He Was Just Performing His Duty as Solid Citizen

I’m typing as fast as I can, already surviving the threat of citizen’s arrest -- and I don’t have the time to go into the details about the two motorcycle cops, the security guard armed with a stick or the FBI -- because there is talk the NFL might revoke my Super Bowl press credential and turn off my computer for the remainder of the week because I went atop a hill to watch the Raiders practice Wednesday.

The NFL going out of its way to protect Al Davis’ franchise from The Times’ scrutiny -- now that’s a story never written before.

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THERE ARE almost 3,000 media members here reporting daily on the Super Bowl, and almost none of them watch either team for a single moment preparing for the big game. The NFL allows only one pool reporter to watch practice, and hires all kinds of security personnel to make sure no one else sneaks a peek.

The Chargers, of course, don’t allow anyone to watch practice during the regular season to keep the media from laughing at their players, so over the years the San Diego media have moved to a pair of bluffs overlooking the team’s practice facility to monitor the dropped passes and fumbles.

The Raiders are using the Chargers’ practice facility, so I joined San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Jim Trotter, a veteran observer from the bluffs, to see for myself if Davis really does all the coaching.

Immediately we were stopped by a security guard in a yellow coat, then another in a blue coat, who called in a pair of San Diego motorcycle cops. That’s when I noticed the Raider decals on the motorcycles, which in this Raider-hating city is akin to USC’s Mike Garrett driving a car with a UCLA license plate holder.

“Can’t wait to write that,” I said, and when neither one of them made a move for their side arms, right away it told me they weren’t really Raider fans.

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THE FBI agents were too busy watching practice to bust us, but the NFL security supervisor was ticked. “No binoculars -- NFL orders,” he snapped.

Now if I don’t pay any attention to anything Times’ sports editor Bill Dwyre has to say, do you think I’m going to start taking orders from Paul Tagliabue & Co.?

So I used the binoculars, and the cops said we were within our rights so long as the private property owner didn’t ask us to leave. I didn’t think it was the right time to mention my eyesight is so bad now that everything I see using binoculars is a blur, so I told Trotter to write down everything I really couldn’t see.

“Gannon at quarterback,” I said, and who else was I going to say? “Garner behind Gannon. Tim Brown in motion, Gannon throws to Rice and he catches the ball.”

Trotter wrote it all down, and that seemed to really tick off the NFL security goons because that’s exactly what happened on the field below, compelling them to use their walkie-talkies and inform the NFL I knew the Raiders’ entire game plan.

“The property owner is on his way here to perform a citizen’s arrest,” said Glenn Olsen, a supervisor for Contemporary Services Corp., and to be honest, that’s the only time all day I got really scared. I envisioned being hauled off to jail, knowing I’d get one phone call to get someone to bail me out, and I couldn’t think of a single person I could contact.

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THE COPS eventually produced a letter from the private property owner denying us permission to be there, so we left and went next door to the San Diego County Sheriff’s office and asked permission if we could watch practice. It was immediately granted because it’s public property or because the sheriff is a Chargers’ fan and likes annoying the Raiders.

I’d urge all Charger fans to stop by the parking lot and watch the Raiders practice over the next two days and annoy the Raiders. I’d even suggest holding up signs: “Hey Al, Up Here,” or “Wait Until I Tell Gruden What You’re Running.”

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A FREELANCE TV photographer showed up ready for action after hearing debate on a police scanner whether reporters from San Diego and L.A. newspapers should be hauled off in handcuffs. (I worked previously for the San Diego newspaper, and most of those reporters work in handcuffs anyway because of the restrictive editors they work under, but that’s a little different.)

Another NFL security goon stopped by and indicated our Super Bowl media credentials were going to be revoked. “Make my day,” I said, but he didn’t hear me, because someone from the sheriff’s department suggested he might want to rethink that position since we had permission to be there.

Trotter, meanwhile, lost interest in faking like we really could see anything from the hill, and called Charger Coach Marty Schottenheimer, whose office oversees the practice field.

The Raiders insisted that Schottenheimer lower the blinds so he couldn’t watch them practice, and because they are the Raiders -- like most folks in San Diego -- Schottenheimer said he had locked himself in his office.

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THE WHOLE thing is ridiculous, of course. I’ve been watching NFL practices for 20 years, and I still couldn’t tell you anything beyond Gannon throwing to Rice and Rice catching it.

But paranoia is as much a part of the NFL game as shoulder pads and helmets -- like I’d really write down everything I see watching a Raiders’ practice, and pass it on to Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden just because he’s my former golfing partner, and I’d love to see him humiliate the Raiders.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.