Judgment Day: Hayes on Injured Reserve : Raiders Say His Foot Injury Hasn’t Healed; Washington to Start

An era ended and an institution teetered Monday when the Raiders took their Judge, the Honorable Lester Hayes, off the left corner he’s made famous, not to mention colorful, for the first opening day since 1978 and slid him onto injured reserve.

The circumstances weren’t quite clear-cut, either, suggesting this may have been as much demotion as medical necessity.

Of course, Hayes went to the sideline in his inimitable style, alluding to his sore foot that--well, let him tell it:

“It’s two toes on my left foot. These past four weeks, these two toes, they’re non-functional. I have only eight damn toes.

“Against San Francisco, I hit a hole warming up. It’s diagnosed as a strained tendon and these two toes haven’t moved since . . . I would have a very difficult time covering Andre the Giant. And he’s 7-foot-4 and weighs 550. So be it.

“I’ve always had a stupendous burst of speed and that stupendous burst of speed, since the injury, it’s null and void. If I can’t burst, I can’t go up and play tight, tough man-to-man pass coverage with the confidence I’ve always had. It’s extremely asinine. I can’t control my destiny. I can’t control Mother Nature.

“It’s a distinct Judge-ism, that explosion (Hayes was nicknamed Judge at Texas A&M;, after sentencing arch-rival Texas to a defeat before one meeting). But my explosion now is on the same par with a firecracker.”

After re-injuring the foot before the exhibition opener, Hayes returned for the final two. He mentioned continuing problems with the foot last week but when he was knocked out of last Saturday’s game with the Chicago Bears--”I was hit by a Teflon bullet, Walter Payton,” was how he put it--there was no mention of the foot, either by Hayes or the team.

Monday there was, though.

“He claims his foot is still bothering him,” Tom Flores said.

Had it been a factor in his leaving the Bear game?

“The foot, to my understanding, was not a factor,” Flores said. “But he claims the foot has been bothering him and is bothering him and is the reason why he hasn’t performed to the level that he thought he should and we thought he should.”

Both sides were hazy on details, but Hayes may have been called in, asked if he was OK, responded that the foot was still sore and told he’d have to go on injured reserve.

“Was it my decision?” Hayes asked. “I’m not Coach (Al) Davis. It’s Coach Davis’ team. I don’t make any decisions. I wanted to play. I played 148 straight games (before breaking a bone in the same foot last December in Seattle). I’ve played hurt. I took 30cc of novocaine at Seattle. Last year I took 140cc of Xylocaine in my hip.”

Asked about a meeting, Hayes laughed, made a sign of zipping his mouth and changed the subject.

“Boy, it’s a nice day!” he exclaimed. “No smog in L.A.! See all the way to Sepulveda!”

Coincidentally or not, Lionel Washington, an offseason cornerback acquisition from St. Louis who will replace Hayes, had his best day as a Raider in relief Saturday, intercepting a pass, batting another down, tipping a third so that Sammy Seale could intercept it. Whether that had anything to do with this move is unknown but it makes you wonder.

Meanwhile, Hayes is frankly worried.

“This is the same foot I hurt at Seattle,” he said. “It happened last December. That’s almost 10 months ago and it still bothers me. It’s really frightening me. . . . It’s progressed to numbness in my toes. I don’t understand a prognosis of a strained tendon that leads to numbness in my toes.”

He can’t be activated for six weeks. Does he think he can get his job back then?

Hayes laughed.

“Destiny,” he said. “That’s intriguing, intriguing, intriguing. There are some records that aren’t meant to be broken. That’s a spine-tingler, no question.”

Since he can’t even practice with the team for four weeks, will he still come around?

“Of course,” Hayes said. “I’ll work with the younger guys. When I was a fifth-round draft choice, I needed help and the old guys didn’t help at all. Mike Davis and I came into the league in ’77 and we weren’t helped at all on the football field.

“I’m going to help the younger guys because this is the IBM age and I have both feet firmly planted in the IBM age.”

He’d better worry about helping the writers, who are on their own for the first time in a decade.

Almost as significantly, the Raiders cut Steve Wright, the journeyman started the last two exhibitions and appeared set to open as the No. 1 right tackle.

Wright must have overdosed on Dan Hampton Saturday because Monday, he went, an indication that Raider management was not at all pleased with the Bears’ seven-sack first half.

So who’s the new No. 1 right tackle?

No. 1 pick John Clay, apparently, who saw his first action on the right side Saturday, after Richard Dent taught him a thing or two on the other side. Flores says that except for two flashy rushes, Clay held up well on both sides, and anyway, Green Bay doesn’t have a Dent.

Clay will probably be starting next to another rookie, No. 2 pick Bruce Wilkerson. The Raiders haven’t even started one rookie on the offensive line since Gene Upshaw in 1967.

“I can’t remember having two rookies in the offensive line, I think, going all the way back to ’65 when I was playing,” Flores said

Also, he said it’s “possible” that Brian Holloway will start at left tackle, in place of Bruce Davis. Holloway only arrived in camp Thursday but played a quarter against the Bears.

With quarterback Rusty Hilger and wide receivers James Lofton and Mervyn Fernandez, the offense is now up to five new faces and that “possible.”

Also moved to injured reserve: return man Chris Woods, quarterback Steve Beuerlein, offensive lineman John Gesek, and for the second straight year, tight end Gene Branton.

Moved to the non-football injury reserve list was defensive end Mike Wise, a No. 4 pick a year ago. He has a virus.

The other cuts: five-year Raider James Davis, a backup defensive back; Dean Miraldi, an early contender at right guard who fell off after pulling a stomach muscle; Ethan Horton, a Kansas City Chiefs’ No. 1 pick who was the first back chosen in the ’85 draft and who has failed numerous tryouts since; Patrick Miller, Ronnie Washington, Jeff Reinke, Dwight Wheeler and Chris McLemore.