30 Facts About Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

At the time, Oakland Raiders seemed an unlikely venue for a professional football team.

Accordingly, the city of Oakland Raiders was awarded the eighth AFL franchise on January 30, 1960, and the team inherited the Minneapolis club's draft picks.

Oakland Raiders games were broadcast locally on KNBC, with Bud (Wilson Keene) Foster handling play-by-play and Mel Venter providing color analysis.

Oakland Raiders were allowed to move to Candlestick Park for the final three home games of the 1960 season after gaining the approval of San Francisco's Recreation and Park Commission, marking the first time that professional football would be played at the new stadium.

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Oakland Raiders initiated the use of team slogans such as "Pride and Poise", "Commitment to Excellence", and "Just Win, Baby"—all of which are registered trademarks.

Oakland Raiders purchased a 10 percent interest in the team for US$18, 000, and became the team's third general partner — the partner in charge of football operations.

The following two years, the Oakland Raiders again won Western Division titles, only to lose the AFL Championship to the eventual Super Bowl winners—the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs (1969).

In 1969, John Madden became the team's sixth head coach, and under him the Oakland Raiders became one of the most successful franchises in the NFL, winning six division titles during the 1970s.

In 1970, the AFL–NFL merger took place and the Oakland Raiders became part of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the newly merged NFL.

The Oakland Raiders beat Pittsburgh in a revenge match on the season opener and continued to cement their reputation for hard, dirty play by knocking WR Lynn Swann out for two weeks in a helmet-to-helmet collision.

The Oakland Raiders won 13 regular season games and a close victory over New England in the first round of the playoffs.

Oakland Raiders's opponent was the Minnesota Vikings, a team that had lost three previous Super Bowls.

Oakland Raiders's replacement was former Raiders quarterback Tom Flores, the first Oakland Raiders'spanic head coach in NFL history.

Oakland Raiders acquired all-time leading receiver Jerry Rice prior to the 2001 season.

Shortly after the 2001 season, the Oakland Raiders made an unusual move that involved releasing Gruden from his contract and allowing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to sign him.

In return, the Oakland Raiders received cash and future draft picks from the Buccaneers.

Oakland Raiders's offense struggled greatly, scoring just 168 points and allowing a league-high 72 sacks.

The Oakland Raiders earned the right to the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft for the first time since 1962, by virtue of having the league's worst record.

In 2010, the Oakland Raiders had a better draft than those of the previous years and cut Jamarcus Russell in May after he showed up to minicamp overweight.

However, after the bye week, the Oakland Raiders fell to Pittsburgh and Miami before beating San Diego and losing to the Jaguars.

Oakland Raiders came under fire both for this and for strategies that were out-of-step with the contemporary NFL, in particular, his attempt to recreate the vertical game used by Daryl Lamonica and Jim Plunkett.

However, the Oakland Raiders lost a must-win game at home to San Diego and so for the ninth year in a row failed to make the playoffs or produce a winning record.

Surveys of players across the league consistently showed that the Oakland Raiders had become one of the least desirable teams to play for.

The Oakland Raiders did manage to defeat their geographic rival, the San Francisco 49ers, and defeated Buffalo in Week 16, which mathematically eliminated the Bills from playoff contention for the 15th straight year.

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On January 4, 2016, the Oakland Raiders filed for relocation alongside the Chargers and Rams.

Committee set up by the league to deal with Los Angeles initially recommended the Carson Site, but the Chargers and Oakland Raiders were unable to secure the votes they needed to move.

In January 2018, the Oakland Raiders re-hired Jon Gruden, signing him to a 10-year, $100-million contract, paying him $10 million a year and giving him near-total control over the team.

The Oakland Raiders traded away Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper in separate deals, acquiring three first-round draft picks in the process.

On December 10, the Oakland Raiders fired general manager Reggie McKenzie, who had been with the Oakland Raiders since 2012.