Q 6

PLAYBOY: Are you a jealous person?

John Matuszak: No. I have fought being that. I remember feeling that green monster inside me when I was in high school. It almost destroyed the relationships I had in my early years in college. Now I've gone the other way. I've shut myself off from being jealous. I was kind of married for three years, but I won't talk about that. It would be difficult for me to allow myself to get close to another person like that again. Romance to me is caring a lot about somebody and making each other feel comfortable. It's respecting each other and knowing how to give good head.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: How hard do you concentrate on intimidating your opponents?

John Matuszak: I don't concentrate on intimidating them so much as I concentrate on kicking their ass. The fact that my opponents know I'm an ass kicker makes them try a little harder against me. I don't get down on the line and say, "All right, you dirty muthafucker. Your mother wears combat boots." Who needs to hear that shit in a game? When I'm down on the line, it's concentration time. My opponents don't talk to me during a game, either. They know better. And if they don't or they're rookies, I teach them fast. You don't make an angry man angrier.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: What intimidates you?

John Matuszak: Being in a deep sleep and having someone come into the room and wake me up rudely. That scares the hell out of me. Women sometimes intimidate me. If I see a woman I like, I get shy right away. Yes, the big guy gets shy. I try to overcome my shyness and intimidation by just being honest. I don't have a game plan for seducing a woman. Every woman, like every game plan, has to be approached differently. My game plan with women is like the Raiders' game plan. In order to keep being successful, we don't give our strategy away. Nobody intimidates the Raiders!

Q 9

PLAYBOY: Not even Pete Rozelle, the National Football League commissioner?

John Matuszak: [Grins] Pete's been real sweet to me. He always has a real nice smile whenever he sees me. I have nothing bad to say about him. I don't give a fuck what he does as long as he doesn't fuck with me. I think Al Davis, the Raiders' owner, would make a better commissioner. What's Pete Rozelle ever gonna tell Al Davis?

Q 10

PLAYBOY: You had been cut by three other teams when Davis asked you to join the Raiders. How does he turn N.F.L. rejects into winners?

John Matuszak: The Raiders love the image of being the bad boys of pro football. That makes us play even harder. Gene Upshaw, our captain, said if coach Tom Flores sent everyone home who had made a mistake, he'd be the only one standing on the side lines. Al Davis is a genius. You don't question genius. You can only look at it and try to learn from it. To me, Al is the closest I've seen to a mature James Dean. He's a rebel with a cause. Al's got something to say to the American public. I don't know for sure what it is. He's very intense, intelligent and private. Al's good with the players, and we give him everything we've got. If you give him one thing less, you won't be there. Another reason the Raiders are champions is we have the best-looking team in the league. Most of the other teams are too ugly for me to even talk about.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: Do you like Gatorade?

John Matuszak: Yes, on ice. But only the grape and orange flavors. I don't like lime or cherry. Whenever our trainer mixes that in there, I get so pissed off I chase his ass all around the damn block. Trying to trick The Tooz can be dangerous to your health.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: Is Astroturf the main cause of football injuries?

John Matuszak: The only injuries I've ever had have been on Astroturf. I've had two injuries in 17 years of football and they've both been on that silly-ass shit. They ought to ban it, get rid of it or use it as a weapon. They should send all our Astroturf to El Salvador and kill all the rebels by having them play football on it. Astroturf works better than bullets. It's already killing off the older players. So now they're bringing in the younger players, who get half as much money and play half as good. All you have to do is fall on that concrete shit and you'll get injured.