Allen Takes It Personally to Kansas City : Pro football: His return to the Coliseum will be as a third-down target for Joe Montana against Raiders.

Marcus Allen said he would not return to the Raiders after last season, and now, apparently, he is making good on that vow.

The Kansas City Chiefs have called a news conference for today and are expected to announce that they have reached an agreement with the free-agent running back.

Allen, 33, played 11 seasons with the Raiders and is the team’s all-time rushing leader. He was made an unrestricted free agent after last season by a court ruling against the NFL’s former free-agency system.

The breakup with the Raiders became inevitable when Allen made his long-running feud with team owner Al Davis public during a halftime interview before a Monday night football television audience last season.

In the ABC interview, Allen said that his playing time with the Raiders had diminished because of his problems with Davis and that he needed to move on to a different team.

“What do you think of a guy who has attempted to ruin your career?” Allen asked last December. “When someone messes with your livelihood--this is what I’ve wanted to do since I was 8 years old, and this very thing has been taken away from me and not, I don’t think so, for a business reason, but for a personal reason.”

Asked if Davis had a personal vendetta against him, Allen said, “No question about it.”

After becoming a free agent Feb. 1, Allen toured league cities and had been rumored as ticketed to either the Washington Redskins or the Miami Dolphins. When Joe Montana was traded by San Francisco to the Chiefs, however, Allen began looking harder at Kansas City. Allen could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

By joining the Chiefs, Allen will not only get a chance to play against the Raiders twice during the regular season, but he will also rejoin his former USC position coach, Paul Hackett, the Chiefs’ new offensive coordinator.

After sitting behind Eric Dickerson and Nick Bell with the Raiders last season, Allen is expected to get playing time with the Chiefs, who had been searching for a running back with pass-catching ability to team up with Montana.

In his career with the Raiders, Allen gained 8,545 yards rushing and 3,938 receiving. Last season, however, he was hampered by injuries and used mostly on third-down and short-yardage plays. He carried the ball only 67 times for 301 yards and scored three touchdowns.

With Kansas City, Allen will compete for playing time with Christian Okoye, Barry Word and Harvey Williams. But the Chiefs, who reached the playoffs last season as a wild-card team, believe Allen can contribute heavily in their new short-passing game, being installed for Montana.

Allen set 12 NCAA records and won the Heisman Trophy at USC. He was drafted No. 1 by the Raiders in 1982 and was named most valuable player in Super Bowl XVIII after rushing for 191 yards in their victory over the Redskins.

His best year was 1985, when he was named the NFL’s most valuable player after rushing for 1,759 yards, catching 67 passes for 555 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns.