By IAN O'CONNOR
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

SAN DIEGO - Al Davis might end up holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy Sunday night, and everyone should know that prospect is about as romantic as a boil on a pit bull's rump.

You can pull for Jerry Rice and Rich Gannon and Tim Brown, but understand there is no redeeming value in a fourth Super Bowl title for an owner who doesn't demand a commitment to excellence as much as he does a commitment to His Excellency.

Don't get charmed by the Davis mystique, by the notions of an aging maverick making one last defiant stand against a steamrolling NFL machine. Davis isn't for rebels of all causes. He's for the one and only rebel in those silly Raider sweatsuits, those silly shades, and a silly pompadour that went out of style before the AFL was born.

His two-bit ideas on loyalty amount to a one-way street; he's allowed to betray fans and owners in pursuit of greener grass and bigger luxury suites, but God help a player or coach if he betrays Davis in pursuit of a free-agent score.

Marcus Allen found out the hard way long before Jon Gruden dared to flirt with recruiters from Notre Dame and the like, enraging Davis and, ultimately, inspiring him to FedEx his coach to a team that would do the civilized world a favor by just winning, baby, or however the brainless expression goes.

If the Buccaneers can't beat the Raiders, watching the 73-year-old Davis end his 19-year championship exile will be plenty more painful than watching Art Modell, the man who broke Cleveland's heart, ride the Baltimore Ravens to heights he didn't deserve to reach.

"I don't want to evaluate Al Davis one way or another," Wellington Mara said by phone, "and that's as nice a way as I can put it."

Mara said it was only coincidence that he's attended every Super Bowl but two: Sunday's and the Raiders' victory over the Eagles 22 years back. Mara, one of the NFL's great sportsmen, loathes Davis and his new best friend, Jerry Jones. Even though the Giants owner once skipped a league meeting because he was afraid Davis would hit him with a subpoena, Mara allowed that he's favoring the Bucs' No. 1 defense over the Raiders' No. 1 offense for less personal reasons.

"I always root for the defense," Mara said.

He always roots for fairness, too, for men who couldn't stand in a room of any five adults without knowing he's sued at least four of them.

"I'd heard a lot of stories," Rice said of Davis. "A lot of bad stories."

"When I was in Kansas City," Gannon said, "I only knew what Marty Schottenheimer had told me. And that wasn't all positive."

Now Rice and Gannon swear by Davis while the rest of creation swears at him.

Davis grew up in Flatbush and saw Walter O'Malley forever steal a piece of Brooklyn's soul, yet he had no problem running the Raiders out of Oakland and hitting a resistant league in court for $49.2 million in damages. The minute Davis turned sour on his Los Angeles Coliseum deal, he had no problem negotiating with nearby Irwindale - a gravel-pit community of 1,100 residents - and walking away with $10 million the town couldn't afford to lose.

"We didn't get the team and Al Davis still took all that money," Patricio Miranda, an Irwindale councilman, said Friday by phone. "It hurt, because we only have 1,000 people living here. I was the only councilman to vote against giving him the $10 million, non-refundable, just to talk. I told the other members that it should be like buying a house, put it in escrow and let him get the money only if it passes. I guess I have to blame my people more than I blame Al Davis."

Only Davis has a long history of being the most culpable party. He didn't just sue the league to leave Oakland; he later testified against the league in the USFL's anti-trust case, committing what Mara called "atrocities" against his NFL partners. Davis abandoned Irwindale, abandoned Los Angeles, took $64 million up front to return to Oakland, and then sued the NFL for $1 billion for allegedly undermining a stadium deal he was trying to cut in Hollywood Park, a move Paul Tagliabue called "a sham and a shakedown."

Davis sued the league for letting the Carolina Panthers wear shades of silver and black, and sued the league for letting the Buccaneers use crossed swords in their insignia. Davis is suing Alameda County for failing to honor financial promises it made when the Raiders returned from Los Angeles, meaning the owner might desert Oakland's fiercely devoted - if frightening - fan base on yet another midnight run to L.A.

But Al Davis is all about loyalty. Of course he is. Ever since his AFL merged with the NFL and left Pete Rozelle with the commissioner's job Davis coveted, the Raiders owner has been the league's answer to Jerry Tarkanian.

And the Rebels loved Tark just like the Raiders love Davis. Never mind that Davis has lorded over a darker period than the Steinbrenner '80s. Never mind that Davis came up with the brilliant ideas that were Mike White, Joe Bugel and Sebastian Janikowski, first-round pick.

He keeps his old Raiders employed. He talks about Melville and Billy Budd with his fullback, Jon Ritchie. He charms writers the way Tony Soprano charms viewers.

"He's like the godfather of the NFL," said Lomas Brown, "with his white pants, his slicked-back hair and his bodyguards."

But it would be a crime if his team wins this game. When I asked Tagliabue if he was uncomfortable with the prospect, he said: "It's not uncomfortable at all. The Raiders have a great team. They have great players. They have players who have contributed extraordinarily to the NFL for years, on and off the field, starting with Tim Brown and many, many others. So it's going to be players against players and two great teams."

When I asked the commissioner again about Davis and the disappointment he'd feel in handing him the same trophy Rozelle had to hand him, Tagliabue's stoic face tightened into a knot.

"The answer is it's not disappointing at all, period. They have a great football team, they deserve to be here ... and if they win, they deserve their recognition and they'll get it."

Tagliabue couldn't bear to mention Davis by name, never mind speak to his unwelcome presence. The Raiders owner has that effect on people for a reason.

He was born on the Fourth of July, but pledges his allegiance to a nation of one. For this reason, I ask the following question:

Is there any way Jerry Rice can win his fourth title without Al Davis doing the same?

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