BLACK `N' SILVER TURNS TAUPE.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

OAKLAND - ``The new bullies of the AFC,'' isn't that how tight end Shannon Sharpe described the Baltimore Ravens?

Well, you didn't really think he was talking about the NFL team from OakL.A.nd, did you?

Puhleeze. The team that meets Baltimore today in the AFC championship game is not your degenerate uncle's Raiders.

The coach, Jon Gruden, has schooled his players in public speaking. He said he has talked to them ``about how to speak logically without provoking anyone or offending anyone.''

Surely somewhere Mickey Marvin's blood is boiling. Marvin, an offensive guard for the Raiders in the early 1980s, once overheard a teammate blandly tell a reporter the offense planned to take what the defense gave it.

``Screw that,'' Marvin said. ``We'll take what we want to take.''

The standout defensive tackle, Darrell Russell, was complaining the other day about opponents' cheap shots. Funny, but in 1976 - the year Russell was born - Pittsburgh receiver Lynn Swann used the same words to describe the technique of the Raiders' Jack Tatum and George Atkinson. The old Raiders gave out cheap shots, these Raiders can't take them.

The quarterback, Rich Gannon, spends an hour every night playing with his two daughters before tucking them into bed. He has a standing date with his wife on Fridays.

He wears Ken Stabler's number, 12, but Gannon's behavior doesn't exactly ring any Hell's Bells with the quintessential Raiders quarterback. A devout hedonist in his heyday, Stabler did things such as tack women's panties on the walls of his room at training camp.

The star receiver, Tim Brown, has an image problem, but it's not one the profane, chain-smoking Fred Biletnikoff ever suffered.

``Some people say I'm too clean-cut,'' Brown was saying the other day. ``They want to have me get a little dirt under my fingernails.''

What? And mess up his manicure?

Fellow receiver Andre Rison described Brown as ``considerate, an honorable man with a lovable personality.''

A lovable personality? That rustling sound you just heard was Lyle Alzado turning over in his grave.

Brown isn't afraid to speak his mind, which once upon a time was the surest way to get on owner Al Davis' bad side. In the world according to Davis, a mind is a terrible thing to bare. Just ask Marcus Allen. Or Todd Christensen.

Somebody asked Brown last week why Gruden has been able to succeed where previous Raiders coaches could not. ``I don't think (Mike) White and (Joe) Bugel had a serious chance,'' he replied. ``They were trying to portray that they were running the show and everybody knew that they weren't.''

Brown's locker wasn't cleaned out the day those comments were published, so we're assuming the habitually hands-on Davis is mellowing in his dotage. Either that or he has ordered Gannon not to throw one ball Brown's way today.

Rookie receiver Jerry Porter is one of a handful of Raiders who keeps a Bible verse taped to his locker. This is a far cry from the days when the Raiders kept guns in their lockers.

If offensive tackle Bob Brown were still around, he surely would have turned to the Biblical sayings - for target practice.

These Raiders buy mouthwash. They use shower shoes. Hygiene wasn't exactly a hallmark of Ted Hendricks and Company. Honestly, do you think defensive lineman John Matuszak gave a hoot how his breath smelled?

These Raiders hang out together in the film room. Hayes and his teammates spent hours in a darkened room, too, only it wasn't game tape they were scrutinizing.

``Every strip bar in Los Angeles knew us,'' Hayes once boasted. ``It was 'Nightmare on Elm Street.' ''

The Black Hole, the south end zone bleachers where every Sunday is a masquerade party, might pulsate to an AC/DC soundtrack, but that's not the music that moves these Raiders.

In the locker room of their practice facility, we overheard a couple of linemen critiquing Faith Hill's newly shorn locks. Another walked by, caught a whiff of the conversation and launched into a riff on country- western singers as performers.

To borrow a line from Shania Twain, that don't impress us much.

Maybe, though, there's hope for these Raiders. Gruden promised the team he'd get a tattoo if it won the AFC West title and Rison said he's going to hold Gruden to it.

``It will be at some tattoo parlor in Tampa,'' Rison said.

Finally, a Super Bowl prediction of sorts. Maybe the old Raiders bravado isn't dead, it's just on ice along with the champagne that will be swilled by today's winners.

Of course, knowing these Raiders, they'll opt for sparkling apple juice.

Baltimore at Oakland

When: Today, 1 p.m.

TV: Ch. 2

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

(color) Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden and his players have promoted a squeaky-clean image.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Box: (1) AFC CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTERS

(2) AFC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY