Meet the Raiders E very sports team plays to win The Oakland Raiders are no different What sets them apart from the rest of the National Football League NFL is that they also play to prove a point The Raiders and their fans believe that it’s good to be different They like to do things their own way Sometimes that is a good plan and sometimes it is not When a team experiments with new ideas or gives a chance to overlooked players there is no guarantee of victory But the fans can expect exciting football week after week As the Raiders owner used to tell his players every Sunday Just win baby This book tells the story of the Raiders There is a family feel in the team’s locker room and the players remain close years after they hang up their uniforms Whether you take the field for the silver and black or root for them you can count on being a Raider for life Michael Huff and Tyvon Branch celebrate a good defensive play 5
Glory Days C alifornia and Minnesota are more than 1,500 miles apart However the Raiders have always been linked to both states In 1960 the American Football League AFL planned to begin its first season with a team in Minnesota At the last minute the owners of that club decided they would rather join the NFL The AFL quickly replaced them with a team in Oakland California and called them the Raiders The team struggled at first The Raiders won only nine games in their first three seasons In 1963 Al Davis was hired to coach the team on the field and run its business off the field He built the Raiders around talented young players such as Jim Otto Clem Daniels Tom Flores and Fred Williamson Oakland had a winning record in its first season under Davis The Raiders kept adding good players through smart trades and the draft From 6
1965 to 1980 Oakland had a winning record every year During the 1960s the team’s stars included Daryle Lamonica Fred Biletnikoff Billy Cannon Warren Wells Gene Upshaw Ben Davidson Tom Keating Dan Conners David Grayson and Willie Brown In 1966 the AFL and NFL agreed it would be best to join forces The merger was set for 1970 A big step in their strategy was starting the Super Bowl which matched the winner of each league for the championship of professional football The Raiders won the AFL title in 1967 and played in Super Bowl II Unfortunately they lost to the Green Bay Packers Oakland’s next trip to the Super Bowl came nine years later under coach John Madden Quarterback Ken Stabler led the offense His receivers included Biletnikoff Dave Casper and speedy Cliff Branch Oakland’s defense was known as the Legion of Doom It starred John Matuszak Otis Sistrunk Ted Hendricks Phil Villapiano and Jack Tatum This group led the Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XI LEFT Al Davis watches the clock tick down on another Oakland victory ABOVE Ken Stabler made the Raiders front-page news in the 1970s 7
