Townsend Is Leaving With Good Memories : Raiders: Defensive lineman hopes to restart his career with another team now that he has been released.

Greg Townsend was thinking about Lilly.

On the day after his release from the Raiders after 11 years, two Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl, the defensive lineman was thinking about a woman in a wheelchair.

He didn’t know why she was in a wheelchair, he didn’t know her age, although he figures she was in her 60s, and he didn’t know her last name.

But he did know that she was one of his biggest fans, that she was always waiting for him at the Coliseum with a word of encouragement or a gift for his birthday or some other occasion.

“I will always have a special place in my heart for her and a lot of fans like her,” Townsend said. “Those fans were great. And I hope they will still have feelings for me.”

Townsend, 32, was released Tuesday after efforts to trade him failed.

He was to be paid $1.5 million this season and $1.6 million next season. With aching knees and a history of weight problems, Townsend was a luxury the Raiders could no longer afford in the day of the salary cap.

It also didn’t help Townsend that defensive lineman Scott Davis was back after two years of retirement or that another defensive lineman, Jerry Ball, had been signed in the off-season, or that Anthony Smith has steadily gained playing time at Townsend’s expense as Smith has grown into one of the NFL’s most effective pass rushers.

Still, the Raiders had offered to bring Townsend back at a salary of $500,000 for this season, but he balked.

And other teams did not show much interest in a trade, realizing the Raiders, near the salary-cap limit of $34.6 million, were going to be forced to release Townsend in order to sign No. 1 draft pick Rob Fredrickson.

Townsend is determined to play somewhere.

He is negotiating with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals have reportedly dropped out of the bidding after expressing interest.

“I had thought I would play another two to three years,” he said. “But now this makes me want to prove myself. Now I want to play three to four years. I’ll just have to start from scratch with a new team.”

Townsend would like to have started his search earlier.

“I wish they had given me a little bit more of an opportunity to find a new team sooner if they were going to do it (release him) anyway,” Townsend said. “But I’m not bitter. I wore those colors for a long time. I want to reflect on the good times, not hold bitter feelings over what went down.

“I remember that this team gave me an opportunity in ’83 and I’m thankful for that. I’m grateful for the time I had and now it’s time to move on.”

In his heyday, Townsend impressed teammates and opponents alike.

“There were some games where he couldn’t be blocked,” Raider linebacker Winston Moss said. “I would look at the film and I thought there wasn’t anybody who could block this guy.”

When you play 11 years and record 107.5 regular-season sacks, most in AFC history, there is much to replay in the VCR of your mind. But Townsend didn’t hesitate when asked for the sweetest moment of them all.

“It was that sack of (John) Elway in that 1985 game,” Townsend said.

It was a game against the Broncos at Denver’s Mile High Stadium, a game the Raiders needed to clinch the AFC West title. With the score tied at 14-14 in overtime, Townsend broke through to sack Elway, the Denver quarterback, causing a fumble the Raiders recovered. The Raiders went on to kick the game-winning field goal.

It figured Townsend would name a moment involving the Broncos. He always seemed to have his biggest days against Denver, his most menacing moments against Elway.

In 1988, he returned an interception 86 yards for a touchdown against the Broncos.

And even last season, with his playing time reduced drastically, Townsend rose up and had one day that brought back memories of his past--a three-sack day against Denver.

Still, Townsend would be just as happy to join the Broncos, or at least get out of the AFC West so that he wouldn’t have to face Elway so much anymore.

“Chasing that guy,” Townsend said, “makes you old.”

But Townsend says he doesn’t feel old.

“This may be the change I need,” he said.