Raider legend acknowledges Doug Williams The St.Petersburg Times, published 19 October 1981 Al Davis stood in a cold, concrete corridor outside the Oakland dressing room. He would individually congratulate his players as they left to go home. A well-dressed young man approached from the other direction. He extended a hand to Davis and said, "I'm Doug Williams." Davis clasped it hard and said, "I know who Doug Williams is. You gave it one helluva try," Although Flores pulls the strings on the sidelines, the Raiders are clearly from the drawing board in Al Davis' mind. He kept frowning, in victory. "When we play a good team like San Diego, we're cornerback Lester Hayes and caught a 77-yard touch- down heave. It had only begun. With suddenly polished confidence, Williams began shooting cannon holes in Oakland's defense. He hit House for 38 more, then for 59. Hayes, who now operates without that infamous Stick- um on his hands-, *As to say that nobody has ever licked him the way House did in setting a Tampa Bay record with 174 yards on four catches. "I've always heard of defensive backs having games like that, but it never happened to me before," Hayes said. He spoke slowly and carefully, a continuing admirable effort to overcome an enormous stammering problem. I had no respect for House's speed. On the films, he looked like a 4.6 guy (at the 40-yard dash). He's more like 4.4. 1 consequently paid dearly for it." Henry Lawrence, an eight-year man out of Florida A&M, had predicted Oakland would sock Tampa Bay off its feet, He was only partly correct. A new respect for Williams was evident. "In the first half, he looked so bad," said Killer Lawrence, who lives in Palmetto, Fla. "Then, he was incredible. Doug Williams is going to be a monster. "He's already a bonafide NFL top-rate QB and he's some kind of winner. Teams are going to have to outscore them," he said. "That's our act. We must challenge opponents and outscore them. Last year in the AFC championship game, I knew we would heat San Diego because our guns were firing. I knew we'd outscore them. We aren't doing that now." Williams and his 10 fellow Tampa Bay offensive soldiers had been a disgusting mess in the first half. In six possessions, they ran 18 plays for 21 yards and made not a solitary Newsday (Long Island) and Sports Illustrated. Williams was doing what those people had expected. Two completions in his first 13 attempts. Ten yards passing. They were poised to again bury him as a wild- man QB. But, not so fast. Less than five minutes into the second half, Bucs receiver Kevin "Cat" House outgunned all-world Raider. “He will be great. “ I don't know why Williams and his offense was so crummy in the first half nor do I know how they suddenly turned the Raiders into punching bags in the second. Nobody does. But, when the blue chips were moved to the center of the table, Tampa Bay still had a legitimate chance to win. A pro team just a 31-yard field goal away from victory will usually do it. Usually. Buccaneer special teams continue to be a cancer. There will be remission, but then the disease will begin spreading again. Like Sunday. There was the blocked field goal There was also a blocked extra point and a blocked punt for a safety, the two-point margin for Oakland. Special teams are a third of a professional football game. Tampa Bay will hopefully realize that someday. For now, the kicking game is still a bombout. Maybe Al Davis is right. Perhaps his kid quarterback, Marc Wilson, will someday be a terror. But I thought Wil- son was shaky against the Bucs. He didn't show me much. "It was pretty today," said Oakland offensive guard Mickey Marvin, "but we'll take it any way. At least we're alive again. If that field goal had gone through for Tampa Bay, we might all be drowning in the shower."