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 Oakland
Raiders, professional football team and one of five teams in the
Western Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) of
the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders play at Network
Associates Coliseum in Alameda, California, and wear uniforms of
silver and black. The Raiders were professional football’s most
consistent team from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s,
reaching the playoffs 15 times and earning four NFL or American
Football League (AFL) titles in 19 seasons. As AFL champions,
they played in the second Super Bowl, in 1968, and lost to the
Green Bay Packers. During John Madden’s ten years as head coach
(1969-1978), Oakland played in seven league or conference
championship games and won one Super Bowl, in 1977. From 1980 to
1993 the team reached the postseason eight times, winning the
Super Bowl in 1981 and 1984. The Raiders are the only team that
appeared in at least one Super Bowl each decade during the
1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The Raiders joined the AFL as a charter
member in 1960.
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The team spent its first three seasons
changing stadiums and recording losing
records. Al Davis, a former assistant
coach for the San Diego Chargers, was
hired as head coach and general manager
in 1963. He reorganized the Raiders, and
the team improved to a 10-4 win-loss
record. Four years later, the club
captured the 1967 AFL title under head
coach John Rauch. Quarterback Daryle
Lamonica won the first of his two
passing titles as Oakland advanced to
the Super Bowl to face the NFL-champion
Green Bay Packers. Green Bay won 33-14,
but the Raiders had established
themselves as an AFL power. The Raiders
reached the AFL Championship Game under
Rauch in 1968 and again in 1969, this
time under former Raiders assistant
coach John Madden, who had taken over
the head coaching duties. Madden was
named AFL coach of the year in 1969
when, at age 32, he was the AFL’s
youngest coach. Oakland joined the NFL
in 1970 when the NFL and AFL completed
their merger. |
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The
team promptly won the 1970 Western Division
crown and advanced to the AFC Championship
Game, where they lost to the Baltimore Colts
(now Indianapolis Colts). Under Madden the
Raiders gained a reputation as one of the
most intimidating teams in professional
sports. Their character was exemplified by
center Jim Otto and offensive linemen Art
Shell and Gene Upshaw, who fiercely
protected quarterbacks George Blanda and
Kenny Stabler. The Raiders lost three
consecutive AFC Championship Games from 1973
to 1975 before winning the game in 1976. In
the subsequent Super Bowl, veteran wide
receiver Fred Biletnikoff played an
outstanding game as the club defeated the
Minnesota Vikings, 32-14. Madden left the
Raiders after the 1978 season and was
replaced by Tom Flores, who had been the
team’s first quarterback. In Flores’s nine
seasons as head coach he led the club to
five postseason appearances and two Super
Bowl championships. Quarterback Jim
Plunkett, playing his first full season in
Oakland in 1980, commanded a potent offense
that also starred wide receiver Cliff Branch
and running back Mark van Eeghen. |
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That year the Raiders became the first
wild-card playoff team to win a Super
Bowl, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles
27-10. With hopes of a better-equipped
stadium and more fan support, the
Raiders franchise moved to Los Angeles,
California, following the 1981 season.
At its new home in the Los Angeles
Coliseum, the team put together a 12-4
record in 1983 and returned to the Super
Bowl. Plunkett, running back Marcus
Allen, and tight end Todd Christiansen
powered an offense that crushed its
three postseason opponents by an average
of 24 points. The Raiders’ defensive
stars were cornerback Lester Hayes and
end Howie Long. From 1986 to 1989 the
Raiders failed to make the playoffs.
Coached by former Raider player Art
Shell, the club rebounded with three
postseason appearances in four years
from 1990 to 1993. Shell was named coach
of the year in 1990. |
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Tim
Brown emerged as one of the league’s
swiftest wide receivers and most skilled
punt returners during the 1990s. Following
the 1994 season Shell left the team and the
Raiders moved back to Oakland, as fan
support in Los Angeles reached an all-time
low and disagreements over renovations of
the Los Angeles Coliseum continued between
the city and owner Al Davis. After the
13-year hiatus, the Oakland City Council
welcomed the team back with a remodeled,
expanded stadium and helped the franchise
pay for relocation expenses. Despite the
move, the club remained near the bottom of
the division through the mid- and late
1990s.
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