Air Pressure

Hard to imagine, but Raider quarterback Rich Gannon once flirted with the idea of giving up pro football to become a lawyer. Fifteen years later, as he inches toward NFL history, Gannon faces 12 angry men every Sunday.

That would be the opposing defense, plus a defensive coordinator ready to hammer-throw his headset into the upper deck.

“Rich drives you crazy,” said Jim Mora, San Francisco’s defensive coordinator. “He presents tremendous problems. He’s very smart, and he’s a great decision maker. And he’s got all those throws -- sidearm, over the top, underhand -- so he’s got a lot of ways to burn you.”

Gannon is within striking range of Dan Marino’s single-season record of 5,084 yards passing that has stood since 1984. Marino is the only player in league history who has thrown for 5,000 yards in a season.

Gannon, 36, who starts today’s game against the Dolphins with 4,205 yards, is on pace to finish with 5,175.

“He’s like a doctor performing surgery on some of these secondaries,” said Marino, now an analyst for CBS and HBO. “The thing about him is, he’s playing so smart too. He’s not making mistakes, he knows when to throw the ball away and they’re really using the passing game in some respects as the running game.”

By that, Marino means the Raiders thrive on a steady diet of short passes to pick apart defenses, instead of the deep ball that so long was a hallmark of the franchise. The vertical stretch has gone horizontal.

Whereas Marino threw 564 passes during his record year, Gannon is on pace for more than 100 more, 672, and could even threaten the league record set by Drew Bledsoe, who threw 691 with New England in 1994.

Marino threw 12 touchdown passes of 30 yards or longer that season; Gannon has thrown only four that long, and through 13 games has 23 touchdown passes, fewer than half of Marino’s record of 48.

This isn’t the first time Marino’s record has been threatened. St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner was on pace for a staggering 6,026 yards through the first six games of the 2000 season before breaking a finger. And Warner threw for 4,830 yards in 2001, the closest anyone has come to Marino’s record. San Diego’s Dan Fouts threw for 4,802 in 1981.

“You never want your records being broke,” Marino said. “I would be lying if I told you I wanted [Gannon] to do it. But if he does it, he deserves it. He’s a class guy. You know what I like about it? He’s doing it and they’re winning and they have a good team.”

Gannon, touted by many people as the NFL’s most valuable player, has had help. He’s flanked by future hall-of-fame receivers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown, a budding playmaker in Jerry Porter, a versatile running back in Charlie Garner, a sure-handed rookie tight end in Doug Jolley.

Bill Callahan has replaced Jon Gruden as coach, and the Raiders have tweaked their offense. Gruden’s approach was more run-oriented, and his teams consistently were among the league leaders in rushing yardage. Callahan’s Raiders have the fourth-fewest rushes, 305, and are more willing to lean on Gannon’s passing.

In a victory at Pittsburgh, 70 of the Raiders’ 87 plays were passes and Gannon threw 25 consecutive times during one stretch. He set an NFL record for completions in a non-overtime game with 43, and a team record with 64 attempts.

Later in the season, in a victory at Denver, Gannon set an NFL single-game record with 21 consecutive completions.

He set another record last Sunday with his 10th 300-yard game of the season.

Even though the NFL record book is starting to look like his diary, Gannon insists that isn’t his goal.

“The only record I’m focused on is our wins and losses,” he said. “I don’t want to sound arrogant, but that really is our focus and will continue to be my focus.”

Gannon’s pro career almost ended before it started, back when he was a Delaware quarterback. NFL scouts acted as if they were considering him as a quarterback but really saw him as a safety.

“OK, Rich,” they would tell him at the end of the workout, “now let’s see you backpedal.”

In fact, when New England chose him in the fourth round of the 1987 draft, then told him he would be a defensive back, he politely told the Patriots to take a hike.

“He was going to go to law school instead of playing football,” recalled his father, James Gannon, a lawyer. “I remember having lunch with him and he said, ‘I’m not going to play for them, Dad.’ He’s firm-minded, you might say.”

The Patriots caught his drift, trading him to Minnesota. Gannon went from the Vikings to the Redskins to the Chiefs, and finally the Raiders, and with Oakland, he has reached the Pro Bowl the last three seasons. As for his place in NFL history? Case closed.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Set to Fall

Several notable NFL season records and milestones could be exceeded today:

TOUCHDOWNS

With three more touchdowns, the Chiefs’ Priest Holmes can break Marshall Faulk’s season record of 26 set in 2000.

*--* Player Team Year Tds Marshall Faulk St. Louis 2000 26 Emmitt Smith Dallas 1995 25 John Riggins Washington 1983 24 Priest Holmes Kansas City 2002 *24 O.J. Simpson Buffalo 1975 23 Jerry Rice San Francisco 1987 23

*--*

* through 13 games

RECEPTIONS

The Colts’ Marvin Harrison’s 118 catches are six short of breaking the record of 123 set by Detroit’s Herman Moore in 1995.

*--* Player Team Year Rec Herman Moore Detroit 1995 123 Cris Carter Minnesota 1994 122 Cris Carter Minnesota 1995 122 Jerry Rice San Francisco 1995 122 Isaac Bruce St. Louis 1995 119 Marvin Harrison Indianapolis 2002 *118

*--*

* through 13 games

COMPLETIONS

With a stellar performance against the Dolphins, Oakland’s Rich Gannon can become the NFL’s all-time leader in completions in a season. Gannon needs 29 to break the record of 404 set by the Oilers’ Warren Moon in 1991.

*--* Player Team Year Cmp Warren Moon Houston 1991 404 Drew Bledsoe New England 1994 400 Dan Marino Miami 1994 385 Dan Marino Miami 1986 378 Warren Moon Minnesota 1995 377 Rich Gannon Oakland 2002 *376

*--*

* through 13 games

FEWEST TO 20,000

Peyton Manning has thrown for 19,830 yards in 77 games in five seasons. If Manning hits the 170-yard passing mark against the Browns today, only Dan Marino will have reached the 20,000 mark in fewer games.

*--* Quarterback Team Games Dan Marino Miami 74 Drew Bledsoe New England 83 Brett Favre Green Bay 86 Jim Everett L.A. Rams 88 Jim Kelly Buffalo 88 Peyton Manning Indianapolis *77

*--*

* currently at 19,830 yards

PUNT RETURNS

Through 14 weeks of the season, there have been 20 punt-return touchdowns, breaking the NFL record of 17 set in 1992.

*--* Season Punt-Return TDs 2002 *20 1992 17 1994 16 1998 16 1999 16

*--*

* through 14 weeks

PUNT/KICKOFF RETURNS

There also have been 14 TDs on kickoff returns in 2002, bringing the combined kick-return total to 34, tying the record set in 1998.

*--* Season Kick-Return TDs 1998 34 2002 *34 1994 32 2000 30

*--*

* through 14 weeks