Age-Old Questions

You are what you eat? Not so in the case of Oakland Raider Coach Jon Gruden, who developed a taste for Gummy Butts--a posterior-shaped novelty candy--when he grew tired of screaming at rookies this summer. Each time he felt the urge to sink his teeth into some brain-locked kid, he reached for the sugary substitute. He even turned hobbled receiver Jerry Porter into the keeper of the candy. The rear admiral, if you will.

“Jerry followed me around on the sideline with a box of them,” Gruden said. “I told him if he didn’t get healthy quick, I’d be chewing his butt.”

Then again, Gruden can afford to give his vocal cords a break. That’s one of the benefits of having more than enough veterans to keep wayward rookies in line. With 15 players in their 30s, 10 of them starters, the Silver and Black has gone gray.

For the Raiders, the cartilage is crackling and the clock is ticking. They reached the playoffs last season for the first time since 1993, and fell one victory short of the Super Bowl when they lost the AFC championship game at home to Baltimore. The Raiders need to win now.

There’s a good chance Gruden will be gone when his contract expires after next season. Not only is the team loaded with players on the down slope of their careers, but the organization took a huge financial hit in the wake of its failed lawsuit over the rights to the Los Angeles market. Add to that a lousy stadium deal and all sorts of legal entanglements with the city of Oakland, and there could be far more enticing opportunities for one of football’s most dynamic coaches.

And, of course, as long as Raider owner Al Davis is around, Gruden never will have the carte blanche of Seattle’s Mike Holmgren, Denver’s Mike Shanahan or Philadelphia’s Andy Reid. But Gruden does have star appeal. He was named one of People magazine’s 50 most beautiful people, and recently attracted a huge crowd as the speaker at an annual fund-raiser for the University of Nevada Reno athletic department. The $200-a-plate dinner is held at the governor’s mansion in Carson City, and in years past has featured speakers such as Rick Pitino, John Madden, Bill Walsh and Davis. Only Gruden sold out the event.

“People were practically climbing the walls to get his autograph,” said Gruden’s agent Bob Lamonte. “It’s the closest I’ll ever come to being with a rock star.”

Glitz aside, Gruden can coach, and has an eye for overlooked talent. Like every AFC West team--with the exception of Kansas City--his Raiders made significant strides in the off-season. They landed Jerry Rice, betting he still has some life left in his legs after 16 seasons. They talked 34-year-old guard Steve Wisniewski out of retiring. When running back Napoleon Kaufman gave up the game, they upgraded with Charlie Garner. They let tight end Rickey Dudley go, and brought in sure-handed Roland Williams.

On the defensive line, the Raiders bid adieu to Lance Johnstone, and said hello to Trace Armstrong, who had an AFC-leading 161/2 sacks for the Dolphins last season. He turns 36 next month. “Age,” Armstrong said, “is overblown.”

Tell that to Tim Brown, 35, who endured some mighty lean years during the Mike White and Joe Bugel eras. Once, Brown was so frustrated he threatened to call his own plays. Another time, in the midst of a home loss to woeful New Orleans, he gazed into a crowd of personal seat license-holders and spotted a fan holding a sign that read, “PSL: Please Stop Losing.” Age is overblown? Not when every season feels like a dozen.

“Everybody says, ‘Next year, Tim. Next year,”’ he said. “I’m running out of next years. I don’t have five or six next years left in me.”

Brown is important to the offense but not essential. The same can’t be said of 35-year-old quarterback Rich Gannon, coming off consecutive Pro Bowl appearances. If he’s hurt, the Raiders are kaput. Bobby Hoying is a decent backup, but he hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since 1997.

Gannon was a big reason the Raider ground game flourished last season, rolling up a league-high 2,470 yards. He had a keen ability to sense pressure and scramble out of trouble. His 529 yards rushing were second on the team to Tyrone Wheatley’s 1,046, and Gannon boasted a team-high 5.9 yards per carry. His passing is more effective than pretty. He specializes in chest passes, sidearm slings and last-gasp dinks.

Gannon, a self-proclaimed “jerk,” is deathly serious when it comes to perfecting his craft. The same guy who crank calls his offensive linemen in the off-season has no qualms about angrily barking at them--or his receivers and coaches--in the fall.

“That’s what I love about him,” Gruden said. “He can be the most sour guy around. Because he cares.”

Gruden and the rest of the Raiders care deeply about keeping Gannon healthy, and the offensive changes should help. Not only is Garner a 1,000-yard rusher, but he has great hands and caught 124 passes for the San Francisco 49ers the last two seasons. He even can line up at receiver, as he did on the opening play of the exhibition finale Friday against Green Bay.

The most ballyhooed acquisition was Rice, who turns 39 next month. An amazing scene unfolded in the locker room after Friday’s game, when reporters encircled Rice four-deep, leaving Brown to dress quietly at his stall. In years past, Brown easily drew the most attention in the place. Brown still will be the team’s primary receiver, and he insists he’s perfectly happy sharing the spotlight with his golfing buddy from across the bay. Proving his ego has not lost a step, Brown said: “Replacing Tim Brown and Jerry Rice is not going to be an easy thing for the Raiders to do when we decide to leave.”

That day will come within the next few years, as it will for many others on the team. Right tackle Lincoln Kennedy, for instance, has a baby face, a 30-year-old birth certificate, and a body that feels like

Across the locker room, 35-year-old cornerback Eric Allen slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and headed for an exit. Sometimes, he can feel every day, every collision of his 13 NFL seasons.

“I used to be able to roll out of bed after playing on Sunday and be able to play the next day,” Allen said. “Then, it starts to creep into Tuesday, Wednesday. Now, I play a hard game on the turf on Sunday and it will take me until Saturday [to feel better]. It feels like I’m 50 years old sometimes.”

Armstrong also feels the effect of the years, even though he says age is overblown. A plastic chair groaned under his massive body as he slowly pulled on his socks. “You try to get the younger guys to approach the season with a sense of urgency,” he said. “Because there are a bunch of young guys in this locker room that may never ever be on a team this good again. When you have an opportunity like this, you have a responsibility to make the most of it.”

The room had emptied, and Armstrong’s friends waited for him outside. He knew he had to go but he stayed a bit longer. Some things you just don’t rush.

ever be on a team this good again. When you have an opportunity like this,

you have a responsibility to make the most of it.”

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