By David Bush
Chronicle Staff Writer

Running back might be Jon Ritchie’s position, but it certainly isn’t his job description.

Running is something Ritchie seldom does, at least with the football. If he carries the ball for the Raiders tonight against the Broncos at Network Associates Coliseum, it will be the first time in nearly two years. Ritchie is a fullback, which in Jon Gruden’s offense means blocking, and maybe catching an occasional pass.

That represents quite a switch in Ritchie’s on-the-field lifestyle since his high school days in Pennsylvania, when he rushed for 4,062 yards in his career, including 1,925 as a senior. That began to change when he went to college first to Michigan (120 yards on 33 carries as a sophomore) and then Stanford (95 yards on 17 carries as a senior).

With the Raiders he carried the ball nine times as a rookie in 1998, five times in 1999, the last for five yards against Seattle on Dec. 5. Since then he hasn’t taken it from scrimmage.

“It’s just not my gig here,” Ritchie said. “I think that it’s much less an issue with me than it may be to my roommate or my mom. It really doesn’t matter at all to me. I’m glad to be out there blocking. I’m glad just to be out there. It’s an honor just to be playing.

“It was a weaning off process through the years. It’s been a long time since I really carried the ball and now it’s to the point where I don’t think I would know what to do with it.”

Those who saw Ritchie as a youth still have trouble accepting his current role.

“The people back home that saw me in high school playing in a wing-T offense where I carried the ball 25 times a game and had success with that,” he said. “I guess it’s hard for them to accept the reality that the level of play has increased to the point where I am not the productive runner I was when I was in high school. They are maybe trying to hang onto the glory days, but I am certainly not.”

Even Ritchie’s role as a pass receiver has diminished. Last year he caught 26 passes, mostly short range tosses that were either quarterback Rich Gannon’s last resort, or designed to pick up just enough yardage for a first down. He has just four receptions in six games this year, two the Sunday before last in Philadelphia.

“I don’t measure my success by the numbers of passes I catch,” he said. “I like helping the chains move. But I can accomplish that through imparting a solid block on a linebacker the same as catching a ball. I like it when we continue drives.

“If I’m the one that catches a pass to get a first down it’s all fine and dandy. But at this point – and I don’t know if I’ve been brainwashed by the system or what – I really do enjoy what they ask me to do.”

And what they ask him to do is block.

“He’s doing a good job,” coach Jon Gruden said. “He’s a fullback, he’s the lead blocker. Sometimes the backs tell me to involve him with an occasional carry here and there. He’s about sixth string when it comes to getting the ball.

“He’s done an excellent job finding his target, his assignments have been super. As a 255-pound man, he’s a key ingredient to any success we have here, pass protecting, running the football.”

Will Ritchie ever carry the ball again? “It’s in the playbook, deep, about page 2,612 somewhere, but we do have that play,” Gruden said. “We are predominantly a halfback- and tailback-oriented football team. There are going to be some opportunities for Jon Ritchie running the ball, from scrimmage. There are going to be some available to him in the future, maybe the near future.”

Away from the field, Ritchie is an atypical football player. A believer in public transportation, he is a regular on BART between the East Bay and San Francisco.

“I get road rage, so it’s a lot easier than driving,” he said “My girlfriend grew up in the city and still lives there, so I go over there for dinner a lot. And a lot of my friends from Stanford have moved up there.”

In one of his recent trips, Ritchie was ignored by the other passengers, being recognized only by a Chronicle reporter.

“Sometimes people recognize me and ask for an autograph or something,” he said. “But not very often.”

Ritchie has a television presence. He hosts a weekly segment on the “Bay Area Sports Report” on Fox Sports Net.

“We try to fill three or four minutes with something that pertains to football.” Ritchie said.

Sometimes the link is tenuous. “Last week we were at the Grand National Rodeo,” Ritchie said. “The theme was Taming the Broncos.”