Focus Today Will Be on the Raiders

David Shula knew it was going to be tough.

But not this tough.

Daddy never said there’d be days like this.

Shula knew when he was hired as the Cincinnati Bengals’ coach in December that:

--He was taking over a club that had collapsed under Sam Wyche last season, going 3-13.

--He was going to be battling the stigma of nepotism as the son of Don Shula, one of the league’s dominating coaches for three decades.

--He was going to be fighting to prove that, even though he is the league’s youngest coach at 33, he has enough knowledge and character to lead and inspire.

All that Shula knew. What he didn’t know about were the rape charges.

Earlier this week, the names of 20 current and former Bengals accused in a civil lawsuit of being involved in a rape were made public.

Among the current players, wide receiver Tim McGee, defensive backs David Fulcher, Eric Thomas, Barney Bussey and Rickey Dixon, receiver Reggie Rembert, tight end Rodney Holman and linebacker James Francis were accused of rape.

Running backs Harold Green and Eric Ball, receiver Eddie Brown and defensive back Mitchell Price were charged with aiding and abetting.

Because the suit was filed in Seattle, where the Bengals opened the season last week, the pregame atmosphere there had little to do with football as subpoena servers and reporters descended on the accused.

Yet somehow, the players turned off the distractions long enough to defeat the Seahawks, 21-3.

The media attention increased in Cincinnati this week, when the names of the accused were released, but Shula has tried to keep the focus on the Raiders, the Bengals’ opponents today at Riverfront Stadium.

“All you’ve got to do is put on the game film and watch the Raiders on offense, defense and special teams,” Shula said. “We’re going to be there, the Raiders are going to be there and we’re going to be prepared to win the ballgame.’

“But this is a very serious matter that I’m not taking lightly and neither is anybody in our organization.”

When Shula came to Cincinnati last season as receiver coach, the whispers followed him. Esiason said he had heard that Shula, who began as a Miami Dolphin assistant under his father at 23, had trouble getting along with his quarterbacks. Shula, a wide receiver and special teams performer for the then-Baltimore Colts in 1981, had supposedly clashed with Miami’s Dan Marino, as well as Dallas’ Troy Aikman when Shula was a Cowboy assistant.

But after spending a little time with Shula in 1991, McGee went to Esiason and said, “How could these people have a problem with Dave Shula?”

Esiason, too, has been impressed.

The Cincinnati quarterback said: “In the beginning, there’s no question that there was some (thought), ‘Oh my God, here we go into a season with a coach that’s only 33 years old.’ But he has dispelled all the myths of all of that.

“He has paid his dues. . . . What more does a man have to do? Just because he’s 33 doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the same qualifications as someone who is 60.”

Shula isn’t the only coach with something to prove. Raider Coach Art Shell still needs some proof that his beleaguered quarterback, Jay Schroeder, deserves Shell’s faith after last week’s defeat by the Denver Broncos, when Schroeder threw two interceptions and fumbled twice.

It could be tough for Schroeder again today. The most impressive aspect of Cincinnati’s victory last week was its defense, which held the Seahawks to 202 net yards and scored two of the Bengals’ touchdowns on fumble recoveries.

That’s a lot different from last season, when the Raiders came here and beat the Bengals, 38-14.

“Our defense is exceptionally physical now,” Esiason said. “We’re hustling all over the football. There are players actually throwing themselves around on the field, as opposed to being thrown around.”

Raider Notes

The Raiders have won 14 of 19 from the Bengals and four of seven at Riverfront Stadium. . . . Art Shell is unbeaten against Cincinnati, with three victories in the regular season and one in postseason play. . . . Bengal safety David Fulcher (meningitis) and receiver Eddie Brown (neck) are on the injured-reserve list. . . . Raider defensive tackle Chester McGlockton, the team’s No. 1 draft choice, will miss his second game because of a bruised foot. . . .Defensive end Greg Townsend was not activated. His roster exemption ends Monday.