❚ Remembering Oakland Raiders’ glory,
Heidi Game, Holy Roller among best
The Raiders might have played their last game in Oakland. A lot must go down between now and the start of the 2019 season. While the legal process plays itself out, the Raiders will consider options for a temporary home stadium in 2019 ahead of the opening of a new stadium in Las Vegas in 2020.
From 1960 (as an original American Football League team) until 1981, and then again from 1995 until 2018 (maybe), the Raiders have called Oakland home. They haven’t enjoyed much success in recent years. However, fans of a certain age will recall a time when the Oakland Raiders — villains, big and bold — were a blueblood NFL franchise, pillaging just for fun.
Here are some great moments in 46 seasons of Oakland Raiders football.
1963 season
After winning a combined nine games in their first three seasons (including a dismal 1-13 in 1962), the Raiders hired Al Davis as head coach and general manager in 1963. He replaced the team’s original gold and black uniforms with the familiar (and merchandise-friendly) silver and black. Davis orchestrated an impressive turnaround, leading the team to a 10-4 finish. The highlight was a late-season 41-27 win over the eventual AFL champion San Diego Chargers in which the Raiders scored 31 unanswered fourth-quarter points. The Raiders started their ascent to pro football royalty in 1963. Over the next 33 years — from Davis’ hiring as coach-GM through the franchise’s move back to Oakland in 1995 — the Raiders experienced just four losing seasons.
Heidi Game 1976 AFC Championship
After losing consecutive AFC championship games to Pittsburgh, the Raiders finally conquered their arch-nemesis. This was the fourth consecutive season the Raiders reached the AFC title game, having also lost the 1973 AFC championship game to the Miami Dolphins. So this victory was long overdue for one of the greatest teams in NFL history. Coach John Madden’s Raiders routed the Steelers 24-7 and then achieved ultimate victory for the first time in Super Bowl XI two weeks later.
In a pivotal late-season game between AFL powerhouses during the 1968 season, the Raiders pulled off a frenzied last-minute comeback to win. Problem was, nobody — aside from those at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum — saw it. NBC went away from the game to broadcast the television film “Heidi.” When the New York Jets took a 32-29 lead with 1:05 remaining, NBC went to “Heidi” after a commercial break. What TV viewers missed were two Raiders touchdowns in a 43-32 victory. The moment served as a reminder of the emotional pull pro football, even in the 1960s, had on America.
Holy Roller
This epic game-winning play forced a rule change to prevent it from happening again. In an early-season showdown against the Chargers in 1978, the Raiders trailed 20-14 and had the ball at the San Diego 14-yard line with 10 seconds left. What followed was absolute madness. As he was about to be sacked, quarterback Ken Stabler flipped the ball forward. Raiders running back Pete Banaszak then batted the loose football toward the end zone, where tight end Dave Casper stumbled awkwardly onto the ball for the winning touchdown.
Super Bowl XV
The Raiders defied the odds to become the first wildcard team to win the Super Bowl. After winning three playoff games, two on the road, the Raiders pummeled the Eagles in the Louisiana Superdome 27-10. Journeyman quarterback Jim Plunkett, who started the 1980 season as a backup to Dan Pastorini, was named MVP. This was the last moment of glory for the Raiders before they relocated to Los Angeles for the 1982 season.