Davis Keeping Good Company : Hall of Fame: Scores of Raider owner’s friends attend ceremony that also honors Barney, Mackey and Riggins.

Rainstorms have been drenching northeastern Ohio for a month. The Canton area took more than 11 inches of rain in July--within half an inch of the record for the month--and Friday it poured again.

But when Raider owner Al Davis got up Saturday morning and headed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there wasn’t a cloud in sight.

“That was no coincidence,” a friend said. “It didn’t dare rain on Al.”

More than 200 friends of Davis and the Raiders were here for his enshrinement in suddenly ideal 70-degree weather on the day that former NFL players Lem Barney, John Mackey and John Riggins also were inducted.

“The Davis contingent was the largest we’ve ever had here in our 29-year history,” said Don Smith, Hall of Fame vice president.

The previous record-holder was a 1985 Hall of Famer, former New York Jet quarterback Joe Namath, whose list of well-wishers topped 70.

“There were more than 100 of us on the jet that Al chartered,” said Jim Plunkett, former Raider quarterback.

An airline spokesman said the round-trip flight cost $110,000, plus catering. Guests were served by the regular Raider crew of eight flight attendants. The charter returned to Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Plunkett counted 33 former Raider players aboard. More than 50 others flew in from around the country, as did men who had played for Davis at Ft. Belvoir (Va.), Adelphi, The Citadel, and USC.

“It was a reunion I’ll always treasure,” Davis, 63, said.

He identified Sid Gillman and the late Don Clark as the coaches who have been most influential in his career.

“I was born lucky,” Davis said, uncharacteristically.

Introducing his mother, Rose, 91, Davis added: “My parents encouraged me to dominate.”

Former Raider Coach John Madden, the CBS announcer who introduced him as “my best friend,” said it wasn’t that simple.

“Al doesn’t fish, hunt or play golf,” Madden said. “He just has one commitment: winning.”

Turning toward the life-size bust of Davis that was put in the Hall of Fame afterward, Madden added: “Al Davis just won, baby.”

The Raider owner was the star of a program featuring four of the most eccentric yet voted to Canton.

Barney, who at Detroit became one of the NFL’s great cornerbacks, began his speech with a slightly off-key, baritone rendition of “Once in a Lifetime.”

He also quoted extensively from the New Testament.

Mackey, the former Baltimore tight end and controversial union leader, said he learned of his pending induction from a hotel telephone operator who called and, breathlessly, said: “Mr. Mackey, you’ve just been indicted.”

Riggins, the irrepressible former Washington Redskin running back, read extensively from a Robert Service poem.

Explaining why he had asked NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to present him, Riggins said: “Madonna had a headache.”

Tagliabue, in his introduction of Riggins, had covered himself by identifying his fellow Washingtonian as a free spirit who was famous for, among other things, “his advice to the Supreme Court.”

He alluded to a dinner at which Riggins advised Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, seated at the same table, to “loosen up, Sandy baby.”

Remembering that Riggins, when he sobered up, sent flowers and apologized, Tagliabue remarked: “Sandy baby appreciated those roses.”

Tagliabue also noted that Riggins remains the game’s sixth-leading rusher.

“He had a unique ability to entertain people on and off the field,” the commissioner offered.

As much could be said for Davis, who has large numbers of friends and detractors.

Both sides were represented in Canton, where Davis spent much of the weekend changing clothes.

Sticking with Raider colors, he wore a silver tux to one banquet, then a black suit Friday night when the other inductees were all in their gold blazers. During the parade Saturday morning, riding in an open convertible, Davis wore a silver jumpsuit.

“What a character,” a Canton fan said, turning away, as the parade rounded a corner on Cleveland Avenue.

“What a winner,” his companion said.

Davis would have settled for that.