Raiders Have a Message for Fans: Let Us Do the Fighting

As Raider defensive end Anthony Smith was leaving Sunday’s game against the Rams at Anaheim Stadium, he spotted a departing fan who had been placed in a holding cell for unruly behavior.

“Hey,” Smith said, “if you’ve got all that energy, why don’t you become a linebacker for us?”

That sounded great to the fan.

“All right, be at Raider camp for practice tomorrow,” Smith told him.

Sure enough, when Smith arrived at the Raiders’ training headquarters in El Segundo Monday, the fan was there, eager to go to work.

Needless to say, he didn’t get the job.

What the Raiders hope is that their more aggressive fans get the message: Do the cheering and leave the hitting to us.

There were 26 fights at Sunday’s game, 20 arrests and 55 ejections, four times the normal number of arrests and five times the number of ejections for an average Ram game. The Raiders won the game, 20-17.

The San Diego Chargers say they double security when the Raiders come to town. Yet while the Chargers are averaging four ejections and five arrests per home game this season, when the Raiders made their annual trip to San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium last season, there were only three arrests and one ejection.

Those figures pale, however, in comparison to the Coliseum, where there have been 30 to 150 ejections per Raider game this season and about 10 arrests per game, according to Los Angeles police.

There are fewer than 10 ejections per game at the Coliseum for USC games and few arrests. The high this year for a USC game was 25 ejections at the California game.

In 1990, a fan was beaten into a coma at a Raider game. The situation, says Downing, has improved considerably over the last four years.

“That’s because we’ve been more aggressive,” he said. “We’ve been averting problems by spotting the problems before they develop so the rest of the fans can have a nice day.

“When a team that has a real rivalry with the Raiders comes to town (with its fans) wearing their jerseys, that’s when the bantering back and forth begins.”

There are routinely 200 officers on duty for Raider games, perhaps 150 for USC games.

They begin to do their job two hours before the game when they check arriving fans for open containers of alcohol.

Additionally, there are spotters positioned on the roof looking for trouble.

“We have zero tolerance,” Downing said. “If they get into trouble, they are gone as quick as the blink of an eye.”

That’s just how the Raiders want it, executive assistant Al LoCasale said.

“The year we got here, we told (Coliseum officials) that we wanted fan comfort,” he said. “If that meant additional security, so be it. If that meant it appears on our bill, so be it. I think you’re talking about a small, isolated group.”

In addition to shutting off beer sales in the third quarter, officials at the Coliseum have switched to smaller cups, forcing fans to make additional trips to the concession stands to get the same amount of beer.

And those selling the beer are especially conscious of customers who might be under age or appear to already have had too much to drink.

The problems aren’t lost on the players, most of whom have family and friends in the crowd.

They were horrified by what happened Sunday and are no happier when there is trouble at the Coliseum.

“A bunch of drunks ruin it for everybody,” said offensive lineman Steve Wisniewski.

“The fights are ridiculous. They infringe on everybody. If you want to do the swearing and all the other distasteful things, do it at home.

“I worry about my family up there. There’s no call for that. Let the players do the battling on the field.”