80 Fun Facts About Raiders

What name did the Oakland franchise use for nine days in 1960, after a Tribune contest, before switching to Raiders?

The name was mocked so quickly, and the contest so widely suspected of being fixed by owner Chet Soda, that the third-place entry took over within a week and a half.

The Raiders played their first regular-season AFL game in which year?

Oakland was the AFL's eighth and final original franchise, awarded on January 30 of that year after Minneapolis backed out to join the NFL.

Before going silver and black in 1963, the Raiders wore hand-me-down uniforms from which college?

The team's original 1960 owners could not even secure a Bay Area stadium, so second-hand college kit fit the shoestring operation.

The Raiders' trademarked slogan "Commitment to Excellence" is drawn from a quotation by which coach?

The line about a person's life being in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence came from the coach whose Packers beat Oakland in Super Bowl II.

How old was Al Davis when hired as Raiders head coach and general manager after the 1962 season?

He was the youngest general manager pro football had ever seen, and he was named AFL Coach of the Year in his first season after turning a 1–13 team into a 10–4 one.

In 1966 Al Davis briefly left the Raiders for which job, abolished within months by the AFL-NFL merger?

He was hired as a fighter to win the war with the NFL and promptly began signing away NFL quarterbacks, which helped push the two leagues to a merger that eliminated his own post.

In the 1968 "Heidi Game", NBC cut away from the Raiders' final-minute comeback against which opponent?

The network's switchboards were so jammed by callers asking about the schedule that the order to stay with the game never reached master control.

The 1968 Heidi broadcast that pre-empted the end of the Raiders-Jets game was sold entirely to which sponsor?

A watch company sponsoring the film that cut a football game short for reasons of time is an irony sportswriters have enjoyed ever since.

The Raiders' first Super Bowl appearance ended in a 33–14 loss at the Orange Bowl to which team?

Oakland had gone 13–1 and crushed Houston 40–7 for the 1967 AFL title, but Bart Starr became the first back-to-back Super Bowl MVP against them.

Which position group did Al Davis hire John Madden to coach in 1967 before making him head coach?

Madden was 32 when he took over in 1969, and he never had a losing season in ten years in charge.

Among NFL head coaches with at least 100 games, John Madden holds which distinction?

His overall mark including playoffs ranks second in league history behind only 1920s coach Guy Chamberlin.

On the 1972 Immaculate Reception, Bradshaw's pass may have deflected off which Raiders safety?

Under the rules of the day, if the ball had touched only Steelers receiver John Fuqua the play would have been an incomplete pass and Oakland would have won 7–6.

Which running back caught the game-winning "Sea of Hands" touchdown against Miami in the 1974 playoffs?

The catch ended the Dolphins' run of three straight Super Bowl appearances, but Oakland then lost the AFC title game to Pittsburgh a week later.

Ken Stabler earned his nickname "Snake" from his high school coach after what?

The left-hander was also good enough on the mound to draw minor-league offers from the Astros and Yankees before choosing Alabama.

Ken Stabler played college football under Bear Bryant at which university?

He was a first-team All-American in 1967 and later became the 1974 NFL MVP after leading the league in passing yards.

Which tight end fell on the ball in the end zone to complete the 1978 "Holy Roller" against San Diego?

The NFL rewrote its rules that offseason so that only the fumbling player can advance a fumble in the final two minutes.

Chargers fans have their own name for the Holy Roller play. What do they call it?

Stabler later admitted he fumbled on purpose, and running back Pete Banaszak did not exactly try to recover it before pitching it toward the goal line.

Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XI despite gaining only 79 yards on four catches?

He was the only receiver to win the award without a 100-yard game until Cooper Kupp did it in Super Bowl LVI.

Which Raiders cornerback returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XI?

He had been picked up from Denver in a 1967 trade and shares the club record for career interceptions with Lester Hayes at 39.

The Raiders' first NFL title, a 32-14 win over Minnesota in January 1977, was played where?

The game was played just eight days after the college Rose Bowl on the same Pasadena field, and the Vikings became the first team to lose four Super Bowls.

