Oakland Raiders - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

team based in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

. They currently play in the Western Division

AFC West

The AFC West is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference, currently comprising the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Oakland Raiders.-History:...

of the American Football Conference

American Football Conference

The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....

(AFC) in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

(NFL). The Raiders began play in the American Football League

American Football League

The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...

(AFL) in 1960 and joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger of 1970.

The Raiders were formed in 1960, taking a spot in the newly formed AFL that had been vacated when the yet-unnamed Minneapolis franchise reneged on its agreement with the AFL and joined the NFL. The city of Oakland was granted their position in the league and inherited their inaugural draft selections, and the Raiders began play in the 1960 American Football League season

1960 American Football League season

The 1960 American Football League season was the inaugural regular season of the American Football League.The season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in the inaugural AFL Championship game.-Division races:...

. The team relocated to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

for thirteen seasons, 1982 to 1994. They returned to Oakland in 1995.

During their first three seasons, the Raiders struggled both on and off the field. In 1963, Al Davis

Al Davis

Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...

was brought to the team as head coach and general manager, and from 1963 until 2002 the team had only seven losing seasons. As members of the AFL they won one league championship (1967), three division titles (1967, 1968, 1969), and appeared in one Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

(II

Super Bowl II

The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later to be known as Super Bowl II, was played on January 14, 1968 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida....

). Since joining the NFL when the leagues merged in 1970, the Raiders have won twelve division titles, three Super Bowls (XI

Super Bowl XI

Super Bowl XI was a football game played on January 9, 1977 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1976 regular season...

, XV

Super Bowl XV

Super Bowl XV was an American football game played on January 25, 1981 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1980 regular season...

, XVIII

Super Bowl XVIII

Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, deciding the National Football League champion following the 1983 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Los Angeles Raiders defeated the National Football Conference...

), and one other conference title (winning the AFC before losing in Super Bowl XXXVII

Super Bowl XXXVII

Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game played on January 26, 2003 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 2002 regular season...

). Thirteen former players have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

Early years (1960–1962)

Having enjoyed a successful collegiate coaching career during the 1950's, San Francisco native Eddie Erdelatz

Eddie Erdelatz

Eddie Erdelatz was an American collegiate and Professional Football player and coach who was the head football coach of the U.S. Naval Academy for nine years, as well as holding the distinction of being the first head coach of the American Football League's Oakland Raiders.Erdelatz's mother died...

was hired as the Raiders first head coach. On February 9, 1960, after previously rejecting offers from the NFL's Washington Redskins

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

and the AFL's Los Angeles Chargers, Erdelatz accepted the Oakland Raiders head coaching position. In January 1960, the Raiders, originally scheduled to play in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, was the last team of eight in the new American Football League

American Football League

to select players, thus relegated to the remaining talent available. The 1960 Raiders 42-man roster included 28 rookies and only 14 veterans. Among the Raiders rookies were future Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

inductee center Jim Otto

Jim Otto

James Edwin Otto is a former Professional Football center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League.-Wausau High School and University of Miami:...

, and a future Raiders head coach, quarterback Tom Flores

Tom Flores

Thomas R. "Tom" Flores is a retired American football quarterback and coach. Flores and Mike Ditka are the only two people in the National Football League history to win a Super Bowl as a player, as an assistant coach, and as a head coach...

. In their 1960 debut year under Erdelatz the Raiders

1960 Oakland Raiders season

The 1960 Oakland Raiders season was the inaugural one for the franchise and for the American Football League. Head coach Eddie Erdelatz led the team to a 6–8 finish, third out of four teams in the Western Division.-Offseason:...

finished their first campaign with a 6–8 record. While off the field, Erdelatz battled an ulcer caused by numerous conflicts with the team's front office. Ownership conflicts prevented the team from signing any top draft picks the next season. On September 18, 1961 Erdelatz was dismissed after being outscored 99-0 in the first two games of the Raiders 1961 season. Erdelatz left football in May 1962, accepting an executive position with a California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

financial institution. On October 27, 1966, after a routine physical, he underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his stomach. Eddie Erdelatz succumbed to the cancer, passing away on November 10, 1966.

On September 18, 1961, after the dismissal of Eddie Erdelatz, management appointed Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

native and offensive line coach Marty Feldman (football coach) to the Raiders head coaching job. Under Feldman, the team finished the 1961 season with a 2–12 record. Feldman began the 1962 season as Raiders head coach but was fired on October 16, 1962 after a dismal 0–5 start. From October 16, 1962 through December 16, 1962, the Raiders then appointed Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

native and assistant coach Red Conkright

Red Conkright

Red Conkright was the third head coach of the American Football League's Oakland Raiders. He took over the team on October 16, 1962, following the firing of Marty Feldman. Under Conkright, the Raiders posted a 1-8 record. He was replaced in 1963 by Al Davis.He was born William Frank Conkright...

as head coach. Under Conkright, the Raiders only victory was its final game of the season, finishing with a 1–13 record. Following the 1962 season the Raiders appointed Conkright to an interim mentor position. On October 1, 1980, Conkright died in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

at the age of 66. Under the Raiders first, second and third head coaches since entering the AFL, the team's combined 3-year performance was a disappointing 9–33 record.

1963–1966

After graduating in 1950 with a BA degree in English from Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

, Al Davis

Al Davis

Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...

landed his first coaching job at Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

's Adelphi College. Drafted into U.S. Army in 1952, Davis coached the U.S. Army's Ft. Belvoir Virginia football team for two years, losing only two games in that period. Davis nearly came under congressional investigation for having the ability to acquire former college and pro-football players who had been drafted into the military. After his military service, Davis was hired in 1954 by the Baltimore Colts administrative staff. For two years, 1955-1956, Davis was hired as a line coach/recruiter at South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

's The Citadel

The Citadel

-Places:*The Citadel , a 201 m skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates*The Citadel , the old fortified city of Gozo, Malta*The Citadel , a shopping mall in Colorado*The Citadel , a diving spot in Martinique...

military college. The following two years, 1957-1959, Davis was the offensive line coach at the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

. His first professional coaching job, 1960-1962, was with Sid Gillman

Sid Gillman

Sidney "Sid" Gillman was an American football player, coach, executive, and innovator. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in...

's Los Angeles Chargers/San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. After the 1962 season, Raiders managing general partner F. Wayne Valley

F. Wayne Valley

F. Wayne Valley was an American businessman, philanthropist and football player. He attended Oregon State University in the 1930s, where he was a starting linebacker and fullback on the Oregon State Beavers football team, though he would ultimately graduate with a business degree from the...

hired Davis as Raiders head coach and general manager

General manager

General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...

. At 33, he was the youngest person in professional football history to hold the positions. Davis immediately began to implement what he termed the "vertical game," an aggressive offensive strategy based on the West Coast offense

West Coast offense

In American football, "West Coast Offense" refers to two similar but distinct offensive-strategic-systems of play: the "Air Coryell" system; or more commonly the pass play system popularized by Bill Walsh...

developed by Chargers head coach Sid Gillman

Sid Gillman

. Under Davis the Raiders improved to 10–4, and he was named the AFL's Coach of the Year in 1963. Though the team slipped to 5–7–2 in 1964, it rebounded to an 8–5–1 record in 1965.
In April 1966, Davis left the Raiders after being named AFL Commissioner, promoting assistant coach John Rauch

John Rauch

John "Johnny" Rauch was an American football player and coach. He was head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the team's loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II in 1968.-Early life:...

to head coach. Two months later, the league announced its merger with the NFL

AFL-NFL Merger

The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...

