Townsend Still Candid as Suspension Is Over

The prodigal Raider returned from his suspension for marijuana use Wednesday to find a throng waiting to hear what he’d been doing the last month.

“Urine specimens,” said Greg Townsend, breaking up the press corps. “Going to the bathroom a lot.”

Players often duck such confrontations, or issue prepared statements without taking questions, or swear their real problem is alcohol, which is not addressed by any National Football League program. But this was Townsend, candid as ever, loose as he was the day of his rumble in Kansas City, when he announced, “You can take the guy out of Watts, but you can’t take the Watts out of the guy.”

So what was his story?

He smoked marijuana, a joint a day to relax after practice, he said. He has done it as long as he has been a Raider, or at Texas Christian, or even at Dominguez High School.

He had tested positive for it once before, without publicity.

This time . . .

“I stopped on June 22, so I thought that by July 21 (the veterans’ reporting date) it’d be all out (of the system),” he said.

But marijuana stays in the bloodstream longer than that. Townsend and eight other players in the NFL were suspended without pay, although all it cost was their camp per diem, since contracts aren’t paid until the season starts.

Now obliged to undergo random testing weekly under the NFL’s drug program, Townsend said he stopped using the drug without difficulty. He isn’t in a detox program and claims to feel no physical discomfort.

Embarrassment maybe, but no discomfort.

“It was just something that I used to do after a hard day’s work,” he said.

“Just like people go in their refrigerator and grab a beer, mix a cocktail. I went and rolled a joint after practice. That’s what I did to unwind.

“I grew up in a certain neighborhood (Compton) and I started off young. That’s the way it was. There was no age limit. It was easier to go up to a guy and buy a bag of weed than go in a store and buy a six-pack or two.

“I have stopped. It’s a must that I stop. It’s no problem that I stopped. It’s just something I have to do for my career. They won’t tolerate that anymore from me.

“A lot of people that know me said, ‘This is the only way you’d take control of the situation.’ But I never felt the situation had taken control of me. Some people thought I was abusing it. I just felt it was part of my routine.”

“Do I think this was just a slap on the wrist? To me, that’s all I needed. If I get caught again, maybe you can say it was a wrist slap. To me, it was a lesson well learned.”

His professional situation remains the same. The left end on the four-man line, he’ll be trying to beat tackles to the outside in throwing situations in Sunday’s opener against the San Diego Chargers at the Coliseum. Last season, he led the team with 8 1/2 sacks. Without him in the exhibition season, the team totaled 5, so he didn’t have a lot of trouble getting his job back.

What else comes with it, he’ll learn soon.

“I’m concerned about how people will accept me,” Townsend said. “People might take me as a druggie, or whatever.

“I was thinking of that on the way here. I just know people are going to be saying little things to me. When I hear that, I’ve just got to walk with tunnel vision, just keep on going to where I’m supposed to be. That’s on the sidelines, helping my team out.”

Raider Notes

Lineup changes, or non-changes: Linden King returns to his left outside linebacker spot, replacing Reggie McKenzie. Stacey Toran, who has only been back for two days, will start at strong safety over Zeph Lee. Mike Haynes remains at right cornerback, with Lionel Washington still questionable for Sunday’s game with a groin pull.

The Raider-Schroeder front: Redskin officials told Washington reporters that Al Davis called Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs last Saturday to talk about backup quarterback Jay Schroeder but hasn’t called since. The Redskins are reportedly asking for Jim Lachey plus a No. 1 pick, with the Raiders disinclined to give up Lachey. Lachey was so concerned, he asked a club official if it was safe to rent a house here for the season, and was told it was.