Ray Guy, the Raiders' 1973 first-rounder, was the first player at what position taken that early?

Guy also once kicked a 61-yard field goal in a snowstorm at Southern Miss and threw a no-hitter for the baseball team.

Which former Raiders quarterback replaced John Madden in 1979 as the NFL's first Hispanic head coach?

He had been the franchise's original starting quarterback in 1960 and won two Super Bowls as head coach, entering the Hall of Fame in 2021.

Which team took Jim Plunkett first overall in the 1971 draft?

He was the first Latino Heisman winner and remains, with Eli Manning, one of only two eligible quarterbacks with two Super Bowl wins as a starter who is not in the Hall of Fame.

By winning Super Bowl XV, the Raiders became the first champion to have entered the playoffs how?

They had to win three road playoff games to get there, a feat no other champion matched until Denver in 1997.

Which Raiders linebacker set a record with three Super Bowl XV interceptions of Ron Jaworski?

The pregame focus was whether Pete Rozelle would hand the trophy to Al Davis, who was suing the league over its refusal to let the team move to Los Angeles.

Which halfback turned a Jim Plunkett pass into an 80-yard touchdown in Super Bowl XV?

The game came five days after the Iran hostages were freed, and every player wore a yellow stripe on the back of his helmet.

The Raiders played their home games in Los Angeles from the 1982 season through which final season?

The team returned to Oakland after Al Davis signed a letter of intent on June 23, 1995, having never gotten the modern stadium he wanted in Southern California.

How many rushing yards did Marcus Allen gain in his record Super Bowl XVIII performance?

His 74-yard reverse-field run in the third quarter was also a Super Bowl record, and he became the third Heisman winner named Super Bowl MVP.

Which Ridley Scott-directed commercial aired during the Raiders' Super Bowl XVIII win?

The Raiders also became the first team to score two non-offensive touchdowns in a Super Bowl, on a blocked punt and a Jack Squirek interception return.

After his public feud with Al Davis, Marcus Allen finished his career with five seasons for which team?

He is the only player to have won the Heisman, a national title, a Super Bowl, Super Bowl MVP and NFL MVP.

In which round did the Raiders take Bo Jackson in the 1987 draft?

He slept through the draft and found out afterward that he had gone 183rd overall, then treated football as a hobby around his baseball schedule.

During his 221-yard Monday Night game in 1987, Bo Jackson ran over which Seattle linebacker?

The 221 yards came just 29 days after his first NFL carry and remain a Monday Night Football record.

After spurning Tampa Bay, Bo Jackson signed with which MLB club, the defending champions who drafted him in 1986?

His 22 home runs in 1987 set a franchise rookie record, and he remains the only athlete named an All-Star in two major American sports.

Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long, a second-round pick in 1981, played his college football where?

He was also the Northern Collegiate Heavyweight Boxing Champion in college and went on to eight Pro Bowls in the silver and black.

When Art Shell was hired in 1989 he became the NFL's first Black head coach since which man in 1925?

Shell had anchored the Raiders' line at left tackle for 15 seasons and was inducted into the Hall of Fame the same year he took the job.

Whom did Art Shell replace as Raiders head coach four games into the 1989 season?

The fired coach went on to win two Super Bowls in Denver, and the Raiders' feud with him lingered for years over unpaid salary.

At which school did Tim Brown become the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy?

His Dallas high school became the first in the country to produce two Heisman winners, and he retired with 14,934 receiving yards, then second in NFL history.

The towering seating structure added to the Oakland Coliseum for the Raiders' 1995 return got what nickname?

The 20,000-seat addition also made the Coliseum, at times, the largest-capacity ballpark in Major League Baseball when the A's opened it.

What were sections 104–107 of the Oakland Coliseum, home to the rowdiest costumed fans, known as?

The fans there are famous for face masks, spikes and full black regalia, and the name followed the team to a dedicated section in Las Vegas.

Which rapper recorded a song titled "Raider Nation" for the team in 2009?

