Davis Gives State of Raiders’ Union

At the same time news was trickling out of Dallas on Wednesday that Cowboy assistant coach Sean Payton had passed on an offer to be the head coach in Oakland, Al Davis was conducting a rare news conference at Raider headquarters to dispel rumors his team is in disarray.

“I would tell you that it isn’t,” said the Raider owner, making his first public comments other than court testimony in nearly two years. “It never has been. What has happened, we consider normal, and I don’t know what you mean by disarray. We didn’t win, if that’s what you mean by disarray. You have to win in this business. Nothing else matters, other than life or death.”

Davis sat alone behind a table on the stage of a darkened auditorium and spoke for 53 minutes. He answered questions about the firing of Coach Bill Callahan, whose contract was not renewed after a 4-12 season; the heartbreak of losing the Super Bowl; and the merits of a lawsuit filed against him by the family of the late E.J. McGah, which owns part of the team.

“Speaking to the great fans of the Raiders all over the nation, all over the world and certainly in the Bay Area, the greatness of the Raiders will continue in its future,” said Davis, wearing a black leather jacket and with a Raider helmet in front of each hand.

“There are years of glory, there are a few years of defeat. And make no mistake about it, 2003 was a year of defeat, and we intend to go through that mountain, even though those rocks are coming down, and bring this wagon through again, and we’ll be there again.”

Davis reportedly has interviewed several candidates to fill the vacancy, among them Dennis Green, now head coach of the Arizona Cardinals; Greg Knapp, the former San Francisco assistant coach now the offensive coordinator in Atlanta; Al Saunders, Kansas City’s offensive coordinator; and Dallas assistant coaches Maurice Carthon and Payton.

Several news outlets and websites reported Tuesday that Payton, 40, who is the Cowboys’ assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach, would be introduced this week as coach of the Raiders. Even terms of a contract were reported.

The Cowboys reported on their website Wednesday that Payton decided to stay with the team rather than become Raider coach.

“I don’t think Sean Payton turned down the job, because Sean Payton was never offered the job,” Davis said. “Sean Payton has a lot of good credentials, but I don’t know if that’s the direction we’re going.”

Davis is believed to be interested in talking to two New England assistant coaches, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, but cannot do so until after the Patriots play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.

“Whoever we hire, I’m not looking for a disciplinarian,” Davis said. “I don’t believe that’s the way to go with this modern day, with this culture, with these groups of young athletes. These guys are educated guys, most of them, and we’ve got to inspire them and convince them. There are a couple that are tough to handle, but that’s part of the group process. You bring in a disciplinarian who’s going to stand up in front of them, and somewhere along the way they’re going to get tired of that, and they’re going to challenge it.”

Callahan, who was hired this month as coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, was criticized by some Raider players for being too rigid when it came to enforcing rules. Davis pointed out the irony of Callahan’s trying to hire Jay Norvell, still under contract as tight-ends coach of the Raiders, to join him as offensive coordinator at Nebraska.

“Bill just lost track of which rules we’re going to follow,” Davis said. “We’re going to be late for curfew, but we don’t have a contract.”

Davis also offered comments and observations on a wide range of topics:

* On the McGah family lawsuit, which claims Davis has misused team funds for his personal benefit: “I think it’s harassment, nuisance, trash. There have been accusations relative to me that are not true, not even close to being true.... I can only tell you that their attorneys called me several months ago -- a year ago, about this time -- and wanted to know if they could sell their interest out, get out. I said they certainly could. We talked about price with the attorneys, and they didn’t like the price. And I don’t know, I can only assume this is nuisance, harassment, to try and get more money for their sale.”

* On whether losing the Super Bowl a year ago had an effect on the Raiders this season: “Do I think it had any impact? Yeah, I think a lot of things are relevant, and certainly that could be related.”

* On linebacker Bill Romanowski punching teammate Marcus Williams during training camp and fracturing the reserve tight end’s eye socket: “It’s not the first fight I’ve ever seen on the football field. I’ve seen some guys go into the Hall of Fame recently. One guy, a great player, beat up one of our players so bad one day that it was unbelievable. He got fined. As warriors, that’s what these guys do. Unfortunately, this happened to hit an eye socket and, I hope, caused no problems.”

* On whether it was a surprise that Callahan went a month without talking to cornerback Charles Woodson, who had accused him of being an egomaniacal tyrant: “Of course it’s a surprise. The coach is the coach. The players are the players. The players play the game. You’ve got to teach them. You’ve got to coach them, and once in a while you’ve got to love them, and you can’t win the battle every time you’re with them. I learned that back when I was 21 years old. You can’t win that battle all the time with the players. Sometimes you’ve got to give in to them.”