. With the merger, the position of commissioner was no longer needed, and Davis entered into discussions with Valley about returning to the Raiders. On July 25, 1966, Davis returned as part owner of the team. He 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.,
Under Rauch, the Raiders matched their 1965 season's 8–5–1 record in 1966 but failed to get into the playoffs, finishing 2nd in the AFL West Division.

1967–1969

On the field, the team Davis had assembled and coached steadily improved. With John Rauch

John Rauch

John "Johnny" Rauch was an American football player and coach. He was head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the team's loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II in 1968.-Early life:...

(Davis's hand-picked successor) as head coach, the Raiders finished the 1967 season with a 13–1–0 record and won the 1967

1967 in sports

1967 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* The first Alpine Skiing World Cup is organised for the three ski events: Downhill, Slalom and Giant Slalom:** Men's overall champion: Jean-Claude Killy, France...

AFL Championship, defeating the Houston Oilers 40-7. The win earned the team a trip to the Orange Bowl

Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935 and celebrated its 75th playing on January 1, 2009...

in Miami Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

in Super Bowl II

Super Bowl II

The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later to be known as Super Bowl II, was played on January 14, 1968 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida....

, January 14, 1968, where they were defeated 33-14 by Vince Lombardi

Vince Lombardi

Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...

's Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

. The following year, the Raiders ended the 1968 season with a 12–2–0 record winning the AFL West Division title but were defeated 27-23 by the New York Jets

New York Jets

The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

in the AFL Championship game. Citing management conflicts with day to day coaching decisions, Rauch resigned as Raiders head coach on January 16, 1969, accepting the head coaching job of the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

Enter John Madden

During the 1960's, John Madden

John Madden

John Madden may refer to:*Jack Madden, basketball referee*John Madden , American former football coach and television announcer*John Madden , ice hockey player...

was a defensive assistant coach at San Diego State University

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

under SDSU head coach Don Coryell

Don Coryell

Donald David Coryell was an American football coach, who coached in the NFL first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973–1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978-1986. He was well known for his innovations to football's passing offense. Coryell's offense was commonly known as "Air Coryell"...

. Madden credits Coryell as being an influence on his coaching. In 1967, Madden was hired by Al Davis as the Raiders linebacker coach. On February 4, 1969, after the departure of John Rauch, Raiders assistant coach John Madden was named the Raiders sixth head coach. The 1969 Raiders under Madden won the AFL West Division title ending the season with a 12–1–1 record. On December 20, 1969, the Raiders defeated the Houston Oilers 56-7 in the AFL Division playoff game. In the AFL Conference Championship game of January 4, 1970, the Raiders were defeated by Hank Stram

Hank Stram

Henry Louis "Hank" Stram was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the American Football League's Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs and the Chiefs of the NFL. Stram won three AFL Championships and Super Bowl IV with the Chiefs...

's Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

17-7. Under Madden, the Raiders became one of the most successful franchises in the NFL, winning six division titles during the 1970s.

1970–1971

In 1970, the AFL-NFL merger took place and the Raiders joined the Western Division of the American Football Conference

American Football Conference

(actually the AFL West with the same teams as in 1969, except for the Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...

) in the newly merged NFL. The first post-merger season saw the Raiders win the AFC West with an 8-4-2 record and go all the way to the conference championship, where they lost to the Colts. Despite another 8-4-2 season in 1971, the Raiders failed to win the division or achieve a playoff berth.

1972–1978

In 1972, the team achieved a 10-3-1 record and another division title. In the divisional round, they were beaten by the Steelers 13-7 on a play that would later be known as the Immaculate Reception
Immaculate Reception
The Immaculate Reception is the nickname given to one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1972...

. Improving to 9-4-1 in 1973, the Raiders reached the AFC Championship, but lost 27-10 to the Dolphins.

In 1974, Oakland had a 12-2 regular season, which included a nine-game winning streak. They beat the Dolphins in the divisional round of the playoffs in a see-saw battle before falling to the Steelers in the AFC Championship. On the 1975 season opener, the Raiders beat Miami and ended their 31-game home winning streak. With an 11-3 record, they defeated Cincinnati in the divisional playoff round, but again fell to the Steelers in the conference championship.

In 1976, The Raiders beat Pittsburgh in a revenge match on the season opener and continued to cement its reputation for hard, dirty play by knocking WR Lynn Swann

Lynn Swann

-Collegiate:Swann attended the University of Southern California, where he was an All-American on the Trojans football team. He played under legendary coach John McKay, including the 1972 undefeated and national championship season. McKay said of Swann, "He has speed, soft hands, and grace." He...

out for two weeks with a clothesline to the helmet. Al Davis later tried to sue Steelers coach Chuck Knoll for libel after the latter called safety George Atkinson a criminal for the hit. The Raiders won 13 regular season games and a close victory over New England in the playoffs. They then knocked out the Steelers in the AFC Championship to go to Super Bowl XI. Oakland's opponent was the Minnesota Vikings, a team that had lost three previous Super Bowls. The Raiders stood at 16-0 at halftime, forcing their opponent into multiple turnovers. By the end, they won 32-14 for their first post-merger championship.

The following season saw the Raiders finish 11-3, but lost the division title to Denver. They settled for a wild card, beating the Colts, but then fell to the Broncos in the AFC Championship. During a 1978 preseason game, Patriots WR Darryl Stingley was tragically injured by a hit from Raiders FS Jack Tatum and was left paralyzed for life. Although the Raiders achieved a winning record at 9-7, they failed to qualify for the playoffs.

1979–1981

After ten consecutive winning seasons and one Super Bowl championship, John Madden left the Raiders (and coaching) in 1979 to pursue a career as a television football commentator. His replacement was former Raiders quarterback Tom Flores

Tom Flores

, the first Hispanic

Hispanic

Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...

head coach in NFL history. Flores led the Raiders to another 9-7 season, but not the playoffs. In the fifth week of the 1980 season

1980 NFL season

The 1980 NFL season was the 61st regular season of the National Football League.After the league declined to approve the proposed move by the Raiders from Oakland, California to Los Angeles, the team along with the Los Angeles Coliseum sued the NFL for violating antitrust laws...

, starting quarterback Dan Pastorini

Dan Pastorini

Dante "Dan" Anthony Pastorini is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, and the Philadelphia Eagles.-NFL career:...

broke his leg and was replaced by former number-one draft pick Jim Plunkett

Jim Plunkett

James William "Jim" Plunkett is a former American football quarterback who played college football for Stanford University, where he won the Heisman Trophy, and professionally for three National Football League teams: the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. ...

. Plunkett led Oakland to an 11-5 record and a wild card

Wild card (sports)

The term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...

berth. After playoff victories against the Houston Oilers

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...

, Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, and San Diego Chargers, the Raiders went to Super Bowl XV, facing the heavily favored Philadelphia Eagles. the Raiders clinched their second NFL championship in five years with a 27–10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles

1980 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1980 Philadelphia Eagles season resulted in an appearance in the Super Bowl.-Offseason:After going 11–5 in the 1979 season and making the playoffs again as a wildcard team, the Eagles found themselves looking to improve through the NFL Draft again....

in Super Bowl XV

Super Bowl XV

. With the victory, the Raiders became the first ever wild card team to win a Super Bowl." Two Super Bowl records of note occurred in this game: 1) Kenny King's 80-yard, first-quarter, catch-and-run reception from Jim Plunkett remained the longest touchdown Super Bowl

Super Bowl

pass play for the next 23 years; and 2) Rod Martin

Rod Martin

Rod Martin is a retired National Football League linebacker who played for the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders from 1977 to 1988.-College career:...