He followed it in 2012 with "Come and Get It" as part of Pepsi's NFL Anthems campaign.

Which NFL Films figure wrote 'The Autumn Wind', the Raiders' unofficial anthem?

It debuted in the 1974 yearbook film with John Facenda narrating and was dubbed "The Battle Hymn of the Raider Nation."

The helmeted pirate on the Raiders logo was reportedly modeled on which Western film actor?

The first PR director commissioned an unknown Berkeley artist and asked for a firm chin like the actor's; the eye patch and crossed swords have survived every redesign since.

Hall of Fame Raiders center Jim Otto, who played 210 straight games, wore which number?

He wore 50 as a rookie until the equipment manager suggested the double zero "for recognition", and AFL commissioner Joe Foss signed off on it.

How old was George Blanda, pro football's oldest ever player, when he retired in 1976?

He played 26 seasons, the most in the sport's history, after the Chicago Bears first signed him for $600 in 1949.

Cornerback Lester Hayes smeared himself in which adhesive, banned by the NFL in 1981 under a rule named for him?

In 1980 he picked off 13 passes in the regular season, still tied for second-most ever, then added five more in the playoffs.

Ted 'the Mad Stork' Hendricks was the first NFL player born in which country?

His parents met while working for Pan American Airlines, and he picked up the nickname at the University of Miami for his tall, thin frame.

Hall of Fame Raiders guard Gene Upshaw later ran which organization?

He was the first player to reach the Super Bowl in three decades, a feat later matched by Jerry Rice, Bill Romanowski and Tom Brady.

Whom did Al Davis make Raiders chief executive in 1997, the first woman to run an NFL club?

Fans called her the "Princess of Darkness", and she later became a CBS Sports analyst.

At which school did Charles Woodson become the first primarily defensive player to win the Heisman?

He returned to the Raiders for his final three seasons and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021.

Which referee reversed Tom Brady's fumble into an incomplete pass in the January 2002 'Tuck Rule Game'?

The hit came from Brady's former Michigan teammate, and Adam Vinatieri then kicked a 45-yard field goal through the snow to force overtime.

In what year did NFL owners finally abolish the tuck rule that cost the Raiders their 2001 playoff game?

The vote was 29–1, and the game it is named for was the last ever played at Foxboro Stadium.

Which quarterback was 2002 NFL MVP after leading the league in passing yards and taking the Raiders to the Super Bowl?

He had started his college career at Delaware as a punter, and the Patriots drafted him in 1987 intending to make him a running back.

How much cash, plus four draft picks, did the Raiders get for Jon Gruden in 2002?

Al Davis was known for paying the lowest coaching salaries in the league, and the deal prompted the commissioner to threaten a ban on trading draft picks for coaches.

How many interceptions did the Raiders' quarterback throw in the 48–21 Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay?

Three were returned for touchdowns, and Buccaneers players claimed Gruden had taught them Oakland's calls so well they knew the plays before the snap.

Which Raiders starting center went missing for most of the day before Super Bowl XXXVII?

The Pro Bowl center was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and Adam Treu started in his place.

In which country was Sebastian Janikowski, the franchise's all-time leading scorer, born?

He left Florida State a year early partly to pay for his mother to come to the United States and later tied the NFL record with a 63-yard field goal.

Derek Carr's older brother David was the first overall pick of the 2002 draft by which expansion team?

The family moved to Sugar Land, Texas, before Derek came home to Bakersfield and later left the Raiders as their all-time passing leader.

In 2018 the Raiders traded holdout pass-rusher Khalil Mack for two first-round picks to which team?

Mack had been the first player ever named first-team All-Pro at two positions in the same season, defensive end and outside linebacker, in 2015.

Maxx Crosby played college football at which school, the only program to offer him a scholarship?

As a rookie he sacked Cincinnati's Ryan Finley four times in one game, the most ever by a Raiders rookie in a single game.

NFL owners approved the Raiders' move to Las Vegas on March 27, 2017, by what vote?

