Q 6

PLAYBOY: Is the sexual drawing power of N.F.L. players exaggerated?

Bubba Smith: If you're a ballplayer of any status, you run across at least three women in every city who want to play with you. When I was a young player, I had sex with more than 1000 women. It was an ego thing. When Mel Farr and I were roommates at the College All-Star game, a girl came up to our room. She told us she had been out with Jim Brown at a previous All-Star game. We couldn't have sex with her after that. We realized she was too old for us.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: Can sex before a game sap a player's strength?

Bubba Smith: It never did mine. I had a theory that in order for me to be loose, I had to have sex the night before a game. If I was with a woman, it took my mind away from the tension or the importance of the game. If a girl ever got in a locker room during half time and had sex with a player, it wouldn't last more than a few seconds. Players' minds are on other things. One summer, I bet my roommate I could have sex with more women than he could. I was averaging three women a day. After a while, it became tiresome. Sometimes, you reach a point where you're about to climax, then you shoot a blank. That happened to me, and it got scary. When you have to prove your manhood during sex, you start to lose interest. Who needs the hassle or the pressure?

Q 8

PLAYBOY: Does sex with a cheerleader enhance team spirit?

Bubba Smith: I've never had sex with a cheerleader. I'm allergic to pompons.

Q 9

PLAYBOY: Can a homosexual player find happiness in the N.F.L.?

Bubba Smith: Not if he goes looking for it in my hotel room. I had a teammate, a wide receiver on a pro team, who was a homosexual. I didn't know it for a long time. He had a hard-on all the time in the shower--and that's not normal in a shower room filled with guys who've practiced in the hot sun for a few hours. So I asked him about it. He told me he always got a hard-on when the water was really hot. I tried that and nearly burned my dick off. You know a player's gay if he's got a hard-on in the shower after the team loses.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: How does a pro football coach motivate his players?

Bubba Smith: He has to be a great actor. Coaches usually put you to sleep with their speeches. The players are pros. They know what they have to do to win. But they'll pay attention to a coach who's a little crazy. John Madden, who coached me at Oakland, is a super actor. He would make me laugh at half time. He'd say stuff like, "Let's go out and kick ass, like the Raiders of old." One day after I had just joined the Raiders and was trying to learn their system, Madden told me to watch him. He went over to the offensive unit and went crazy. He yelled, "What the fuck is this? Who the fuck do you think we're playing? We're playing Kansas City, you motherfuckers! You don't give a shit if we win." I was standing there thinking, What's wrong with this man? Then he screamed for them to get in a huddle and run a play. Everybody kicked ass on the play. Madden turned to me and said, "How was I?" I freaked out.

Davis used to shake his head at the players after practice to shame us into thinking we did badly and should play harder. So one time, I told him I was having some trouble with my old lady. You know what he told me? "What's she look like? The only thing you have to do is tell me and we can find one just like her." Was he going to clone my woman? Al said that would be no problem. Life with the Raiders was a strange head trip!

Q 11

PLAYBOY: Describe a filming of a Lite Beer commercial.

Bubba Smith: Filming the alumni commercial, where everybody is there, is like going to training camp. We're filming and partying for five days. It's a good time. The night before we did one commercial, I was assigned to look after Yankees manager Billy Martin. We were at a bar, and Billy had six vodka martinis. He was talking weird! I figured the only way I was going to understand him was to get on the same wave length with him, so I drank vodka real quick. Before I knew it, I had about ten drinks. Now I was starting to understand Billy, which was strange. We closed the bar and tried to find our rooms. I was so hung over the next day, I played some tricks on him. He was asleep on the set, so I put Tabasco sauce on his mouth. He woke up licking his lips and called me something you don't call a cat from the street.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: Does Rodney Dangerfield get any respect? Or is he too Hollywood?

Bubba Smith: I like Rodney, but he thinks he's a star. We might have an eight-o'clock call on the set, but Rodney wouldn't show up until ten. One day, he was late and everyone was pissed. Boom Boom Geoffrion said he was gonna kick his ass. You don't screw around with hockey players, 'cause you never know where they're hiding their stick. I went outside and I saw Rodney coming in. I said, "Rodney, the troops are a little pissed off." He started playing with his tie and making excuses. I told him I'd take care of everything. I went back and told the guys, "Rodney doesn't care that he's late." [Grins] I just wanted to get some trouble started. Rodney came in and yelled Boom Boom's name. He suddenly got real tense. Everybody got quiet. Rodney said, "Boom Boom, I think I went out with your sister last night. Is her name Bang Bang?"

In one of the commercials, Dick Butkus and I had to grab Rodney. He was supposed to say, "I tell you, I get no respect." We shocked him so much by where we grabbed him that he yelled, "I tell you, I don't deserve no respect."