick Thomases, no Thurman Thomases. I happen to be an admirer of (Redskin receivers) Art Monk and Gary Clark--but when you get down in the dirt with those guys, the thing you notice isn’t their great talent but their great attitude.

Q: Some people admire at least four Washington defensive players--Mann, Marshall, Millen and Green--which sounds like a Washington law firm. Are you putting them down?

A: Not at all. (Defensive end) Charles Mann is at the upper end of the (ability) spectrum. There was a time when Darrell Green relied completely on speed, but now I’d put him up there with (former Raider) Mike Haynes--the best corner I’ve seen. (Linebacker) Wilber Marshall you know about. What I’m saying is that--as a group--we aren’t heavy with great players. The 49ers and Raiders have a lot more Greens and Manns.

Q: How does a football team succeed without talent in the NFL?

A: The (Redskins) do it with unusually sound offensive and defensive schemes, and with players who are a good match for those schemes. This club often gets a slow start on the season because the coaches spend so much time trying to find out who does what well. (Gibbs) spends more time and effort on that than anyone else I know. It’s the key to his success.

Q: Is it true that the Redskins reflect the coach’s personality?

A: Most teams do--this one, especially. (Gibbs) is an extremely down-to-earth person, and (his) is a blue-collar team. The focus is on results, not glamour. This is a team without celebrities--a strange team for Washington, D.C. Here’s this sophisticated political community--the most sophisticated in the country, in the world, probably--and here’s this very blue-collar team.

Q: As a place to work, how does Washington compare with Los Angeles and San Francisco?

A: My children love Washington--the Smithsonian, the monuments, the history--but I don’t really know. I seldom got into L.A. or San Francisco, either, except to play football. I love the slow life. I loved living in El Segundo, and then in Palo Alto.

Q: How do you stand the winters here?

A: I love all the seasons. Who you play for is what makes the difference--not where.