The Coliseum's problems by then included sewage backups and flooding, and the lone dissent came from Miami's Stephen Ross.

How much public money did Nevada approve in 2016 toward the domed Las Vegas stadium?

Mark Davis had pledged $500 million of the team's own money after casino magnate Sheldon Adelson first proposed the project.

Mark Davis gave Allegiant Stadium what nickname at the team's first closed-door practice there in 2020?

The Star Wars reference fits a $1.9 billion black-and-silver dome that lights up beside the Strip and ranks among the most expensive stadiums in the world.

The 85-foot Al Davis memorial torch in Allegiant Stadium was reported in 2019 to be the world's largest what?

It houses a flame in honor of the late owner and stands in front of retractable curtain-like windows that open toward the Las Vegas Strip.

Allegiant Stadium's translucent roof, which lets in natural sunlight, is made of which material?

The same fluoropolymer film covers Beijing's Water Cube and Munich's Allianz Arena, and the Raiders' 2020 season underneath it was played with no fans at all.

Which team did the Raiders beat 33–27 in overtime in their first Allegiant Stadium home game with fans, in 2021?

Fans had to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or get a shot at the stadium to enter, having missed the entire 2020 debut season.

Al Davis, the face of the franchise for half a century, was born in which state?

The family moved to Brooklyn when he was five, and he later introduced himself as "Davis from Syracuse" to be confused with star halfback Ernie Davis.

Besides the Raiders, owner Mark Davis also bought which WNBA team in 2021?

He had been a season-ticket holder and said talks began after he told the MGM Resorts CEO at a game that the players should be paid more.

In December 2024 which former quarterback and his business partner bought a 10% stake in the Raiders?

The deal valued the team at $3.5 billion, so far below earlier estimates that he had to pay extra fees to the other owners for the favorable terms.

Jon Gruden quit as Raiders coach in 2021 after which newspaper published his old emails?

He was less than four years into a ten-year, $100 million contract; special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia finished the season and reached the playoffs.

What was the Raiders' record in Pete Carroll's one season before his January 2026 firing?

He had left Seattle after 15 years and traded for his old Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, but the reunion produced the franchise's worst season in Las Vegas.

In 1960 and 1961 the Raiders played San Francisco home games at Candlestick Park and which other venue?

The University of California refused to let them use its Berkeley stadium, so a temporary field in Oakland was not ready until 1962.

Frank Youell, namesake of the Raiders' first Oakland home, was a councilman who worked in what trade?

The 22,000-seat stadium cost $400,000 and stood where part of Laney College is today, serving until the Coliseum opened in 1966.

Which running back came out of retirement in 2017 to play for his hometown Raiders?

The Seahawks still held his rights and traded him to Oakland for a swap of late-round picks; his mother once held a 200-meter record at Oakland Tech.

Which Raiders running back led the NFL in rushing in 2022 with 1,653 yards?

He was the first Raider since 1985 to top 2,000 scrimmage yards and left for Green Bay two years later.

The Oakland Coliseum was the last US stadium shared by an NFL team and a team from which sport?

The A's stayed until 2024, and the playing surface had been renamed Rickey Henderson Field in 2017.

Which Los Angeles Chargers owner's threat to forfeit his franchise led to Oakland getting an AFL team?

He insisted a second team be placed on the West Coast, and Oakland civic leaders found investors.

Who was managing general partner of the original 1960 Raiders ownership group?

The local real-estate developer headed a limited partnership that also included Ed McGah and F. Wayne Valley.

How long was the losing streak that spanned the Raiders' 1961 and 1962 seasons?

The 1962 team went 1-13, winning only the season finale, before Al Davis was hired.

Where was Wayne Valley in 1972 when Al Davis's lawyers rewrote the partnership to give Davis total control?

Ed McGah signed the new agreement, and it passed by a 2-1 vote of the general partners; Valley sued.

Which California city paid Al Davis a $10 million good-faith deposit in 1987 for a stadium that was never built?

Davis kept the deposit even after the team abandoned the bid; he also nearly moved the club to Sacramento.