Allen a Fan of Raiders, Not Davis

Despite any hard feelings he might have about Al Davis, Marcus Allen said he’s pulling for the Raiders to beat Tampa Bay.

“I’ve got too many friends on that team to be pulling against them,” he said. “I’m not a player hater.”

Allen, who is expected to be voted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, was the game MVP when the Raiders made their last Super Bowl appearance 19 years ago. He had a falling out with Davis a few years after that, parted ways with the team after the 1992 season, and enjoyed a career renaissance with Kansas City after that.

Allen has said he would want to be inducted as both a Raider and a Chief.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “People will bring me a Raiders jersey and say, ‘I know you won’t sign this.’ As though the jersey.... I have nothing against the Raiders. I had a difference of opinion with one guy. That should not define my relationship with people who worked there that I liked, and the players, and the colors -- as silly as that sounds -- the colors haven’t done anything to me. The symbol. Nothing. I had a difference of opinion with one guy, that’s it.

“You try to downplay it. You try not to give it any existence whatsoever, and yet somebody brings it up. And I clearly understand, because it’s a mystery and it’s still a mystery to me. I can’t dwell on that.”

Allen said he is particularly happy for Tim Brown, a lifelong Raider who has made it to the Super Bowl for the first time in his 15-year career. Likewise, Brown regards Allen as a role model.

“Marcus Allen is my guy,” Brown said. “He’s the guy who taught me how to play this game. As good a football player as I thought I was when I got here, the intangibles that he taught me are the things that sustained me so far.

“He’s one of my personal favorites, the most inspirational football player I think I’ve ever played with.”

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Like most of his teammates this week, Brown has deflected any talk of animosity toward Buccaneer Coach Jon Gruden, who left Oakland at the end of last season after four years at the helm.

Brown went even further, giving Gruden credit for changing the mind-set of the silver and black.

“Whether it was true or not,” Brown said, “the players always thought that Al Davis ran everything.”

Brown certainly thought so. When coach Art Shell was fired after the 1994 season, Brown said, “Superman couldn’t coach this team,” referring to Davis’ perceived iron grip.

“The whole attitude changed with Gruden,” Brown said Tuesday. “He changed the offense and the defense and the players realized that, when Gruden said something, it came from Gruden. He was not merely the messenger.”

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When you are 40 years old and in your 19th NFL season, any new source of inspiration is always welcome. Jerry Rice has found one in the wild Raider fans in the Black Hole.

“Coming across the bay,” Rice said, “it’s like night and day. I try to feed off that. I went into the Black Hole after one catch and came out smelling like beer.”

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In addition to media day, in which both squads are available for interviews on the playing field in separate one-hour sessions, there was the usual variety of events Tuesday, from the laughable to the bizarre to the meaningful.

There was the unveiling of a statue of former San Diego Union sports editor Jack Murphy outside Qualcomm, the stadium that once bore Murphy’s name until the naming rights were sold.

There was an ABC news conference, in which broadcasters were available for interviews in a setting once reserved for players only.

There was the Supermarket Showdown, a soup-company promotion to benefit the hungry, and a snore-off to crown the NFL’s loudest snorer.

Just another day at the Super Bowl.