Art Shell, a third-round draft pick of the Oakland Raiders in 1968, excelled on the special teams for two seasons before winning the starting offensive left tackle job in his third campaign. Within a short time, he became widely recognized as one of the premier offensive linemen in the National Football League. Through much of his career, Shell teamed with left guard Gene Upshaw, a 1987 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee, to provide the Raiders with an exceptional nucleus to a forward unit that powered the perennially strong Oakland offense of the 1970s. Many observers rate Shell, who was equally adept as a pass protector and a blocker on running plays, as the finest of many excellent Raiders offensive linemen of the 1970s. Shell was a first- or second-team All-Pro choice six straight years from 1973 through 1978. He also played in eight Pro Bowl games and 23 post-season contests, including eight AFL/AFC championships and the Raiders' victories in Super Bowls XI and XV. Shell was credited with a nearly perfect performance against Jim Marshall, the Minnesota Vikings’ sterling defensive end, in Super Bowl XI.
Willie Brown's career with the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders spanned 16 seasons and 204 games from 1963 through 1978. Even though the Broncos were not successful on the playing field during Willie’s four years in Denver, the 6-1, 195-pound cornerback was already an established star by the time he was traded to the Raiders in 1967.
With a perpetually contending team in Oakland, Willie's outstanding abilities emerged into clear focus. During his 12 years in Oakland, the Raiders played in three AFL and six AFC championship games, as well as Super Bowls II and XI. Armed with speed, mobility, aggressiveness, determination and a keen football sense, Brown became a key figure in every Raider success and soon was widely acclaimed as one of the premier cornerbacks of all time.
George Blanda played pro football for 26 seasons – longer than any other person. However, he’ll probably be remembered best for his 1970 season with the Oakland Raiders. That year, in a five-game period, George provided Oakland with four wins and one tie with last-second touchdown passes or field goals – at age 43.
The string started with a three-touchdown passing and one field goal outburst against Pittsburgh and continued with a 48-yard field goal with three seconds left to tie Kansas City. He threw a scoring pass and added a 52-yard field goal in the last 96 seconds to defeat Cleveland. Next came a winning touchdown toss against Denver and a last-instant field goal to upend San Diego.
During his career, Blanda accumulated impressive credentials. He passed for 236 touchdowns and scored an incredible 2,002 points. In 1970, he became the oldest quarterback to play in a title game. Although the Baltimore Colts won 27-17, Blanda accounted for all of the Raiders' points off two touchdown passes and one field goal. Blanda’s career was divided into three distinct parts, 10 years with the Chicago Bears followed by seven seasons with the Houston Oilers and nine-years with the Oakland Raiders. He was just a month shy of his 49th birthday when he retired before the 1976 season.
Blanda did not become a fulltime starter until his fifth season with the Bears and in 1954 he was shelved by an injury. In 1959, he balked at becoming a kicker-only and retired. But the emergence of the American Football League in 1960 gave Blanda another chance to play. He went on to lead the Oilers to the first two AFL titles and won AFL Player of the Year honors in 1961. In 1967, when Blanda was almost 40, the Oilers decided he was through but the Raiders saw George as a contributing backup passer and a dependable kicker so they picked him up. George handled both jobs with distinction for another nine seasons.
Tom won the starting job for the Raiders early into the inagural season. He was the first Hispanic starting quarterback and later went on to become the first minority coach. In 1966 he earned the nickname "Iceman" even though he only completed 49.7% of his passes. In 1967 he was traded to the Bills and was a back up for Jack Kemp. He was cut the following season and signed with the Chiefs in 1969 where he was a back up during their championship run. He retired as a player in 1970 and would be hired as a coach by Al Davis in 1979.
He is currently the color commentator on the Raiders Radio Network.
Art Powell was purchased for the New York Titans in 1963 while the Titans were undergoing financial struggles. He would become a 4 Time AFL All Star from 1963-1966, and is 7th on the Raiders all time receiver list; even though he pnly played 4 seasons there. During his 4 seasons as a Raider he scored 50 touchdowns. He was also noted as a team leader and once refused to play in an exhibition game against the Jets because the stadium in Mobile was still segregated.
Al Davis is the only person to have served pro football in such varied capacities as (1) a player personnel assistant, (2) an assistant coach, (3) a head coach, (4) a general manager, (5) a league commissioner and (6) the principal owner and chief executive officer of an NFL team.
The longtime owner of the Oakland Raiders compiled an exceptional record since his first venture into the pro football world as player personnel man with the 1954 Baltimore Colts. Six years later, he made a permanent move to pro football as the ends coach for the American Football League’s Los Angeles Chargers in their inaugural season.
In 1963, at the age of 33, he became the head coach and general manager of the Raiders, a team that had a miserable 9-33-0 record in its first three years. Davis led the 1963 Raiders to a 10-4 record and won unanimous AFL Coach of the Year acclaim.
After three years in which he compiled a 23-16-3 coaching record, he was named the AFL Commissioner in April 1966. Within eight weeks, the AFL and NFL announced a merger ending the costly inter-league war. Davis then returned to Oakland as managing general partner.
John Madden began his pro football coaching career in 1967 as the Oakland Raiders' linebackers coach. After two seasons, he was elevated to head coach. At 32 years of age when he was hired, he became the youngest head coach in the American Football League. In his first year at the Raiders' helm, Madden earned American Football League Coach of the Year honors as he led the team to a 12-1-1 record and an AFL Western Division title.
Madden coached the Raiders for 10 seasons, posting a regular season record of 103 wins, 32 losses and 7 ties. During that time, he guided the team to seven Western Division titles, including five in a row from 1972 to 1976. Under Madden's guidance, Oakland never experienced a losing season. Madden's Raiders made eight playoff appearances, including a 37-31 six-quarter AFC Divisional Playoff win over the Baltimore Colts in 1977. Perennial winners, the team never finished with fewer than 8 wins in the then-14 game season (8-4-2 in 1970, 1971).
Six times in 10 seasons, Oakland recorded 10 or more victories. In 1976, the coach guided his team to a near-perfect 13-1 record to win the AFC Western Division. The success continued in the post-season with wins over New England in the divisional playoff game and a commanding 24-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. Madden and the Raiders capped the 1976 season with a 32-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. Between the 1976 and 1977 seasons, the Raiders won 17 consecutive games, one short of the then-NFL record for consecutive wins.
Madden's .759 regular season winning percentage ranks as highest ever among coaches with 100 career victories. Only Hall of Fame coaches George Halas and Curly Lambeau had reached 100 career wins at an earlier age.
Before coaching in Oakland, Madden was the defensive coordinator at San Diego State, from 1964-1966, where the Aztecs were ranked first among small colleges with a 26-4 record. From 1960-1963 he coached at Hancock Junior College in Santa Maria, California. Madden started on both offense and defense as a player for California Polytechnic College at San Luis Obispo in 1957 and 1958, and was voted to the All-Conference team. The Philadelphia Eagles selected him as a future choice in the 21st round of the 1958 NFL Draft, but a knee injury in his rookie season prematurely ended his playing career.
Epilogue:
Despite the rough start the Raiders were clearly a force to be reckoned with in the late 60's. Their menacing offensive line and vertical offense would continue to allow them to find success in the 70's and 80's. Truly making them the Team For All Decades The Raiders have always been my 2nd favorite team because my dad was such a big Jim Otto fan. Hopefully you enjoyed the write up, I personally would rather read the history instead of a bunch of stats so that is why I wrote it up like I did.