's three interceptions of Eagles' quarterback Ron Jaworski

Ron Jaworski

Ronald Vincent "Ron" Jaworski is a former American football quarterback and currently an NFL analyst on ESPN. He is also CEO of Ron Jaworski Golf Management, Inc., based out of Blackwood, New Jersey, and manages golf courses in southern New Jersey, northeast Pennsylvania, and West Virginia...

still stands today as a Super Bowl record. Reflecting on the last ten years during the post-game awards ceremony, Al Davis stated "...this was our finest hour, this was the finest hour in the history of the Oakland Raiders. To Tom Flores, the coaches, and the athletes: you were magnificent out there, you really were." The team would not see a repeat performance in 1981, falling to 7-9 and a losing record for the first time since 1963.

1982–1988

Prior to the 1980 season, Al Davis attempted unsuccessfully to have improvements made to the Oakland Coliseum, specifically the addition of luxury box

Luxury box

A Luxury box is a special seating section located within stadiums, arenas and other sporting and entertainment venues. They are typically located in the midsection of a stadium grandstand, usually providing the best views of the event...

es. That year, he signed a Memorandum of Agreement

Memorandum of Agreement

A memorandum of agreement or cooperative agreement is a document written between parties to cooperatively work together on an agreed upon project or meet an agreed objective. The purpose of an MOA is to have a written understanding of the agreement between parties.An MOA is a good tool to use for...

to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

. The move, which required three-fourths approval by league owners, was defeated 22–0 (with five owners abstaining). When Davis tried to move the team anyway, he was blocked by an injunction

Injunction

An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...

. In response, the Raiders not only became an active partner in an antitrust

Antitrust

The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...

lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...

(who had recently lost the Los Angeles Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

), but filed an antitrust lawsuit of their own. After the first case was declared a mistrial

Trial (law)

In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...

, in May 1982 a second jury found in favor of Davis and the Los Angeles Coliseum, clearing the way for the move. With the ruling, the Raiders finally relocated to Los Angeles for the 1982 season

1982 NFL season

The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule...

to play their home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

The team finished 8–1 in the strike-shortened 1982 season, first in the AFC, but lost in the second round of the playoffs

NFL playoffs, 1982-83

The NFL playoffs following the 1982 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XVII.A players' strike reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff format , just for this year. Division standings were ignored...

to the New York Jets

New York Jets

. The following season, the team finished 12–4 and won convincingly against the Steelers and Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

in the AFC playoffs

NFL playoffs, 1983-84

The NFL playoffs following the 1983 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XVIII.Due to Christmas, the two wild card playoff games were played in a span of three days....

. Against the Washington Redskins

Washington Redskins

in Super Bowl XVIII

Super Bowl XVIII

, the Raiders built a 21–3 halftime lead en route to a 38–9 victory and their third NFL championship. The team had another successful regular season in 1984, finishing 11-5, but a three-game losing streak forced them to enter the playoffs as a wildcard, where they fell to the Seahawks. The 1985 campaign saw 12 wins and a division title, but that was followed by an embarrassing home loss to the Patriots.

The Raiders' fortunes declined after that, and from 1986 through 1989, Los Angeles finished no better than 8–8 and posted consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1961–62. Also 1986 saw Al Davis get into a widely publicized argument with RB Marcus Allen

Marcus Allen

Marcus LeMarr Allen is a former American football player and, until recently, was affiliated with CBS as a game analyst. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and caught 587 passes for 5,412 yards during his career for both the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1982 to 1997...

, whom he accused of faking injuries. The feud continued into 1987, and Davis retaliated by signing Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson

Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is a former American baseball and football player. He was the first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, and also won the Heisman Trophy in 1985....

in Allen's place. However, Jackson was also a left fielder

Left fielder

In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

for Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

's Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...

, and could not play full-time until baseball season ended in October. Even worse, another strike cost the NFL one game and prompted them to use substitute players. The Raiders fill-ins achieved a 1-2 record before the regular team returned. After a weak 5-10 finish, Tom Flores moved to the front office and was replaced by Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

offensive assistant coach Mike Shanahan

Mike Shanahan

Michael Edward "Mike" Shanahan is the 28th and current head coach of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. Shanahan also holds the title of Vice President of Football Operations with the Redskins, giving him full control over player personnel with the team. Shanahan previously...

. Shanahan led the team to a 7-9 season in 1988, and Allen and Jackson continued to trade places as the starting RB. Low game attendance and fan apathy were evident by this point, and In the summer of 1988, rumors of a Raiders return to Oakland intensified when a preseason game against the Houston Oilers was scheduled at Oakland Coliseum.

As early as 1986, Davis began to seek a new, more modern stadium away from the Coliseum

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

. The neighborhood around it was considered dangerous at the time (which caused the NFL to schedule the Raiders' Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

appearances as away games - the NFL would not even consider allowing the Raiders to use Anaheim Stadium for Monday night games). In addition to sharing the venue with the USC Trojans

USC Trojans

The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...

, the Coliseum was aging and still lacked the luxury suites and other amenities that Davis was promised when he moved the Raiders to Los Angeles. Finally, the Coliseum had 95,000 seats and was rarely able to fill all of them even in the Raiders' best years, and so most Raiders home games were blacked out on television. Numerous venues in California were considered, including one near Hollywood Park

Hollywood Park

Hollywood Park is a thoroughbred race course and poker card room in Inglewood, California, about three miles from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum.-History:...

in Inglewood

Inglewood, California

Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...

and another in Carson

Carson, California

Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....

. In August 1987, it was announced that the city of Irwindale

Irwindale, California

Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 1,422 at the 2010 census, down from 1,446 at the 2000 census....

paid Davis USD $10 million as a good-faith deposit for a prospective stadium site. When the bid failed, Davis kept the non-refundable deposit.

1989–1994

Negotiations between Davis and Oakland commenced in January 1989, and on March 11, 1991, Davis announced his intention to bring the Raiders back to Oakland. By September 1991, however, numerous delays had prevented the completion of the deal between Davis and Oakland. On September 11, Davis announced a new deal to stay in Los Angeles, leading many fans in Oakland to burn Raiders paraphernalia in disgust.

After starting the 1989 season

1989 NFL season

The 1989 NFL season was the 70th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement...

with a 1–3 record, Shanahan was fired by Davis, which began a long-standing feud between the two. He was replaced by former Raider offensive lineman Art Shell

Art Shell

Arthur "Art" Shell is an American former collegiate and professional football player in the American Football League and later in the NFL, a Hall of Fame offensive tackle, and a two-time former head coach of the Oakland Raiders...

, who had been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

earlier in the year. With the hiring, Shell became the first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

head coach in the modern NFL era, but the team still finished a middling 8-8. In 1990

1990 NFL season

The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League. To increase revenue, the league changed the regular season so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period...

, Shell led Los Angeles to a 12–4 record. They beat the Bengals in the divisional round of the playoffs, but Bo Jackson had his left femur ripped from the socket after a tackle. Without him, the Raiders were crushed in the AFC Championship by the Buffalo Bills. Jackson was forced to quit football as a result, although surgery allowed him to continue playing baseball until he retired in 1994.

The team's fortunes faded after the loss. They made two other playoff appearances during the 1990s, and finished higher than third place only three times. In 1991, they got into the postseason as a wild card after a 9-7 regular season, but fell to Kansas City. 1992 saw them drop to 7-9. This period was marked by the injury of Jackson in 1991, the failure of troubled quarterback Todd Marinovich

Todd Marinovich

Todd Marvin Marinovich is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. He played for the Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League, and also in the Canadian Football League and Arena Football League...

, the acrimonious departure of Marcus Allen

Marcus Allen

in 1993, and the retirement of Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long

Howie Long

Howard "Howie" Matthew Moses Long is an American former National Football League defensive end and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000...

after the 1993 season, when the Raiders went 10-6 and lost to Buffalo in the divisional round of the playoffs. Shell was fired after posting a 9–7 record in the 1994 season

1994 NFL season

The 1994 NFL season was the 75th regular season of the National Football League. To honor the NFL's 75th season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each player wore a patch on their jerseys with this logo throughout the season...

.

Shell's five-plus-year tenure as head coach in Los Angeles was marked particularly by a bitter dispute between star running back Marcus Allen and Al Davis. The exact source of the friction is unknown, but a contract dispute led Davis to refer to Allen as "a cancer on the team." By the late 1980s, injuries began to reduce Allen's role in the offense. This role was reduced further in 1987, when the Raiders drafted Bo Jackson—even though he originally decided to not play professional football in 1986 (when drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...

in the first round). By 1990, Allen had dropped to fourth on the team's depth chart, leading to resentment on the part of his teammates. In late 1992 Allen lashed out publicly at Davis, and accused him of trying to ruin his career. In 1993, Allen left to play for the rival Kansas City Chiefs.

Back to Oakland (1995–present)

On June 23, 1995, Davis signed a letter of intent

Letter of intent

A letter of intent is a document outlining an agreement between two or more parties before the agreement is finalized. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement...

to move the Raiders back to Oakland. The move was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors the next month, as well as by the NFL. The move was greeted with much fanfare, and under new head coach Mike White

Mike White (football coach)

Michael Kavanaugh White is former American football player and coach. He has 16 years experience as a head coach, including stints at the University of California, Berkeley , the University of Illinois and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL .-College coaching career:During his college coaching...

the 1995 season started off well for the team. Oakland started 8–2, but injuries to starting quarterback Jeff Hostetler

Jeff Hostetler

William Jeffrey Hostetler is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the New York Giants, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, and Washington Redskins. His nickname is "Hoss".-Penn State:...

contributed to a six-game losing streak to end the season, and the Raiders failed to qualify for the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

In order to convince Davis to return, Oakland spent $220 million on stadium renovations. These included a new seating section — commonly known as "Mount Davis" — with 10,000 seats. It also built the team a training facility and paid all its moving costs.
The Raiders pay just $525,000 a year in rent — a fraction of what the nearby San Francisco 49ers pay to play at Candlestick Park — and do not pay maintenance or game-day operating costs.

Gruden era

After two more unsuccessful seasons (7-9 in 1996 and 4-12 in 1997) under White and his successor, Joe Bugel

Joe Bugel

Joseph John 'Buges' Bugel was the Offensive line coach for the Washington Redskins from 1981 to 1989 and from 2004 to 2009...

, Davis selected a new head coach from outside the Raiders organization for only the second time when he hired Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

offensive coordinator Jon Gruden

Jon Gruden

Jon David Gruden is an American football analyst and former head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for seven seasons and prior to that the Oakland Raiders for four seasons. In his first year as the head coach of Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII, defeating the Raiders whom he had...

, who previously worked for the 49ers and Packers under head coach Mike Holmgren

Mike Holmgren

Michael George Holmgren is a former professional football coach and current President of the Cleveland Browns. He served as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998, and the Seattle Seahawks from 1999 to 2008...

. Under Gruden, the Raiders posted consecutive 8-8 seasons in 1998 and 1999, and climbed out of last place in the AFC West. Oakland finished 12-4 in the 2000 season, the team's most successful in a decade. Led by veteran quarterback Rich Gannon

Rich Gannon

Richard Joseph Gannon is a former football quarterback, who achieved most of his success late in his career with the Oakland Raiders in the National Football League...

, Oakland won their first division title since 1990, and advanced to the AFC Championship, where they lost 16–3 to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

.

The Raiders acquired all-time leading receiver Jerry Rice

Jerry Rice

Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...

prior to the 2001 season. They finished 10-6 and won a second straight AFC West title but lost their divisional-round playoff game to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

, in a controversial game that became known as "The Tuck Rule Game

The Tuck (NFL game)

The 2002 AFC divisional playoff game, known to some as the "Tuck Rule Game" was the playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders. It took place on January 19, 2002 at Foxboro Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, then the home stadium of the Patriots...

." The game was played in a heavy snowstorm, and late in the fourth quarter Raiders star cornerback Charles Woodson

Charles Woodson

Charles C. Woodson is an American football cornerback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He played college football at the University of Michigan for the Michigan Wolverines. In 1997, Woodson led the Wolverines to a national championship...

blitzed Patriots quarterback Tom Brady

Tom Brady

Thomas Edward Patrick "Tom" Brady, Jr. is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League . After playing college football at Michigan, Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.He has played in four Super Bowls,...

causing an apparent fumble which was recovered by Raiders linebacker Greg Biekert

Greg Biekert

Greg Biekert is a former American football linebacker and current linebackers coach for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. Biekert attended Longs Peak Middle School and Longmont High School in Longmont, Colorado where he lettered in football. Biekert was a standout linebacker...

. The recovery would have led to a Raiders victory; however, the play was reviewed and determined to be an incomplete pass (it was ruled that Brady had pump faked and then "tucked" the ball into his body, which, by rule, cannot result in a fumble—though this explanation was not given on the field, but after the NFL season had ended). The Patriots retained possession and drove for a game-tying field goal. The game went into overtime and the Patriots won 16–13.

Callahan era

Shortly after the season, the Raiders made an unusual move that involved releasing Gruden from his contract and allowing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

to sign him. In return, the Raiders received cash and future draft picks from the Buccaneers. The sudden move came after months of speculation in the media that Davis and Gruden had fallen out with each other both personally and professionally. Bill Callahan

Bill Callahan (football coach)

William E. Callahan is the Assistant Head Coach for the New York Jets. He was formerly the head coach of the Oakland Raiders for the 2002-2003 seasons and for the University of Nebraska for the 2004-2007 seasons....

, who served as the team's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach during Gruden's tenure, was named head coach.

Under Callahan, the Raiders finished the 2002 season 11-5, won their third straight division title, and clinched the top seed in the playoffs. Rich Gannon

Rich Gannon

Richard Joseph Gannon is a former football quarterback, who achieved most of his success late in his career with the Oakland Raiders in the National Football League...

was named MVP

Most Valuable Player

In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...

of the NFL after passing for a league-high 4,689 yards. After beating the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans by large margins in the playoffs

NFL playoffs, 2002-03

The 2002-03 NFL playoffs followed the 2002 NFL season and concluded with Super Bowl XXXVII.Prior to the 2002-03 season, the league realigned its teams into eight divisions . Thus, the 12-team playoff format was modified...

, the Raiders made their fifth Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII

Super Bowl XXXVII

. Their opponent was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

, coached by Gruden. The Raiders, who had not made significant changes to Gruden's offensive schemes, were intercepted five times by the Buccaneers en route to a 48–21 blowout. Some Tampa Bay players claimed that Gruden had given them so much information on Oakland's offense, they knew exactly what plays were being called.

Callahan's second season as head coach was considerably less successful. Oakland finished 4–12, their worst showing since 1997. After a late-season loss to the Denver Broncos, a visibly frustrated Callahan exclaimed, "We've got to be the dumbest team in America in terms of playing the game." At the end of the 2003 regular season Callahan was fired and replaced by former Washington Redskins head coach Norv Turner

Norv Turner

Norval Eugene Turner is the head coach for the National Football League's San Diego Chargers. He also has served as head coach of the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, and as offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers...

Coaching carousel (2004–present)

The team's fortunes did not improve in Turner's first year. Oakland finished the 2004 season

2004 NFL season

The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...

5–11, with only one divisional win (a one-point victory over the Broncos in Denver). During a Week 3 victory against the Buccaneers, Rich Gannon suffered a neck injury that ended his season and eventually his career. He never returned to the team and retired before the 2005 season. Kerry Collins

Kerry Collins

Kerry Michael Collins is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers with the fifth overall pick of the 1995 NFL Draft, the first choice in the franchise's history...

, who led the New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXV

Super Bowl XXXV

Super Bowl XXXV was played on January 28, 2001 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 2000 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Baltimore Ravens defeated the National Football Conference champion New York...

and signed with Oakland after the 2003 season, became the team's starting quarterback.

In an effort to bolster their offense, in early 2005 the Raiders acquired Pro Bowl wide receiver Randy Moss

Randy Moss

Randy Gene Moss is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft...

via trade with the Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

, and signed free agent running back Lamont Jordan

LaMont Jordan

LaMont Damon Jordan is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft...

of the New York Jets. After a 4–12 season and a second consecutive last place finish, Turner was fired as head coach. On February 11, 2006 the team announced the return of Art Shell as head coach. In announcing the move, Al Davis said that firing Shell in 1995 had been a mistake.

Under Shell, the Raiders lost their first five games in 2006 en route to a 2–14 finish, the team's worst record since 1962. Oakland's offense struggled greatly, scoring just 168 points (fewest in franchise history) and allowing a league-high 72 sacks

Quarterback sack

In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...

. Wide receiver Jerry Porter was benched by Shell for most of the season in what many viewed as a personal, rather than football-related, decision. Shell was fired again at the end of the season. The Raiders also earned the right to the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft

2007 NFL Draft

The 2007 National Football League Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draft was televised for the 28th consecutive year on ESPN and ESPN2. The NFL Network also broadcast coverage of the event, its second year doing so...

for the first time since 1962, by virtue of having the league's worst record.

One season into his second run as head coach, Shell was fired on January 4, 2007. On January 22, the team announced the hiring of 31-year-old USC

University of Southern California

offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin

Lane Monte Kiffin is the current head coach of the University of Southern California Trojans college football team. He was previously the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers college football team, the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, and the offensive coordinator for the Trojans...

, the youngest coach in franchise history and the youngest coach in the NFL. In the 2007 NFL Draft, the Raiders selected LSU

LSU Tigers football

The LSU Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, represents Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States in NCAA Division I FBS college football. Current head coach Les Miles has led the team since 2005. Since 1999 when Nick Saban took over as...

quarterback JaMarcus Russell

JaMarcus Russell

JaMarcus Trenell Russell is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. Russell played college football for the LSU Tigers where he finished 21–4 as a starter and was named MVP of the 2007 Sugar Bowl. The Oakland Raiders selected Russell with the first overall pick of the 2007...

with the #1 overall pick. Kiffin coached the Raiders to a 4-12 record in the 2007 season

2007 Oakland Raiders season

The 2007 Oakland Raiders season was the team's forty-eight season overall. The team finished the season with a 4–12 record. It began with the team's fourth head coach in six seasons. By virtue of the team's 2–14 finish in 2006 , they acquired the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft...

. After a 1-3 start to 2008 and months of speculation and rumors, Al Davis fired Kiffin on September 30, 2008. Tom Cable

Tom Cable

-NFL:-References:...

was named as his interim replacement, and officially signed as the 17th head coach of the Oakland Raiders on Tuesday, February 3, 2009.

Their finish to the 2008 season

2008 NFL season

The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...

would turn out to match their best since they lost the Super Bowl in the 2002 season. However, they still finished 5–11 and ended up 3rd in the AFC West

AFC West

, the first time they did not finish last since 2002. They would produce an identical record in 2009; however, the season was somewhat ameliorated by the fact that four of the Raiders' five wins were against opponents with above .500 records. At the end of their 2009 campaign, the Raiders became the first team in NFL history to lose at least 11 games in seven straight seasons.

In 2010, the Raiders became the first team in NFL history to go undefeated against their own division yet fail to make the postseason (6-0 in the AFC West, 8-8 overall, 3 games behind the New York Jets for the second Wild Card entry). On January 4, 2011, The Oakland Raiders' owner Al Davis informed head coach Tom Cable that his contract would not be renewed, ending his tenure with the organization. Many Raider players, such as punter Shane Lechler, were upset with the decision. On January 17, 2011, it was announced that offensive coordinator Hue Jackson

Hue Jackson

Hue Jackson is an American football coach who is currently head coach of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League after previously serving as the team's offensive coordinator in 2010....

was going to be the next Raiders head coach. A press conference was held on January 18, 2011, to formally introduce Jackson as the next Raiders head coach, the fifth in just seven years. On October 8, 2011, Al Davis died.

Logos and uniforms

When founded in 1960, a "name the team" contest was held by the Oakland Tribune, and the winner was the Oakland Señors. After a few weeks of being the butt of local jokes (and accusations that the contest was fixed, as Chet Soda was fairly well known within the Oakland business community for calling his acquaintances "señor"), the fledgling team (and its owners) changed the team's name nine days later to the Oakland Raiders, which had finished third in the naming contest. The original team colors were black, gold and white. The now-familiar team emblem of a pirate (or "raider") wearing a football helmet was created, reportedly a rendition of actor Randolph Scott

Randolph Scott

Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...

.

The original Raiders uniforms were black and gold, while the helmets were black with a white stripe and no logo. The team wore this design from 1960–1962. When Al Davis became head coach and general manager in 1963, he changed the team's color scheme to silver and black, and added a logo to the helmet. This logo is a shield that consists of the word "Raiders" at the top, crossed swords, and the head of a Raider wearing a football helmet. Over the years, it has undergone minor color modifications (such as changing the background from silver to black in 1964), but it has essentially remained the same.

The Raiders' current silver and black uniform design has essentially remained the same since it debuted in 1963. It consists of silver helmets, silver pants, and either black or white jerseys. The black jerseys have silver numbers, while the white jerseys have black numbers. Originally, the white jerseys had silver numbers with a thick black outline, but they were changed to black with a silver outline for the 1964 season. In 1970, the team used silver numerals for the season. However, in 1971 the team again displayed black numerals and have stayed that way ever since (with the exception of the 1994–95 season where they donned the 1963 helmets with the 1970 silver away numbers).

The Raiders wore their white jerseys at home for the first time in their history on September 28, 2008 against the San Diego Chargers. The decision was made by Lane Kiffin, who was coaching his final game for the Raiders, and was purportedly due to intense heat. However, the high temperature in Oakland that day was only 72 degrees.

For the 2009

2009 Oakland Raiders season

The 2009 Oakland Raiders season is the 50th season for the original American Football League team, and its 40th in the NFL. On September 6, 2009, The Raiders traded a 2011 draft pick to the New England Patriots for 5x Pro Bowl Defensive Lineman Richard Seymour. With their loss to Dallas on November...

season, the Raiders took part in the AFL Legacy Program and wore 1960's throwback jerseys for games against other teams who used to be a part of the AFL

American Football League

Home fields

After splitting the first home season between Kezar Stadium

Kezar Stadium

Kezar Stadium is a stadium located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, and of the San Francisco Dragons of MLL. It also served as the home of the...

and Candlestick, the Raiders moved exclusively to Candlestick Park in 1961, where total attendance for the season was about 50,000, and finished 2–12. Valley threatened to move the Raiders out of the area unless a stadium was built in Oakland, so in 1962 the Raiders moved into 18,000-seat Frank Youell Field

Frank Youell Field

Frank Youell Field was a football stadium that stood in Oakland, California. It was the home of the Oakland Raiders from 1962 to 1965.The stadium, which was essentially a temporary home until the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum was completed, sat 22,000 and cost $400,000 to build. The facility was...

(later expanded to 22,000 seats), their first home in Oakland. It was a temporary home for the team while the 53,000 seat Oakland Coliseum was under construction; the Coliseum was completed in 1966. The Raiders have shared the Coliseum with the Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

since the A's moved to Oakland from Kansas City in 1968, except for the years the Raiders called Los Angeles home (1982-1994).

The Raiders did play one regular season game at California Memorial Stadium

California Memorial Stadium

California Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley. Commonly known as Memorial Stadium, it is the home field for the University of California Golden Bears of the Pacific-12 Conference...

in Berkeley, CA. On September 23, 1973 they played the Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

in Berkeley due to a scheduling conflict with the baseball Oakland Athletics. The team defeated the Dolphins 12-7, ending the Dolphins' unbeaten and untied streak.

During the Los Angeles years, the Raiders played in the 93,000 seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Commitment to Excellence

Al Davis coined slogan

Slogan

A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...

s such as "Pride and Poise," "Commitment to Excellence," and "Just Win, Baby"—all of which are registered trademark

Trademark

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

s of the team."

Raider Nation

The nickname Raider Nation refers to the die hard fans of the team spread throughout the United States and the world. Members of the Raider Nation

Raider Nation

The Raider Nation is the unofficial name for the fans of the NFL's Oakland Raiders. They are particularly associated with a section of the Oakland Coliseum known as the 'black hole' which is usually occupied by rowdy fans...

who attend home games are known for arriving to the stadium early, tailgating

Tailgate party

In the United States, a tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating often involves consuming alcoholic beverages and grilling food. Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas, before and occasionally after games and...

, dressing up in face masks, and black outfits. The Raider Nation is also known for the "Black Hole", a specific area of the Coliseum (sections 104, 105, 106, and 107) frequented by the team's rowdiest and most fervent fans.

In September 2009, Ice Cube

Ice Cube

O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...

recorded a song for the Oakland Raiders named "Raider Nation". In 2010, he took part in a documentary for ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's 30 for 30
30 for 30
30 for 30 is the umbrella title for a series of documentaries airing on ESPN and its sister networks. The series, which premiered in October 2009 and concluded in December 2010, chronicles 30 stories from the "ESPN era," each of which detail the issues, trends, people, teams, or events that...

series titled Straight Outta L.A.. It mainly focuses on N.W.A. and the effect of the Raiders image on their persona.

Raiders' Radio Network

Raider games are broadcast in English on 20 radio stations in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, including flagship station KITS Live 105

KITS

KITS is a San Francisco, California, USA-based radio station broadcasting at 105.3 MHz. The station is owned by CBS Radio and programs a modern rock format. The station also broadcasts on HD channel L2, locally on Comcast cable channel 986, and is streaming online.-Hot Hits:The station's...

(105.3 FM) in San Francisco. Additionally, games are broadcast on ten radio stations in Hawaii, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah. Greg Papa

Greg Papa

Greg Papa is an American sportscaster working in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been broadcasting for most of the Bay Area professional sports franchises for 21 years, covering the Oakland Raiders, Oakland Athletics, Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Giants.Currently, he is best known as...

is the play-by-play announcer, with former Raider coach and quarterback Tom Flores

Tom Flores

doing commentary. George Atkinson and Jim Plunkett

Jim Plunkett

offer pre- and post-game commentary. Raider games are also broadcast in Spanish on six radio stations, including station KZSF (1370 AM) in San Jose and five other stations in California's Central Valley. Erwin Higueros handles play-by-play in Spanish, with Ambrosio Rico doing commentary. Compass Media Networks

Compass Media Networks

Compass Media Networks is an American radio network.The company launched in January 2009. It is owned by former Westwood One CEO and former COO of Connoisseur Media, Peter Kosann...

is responsible for producing and distributing Raiders radio broadcasts as of the 2010 NFL season

2010 NFL season

The 2010 NFL season was the 91st regular season of the National Football League.The regular season began with the NFL Kickoff game on NBC on Thursday, September 9, at the Louisiana Superdome as the New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl XLIV champions, defeated the Minnesota Vikings 14–9.Tom Brady,...

.

Bill King

Bill King

* For the British author and games designer see, William King * For the British naval officer, yachtsman and author, see Commander Bill King*For the Australian rugby league footballer, see Bill King ...

will always be the Voice of the Raiders. Hired in 1966, he called approximately 600 games for Al Davis. The Raiders awarded him all 3 rings. King left after the 1992 season. It's Bill's radio audio heard on most of the NFL Films highlight footage of the Raiders. King's call of the Holy Roller (American football)

Holy Roller (American football)

In American football, "the Holy Roller" is the nickname given to a controversial game-winning play by the Oakland Raiders against the San Diego Chargers on September 10, 1978. The game was played at the Chargers' home field, Jack Murphy or San Diego Stadium...

has been labeled (by Chris Berman, among others) as one of 5 best in NFL history. Bill King died in October 2005 from complications after surgery. Scotty Sterling, an Oakland Tribune sportswriter served as the "color man" with King. The Raider games were called on radio from 1960 to 1962 by Bud (Wilson Keene) Foster and Mel Venter; from 1963 to 1965 by Bob Blum and Dan Galvin.

California

City	Call Sign	Frequency
San Francisco San Francisco, California San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...	KITS KITS KITS is a San Francisco, California, USA-based radio station broadcasting at 105.3 MHz. The station is owned by CBS Radio and programs a modern rock format. The station also broadcasts on HD channel L2, locally on Comcast cable channel 986, and is streaming online.-Hot Hits:The station's... -FM	105.3 FM
Sacramento Sacramento, California Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...	KHTK KHTK KHTK is located in the Sacramento, California, area and broadcasts at 1140 AM. This Sports/Talk station is the flagship station of the Sacramento Kings. KHTK also broadcasts UC Davis football games , Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL,and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL. KHTK broadcasts at 50,000... -AM	1140 AM
Eureka Eureka, California Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....	KEJY KEJY KINS-FM is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Blue Lake, California, USA. The station is currently owned by Eureka Broadcasting Co. and features programing from Fox News Radio.-External links:... -FM	106.3 FM
Napa Napa, California -History:The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and cougars for many centuries, according to Napa historian Kami Santiago. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the...	KVON KVON KVON is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Napa, California, USA, it serves the Santa Rosa area. The station is currently owned by Wine Country Broadcasting Company and features programing provided by ABC Radio and Westwood One.... -AM	1440 AM
Redding Redding, California Redding is a city in far-Northern California. It is the county seat of Shasta County, California, USA. With a population of 89,861, according to the 2010 Census...	KNRO KNRO KNRO is a radio station that carries a sports format. Licensed to Redding, California, USA, the station serves the Redding and Red Bluff areas. The station is owned by Mapleton License of Redding, LLC and features programing from Fox Sports Radio.... -AM	1670 AM
Palm Springs Palm Springs, California Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...	KPSI KPSI (AM) KPSI is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk radio format. Licensed to Palm Springs, California, USA, the station serves the Palm Springs area... -AM	920 AM
King City King City, California King City is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. King City is located on the Salinas River southeast of Salinas, at an elevation of 335 feet . It lies along U.S. Route 101 in the Salinas Valley of the Central Coast of California. King City is a member of the Association of...	KRKC KRKC (AM) KRKC is a radio station broadcasting a Country format. Licensed to King City, California, USA, it serves the South Monterey County area. The station is currently owned by Radio Del Rey Incorporated, and features programing provided from CBS Radio and AP Radio and local news and sports provided... -AM	1490 AM
Fresno Fresno, California Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...	KMJ-FM	105.9 FM
Los Angeles Los Angeles, California Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...	KLAA-AM	830 AM
Modesto Modesto, California Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....	KHKK KHKK Not to be confused with KKHK.KHKK is the call sign of The Hawk, a radio station located in Modesto, California. The Hawk's frequency is 104.1 FM... -FM	104.1 FM
Merced Merced, California Merced is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California in the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 78,958. Incorporated in 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council-manager government...	KDJK-FM	103.9 FM
San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...	KXTK KXTK KXTK is a radio station broadcasting sports programming from ESPN Radio. Licensed to Arroyo Grande, California, USA, it serves the San Luis Obispo, California, area. The station is currently owned by Pacific Coast Media LLC.... -AM	1280 AM
Santa Rosa Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...	KVRV KVRV KVRV is a commercial radio station in Monte Rio, California, broadcasting to the Santa Rosa, California area.KVRV airs a classic rock music format branded as "The River" .-External links:*... -FM	97.7 FM
Ventura Ventura, California Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...	KVTA-AM	1520 AM
Ventura Ventura, California Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...	KKZZ KKZZ KKZZ is a News/Talk formatted radio station licensed to Santa Paula, California. It has had a number of formats since originally signing on as KSPA in the late 1950s, including country , all-news , and Spanish language . It previously used the KKZZ call letters for a long period as an adult... -AM	1400 AM

Hawaii

City	Call Sign	Frenquency
Honolulu Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...	KHNR-AM	690 AM
Hilo	KHLO KHLO KHLO is a radio station broadcasting a Sports radio format. Licensed to Hilo, Hawaii, USA, the station serves the Hilo area. The station is currently owned by Pacific Radio Group, Inc. and features programing from ABC Radio and ESPN Radio.... -AM	850 AM
Kealakekua	KKON KKON KKON is a radio station licensed to serve Kealakekua, Hawaii. The station is owned by Pacific Radio Group, Inc. It airs a Sports radio format featuring programming from ESPN Radio.... -AM	790 AM

Nevada

City	Call Sign	Frenquency
Reno Reno, Nevada Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...	KUUB KUUB KUUB is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Sun Valley, Nevada, USA, it serves the Reno area. The station is currently owned by Lotus Radio Corp.-History:... -FM	94.5 FM

Oregon

City	Call Sign	Frenquency
Portland Portland, Oregon Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...	KUFO-AM	970 AM

Utah

City	Call Sign	Frenquency
Provo Provo, Utah Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...	KOVO KOVO KOVO is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Provo, Utah, USA, the station serves the Provo/Salt Lake City area. The station is currently owned by Simmons-Slc, Ls, LLC.-History:... -AM	960 AM
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...	KZNS-AM	1280 AM
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...	KZNS-FM KZNS-FM KZNS-FM is a radio station broadcasting a sports radio format. Licensed to Coalville, Utah, the station serves Salt Lake City and the surrounding areas...	97.5 FM

Television

Raiders' games are broadcast locally on CBS

NFL on CBS

The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...

affiliate KPIX (when playing an AFC

American Football Conference

opponent) and on Fox

NFL on FOX

NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...

affiliate KTVU

KTVU

KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...

(when hosting an NFC

National Football Conference

The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...

opponent), unless the game is blacked out

Blackout (broadcasting)

Blackout usually relates to the broadcasting of sports events, television programming, that is prohibited in a certain media market.The purpose is theoretically to generate more revenue by obliging certain actions from fans, either by making them buy tickets or watch other games on TV...

locally.

The Raiders are a beneficiary of league scheduling policies. Both the Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...

share the San Francisco Bay Area market, and said market is on the West Coast of the United States. This means that the Raiders cannot play home games or most division games in the early 10:00 a.m. Pacific time

Pacific Time Zone

The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...

slot, nor can they play interconference home games at the same time or network as the 49ers. As a result, both teams generally have more limited scheduling options, and also benefit by receiving more prime time games than usual (click here for further information). Thus, regardless of the previous season's record, the Raiders receive a disproportionate number of Sunday Night

NBC Sunday Night Football

NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the color...

, Monday Night

Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

and/or Thursday Night games, compared to the rest of the league.

Rivals

The Oakland Raiders have four primary rivals: their divisional rivals (Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Diego Chargers) and their geographic rival, the San Francisco 49ers. They also have rivalries with other teams that arose from playoff battles in the past, most notably with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. The Seattle Seahawks has an old rivalry with Oakland as well, but the rivalry became less relevant with the Seahawks moving from the AFC West to the NFC West.

Divisional rivals

The Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos

and the Raiders have been divisional rivals since the two teams began play in the AFL in 1960. While the Raiders still hold the advantage in the all-time series 59–42–2, the Broncos amassed 21 wins in 28 games, from the 1995 season and the arrival of Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan

Mike Shanahan

, through the 2008 season. Shanahan coached the Raiders before being fired just four games into the 1989 season, which has only served to intensify this rivalry. On Sunday, October 24, 2010 the Raiders beat the Broncos (59-14), giving the Raiders the most points scored in a game in the team's history. The Raiders have won 4 of the last 5 encounters, and in the 2010 season they outscored the Broncos 98-37.

The Broncos' first ever Super Bowl appearance (in the 1977 season) was made possible by defeating Oakland in the AFC Championship.

The Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

and the Raiders have had several memorable matches and have a bitter divisional rivalry. Oakland lost the 1969 AFL Championship against Kansas City, who went on to beat the Minnesota Vikings and win the Super Bowl. Kansas City leads the overall series 53–47–2.

The San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers

' rivalry with Oakland dates to the 1963 season, when the Raiders defeated the heavily favored Chargers twice, both come-from-behind fourth quarter victories. One of the most memorable games between these teams was the "Holy Roller

Holy Roller (American football)

" game in 1978, in which the Raiders fumbled for a touchdown in a very controversial play. The Raiders hold the overall series advantage at 57–44–2.

Geographic rival

The San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

, located on the other side of San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...

, are the Raiders' geographic rivals. The first exhibition game played in 1967, ended with the NFL 49ers defeating the AFL Raiders 13-10. After the 1970 merger, the 49ers won in Oakland 38-7. As a result, games between the two are referred to as the "Battle of the Bay." Since the two teams play in different conferences, regular-season matchups are at least every four years. Fans and players of the winning team can claim "bragging rights" as the better team in the area.

On August 20, 2011 in the third week of the pre-season, the pre-season game between the rivals was marked by brawls in restrooms and stands at Candlestick Park including a shooting outside the stadium in which several were injured. The NFL has decided to cancel all future pre-season games between the Raiders and 49ers.

Historic rivals

The rivalry between the Raiders and the New England Patriots

New England Patriots

dates to their time in the AFL, but was intensified during a 1978 preseason game, when Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley

Darryl Stingley

Darryl Floyd Stingley was an American professional football wide receiver whose career was cut short by an injury. He played his entire career with the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He died from heart disease and pneumonia complicated by quadriplegia.-Early life:Stingley...

was permanently paralyzed after a vicious hit delivered by Raiders free safety Jack Tatum

Jack Tatum

John David Tatum was an American football defensive back who played ten seasons from 1971 through 1980 for the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers in the National Football League...

. Before that, New England also lost a playoff game in 1976 to the Raiders on a controversial penalty. The two teams met in a divisional-round

NFL playoffs, 2001-02

The NFL playoffs following the 2001 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXXVI.For the first time, the NFL scheduled prime time playoff games for the first two rounds in an attempt to attract more television viewers. Saturday wild card and divisional playoff games were moved from 12:30 p.m. and 4:00...

playoff game in 2002, which became known as "The Tuck Rule Game". Late in the game, a fumble

Fumble

A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...

by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was overturned, and New England went on to win in overtime and eventually won the Super Bowl against the heavily favored St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

, the Raiders' former crosstown rivals in Los Angeles. Since that game, the Patriots have won two of the last three regular season contests between the two teams. The first contest being the following year during the 2002 season in Oakland, with the Raiders winning 27–20; they met on the 2005 season opener in New England with the Patriots ruining Randy Moss's debut as an Oakland Raider 30-20; the most recent meeting saw the Patriots victorious, 31–19 during the 2011 season

2011 NFL season

The 2011 NFL season, the 92nd regular season of the National Football League, began on Thursday, September 8, 2011 with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers defeating the New Orleans Saints 42–34 at Lambeau Field and will end with Super Bowl XLVI, the league's championship game, on...

.

The New York Jets

New York Jets

began a strong rivalry with the Raiders in the AFL during the 1960s that continued through much of the 1970s, fueled in part by Raider Ike Lassiter breaking star quarterback Joe Namath

Joe Namath

Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...

's jaw during a 1967 game (though Ben Davidson

Ben Davidson

Benjamin Earl Davidson is a former collegiate and professional American football player between 1961 and 1972, most notably in the American Football League with the Oakland Raiders from 1964 through 1969, and for the NFL Raiders from 1970 through 1972. He had also played in the NFL for the league...

wrongly got the blame), the famous Heidi Game

Heidi Game

The Heidi Game or Heidi Bowl was an American football game played on November 17, 1968. The home team, the Oakland Raiders, defeated the New York Jets, 43–32. The game is remembered for its exciting finish, as Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to overcome a 32–29 New York lead...

during the 1968 season, and the Raiders' bitter loss to the Jets in the AFL Championship later that season. The rivalry waned in later years, but saw a minor resurgence due to some late-season and playoff meetings from 2000-2002. The Raiders won the most recent matchup 34-24 on September 25, 2011.

The Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

' rivalry with the Raiders was extremely intense during the 1970s. The Steelers knocked the Raiders out of the playoffs in three of four consecutive seasons in the early 1970s (the first loss was the "Immaculate Reception

Immaculate Reception

The Immaculate Reception is the nickname given to one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1972...

" game) until the Raiders finally beat the Steelers in the 1976 AFC Championship

NFL playoffs, 1976-77

The NFL playoffs following the 1976 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XI.-Bracket:-AFC: Oakland Raiders 24, New England Patriots 21:The Patriots scored first after an 86-yard drive was capped by running back Andy Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run...

(and went on to win Super Bowl XI). During the 1975 AFC Championship game, Raiders strong safety George Atkinson delivered a hit on Pittsburgh wide receiver Lynn Swann

Lynn Swann

that gave him a concussion. When the two teams met in the 1976 season opener, Atkinson hit Swann again and gave him another concussion. After the second incident, Steelers head coach Chuck Noll

Chuck Noll

Charles Henry "Chuck" Noll is a former professional American football player and coach, and a member of the Sid Gillman coaching tree. He served most notably as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League from 1969 to 1991...

referred to Atkinson as part of the "criminal element" in the NFL. Atkinson subsequently filed a $2 million defamation lawsuit against Noll and the Steelers, which he lost. Most recently, Oakland was beaten 35-3 by Pittsburgh on November 21, 2010.

Historic geographic rival

As mentioned earlier, the Raiders and Rams had a rivalry during the 13 years both teams shared the Los Angeles market. The teams met five times in the regular season in this period, with the Raiders winning four times.

Raiders vs. opponents

Notes:

Regular Season Record (all-time): 425-347-11 (as of week 12 of the 2011 NFL season
2011 NFL season
The 2011 NFL season, the 92nd regular season of the National Football League, began on Thursday, September 8, 2011 with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers defeating the New Orleans Saints 42–34 at Lambeau Field and will end with Super Bowl XLVI, the league's championship game, on...

)
Playoff Record (all-time) : 25-18 (last appearance after 2002 season)
The New York Jets were known as the New York Titans.
The Tennessee Titans were known as the Houston Oilers.

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties

Team	1st met	Regular Season				Playoffs
"color:#C3C6CC">Raiders records against all of the other 31 NFL franchises
Team	1st met	W	L	T	Win%	W	L	Win%
Arizona Cardinals Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	1973	5	3	0	.625	0	0
Atlanta Falcons Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	1971	7	5	0	.583	0	0
Baltimore Ravens Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...	1996	1	5	0	.167	0	1	0
Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	1960	19	17	0	.528	0	2	0
Carolina Panthers Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...	1997	2	2	0	.500	0	0
Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	1972	7	6	0	.538	0	0
Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...	1968	18	8	0	.692	2	0	1.000
Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	1970	11	8	0	.579	2	0	1.000
Dallas Cowboys Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...	1974	6	4	0	.600	0	0
Denver Broncos Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	1960	59	42	2	.583	1	1	.500
Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...	1970	6	4	0	.600	0	0
Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...	1972	5	5	0	.500	0	1	0
Houston Texans Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	2004	2	5	0	.286	0	0
Indianapolis Colts Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....	1971	7	5	0	.583	1	1	.500
Jacksonville Jaguars Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	1996	1	4	0	.200	0	0
Kansas City Chiefs Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...	1960	47	53	2	.471	1	2	.333
Miami Dolphins Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	1966	16	13	1	.533	3	1	.750
Minnesota Vikings Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...	1973	9	4	0	.692	1	0	1.000
New England Patriots New England Patriots The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...	1960	14	15	1	.483	1	2	.333
New Orleans Saints New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....	1971	5	5	1	.455	0	0
New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	1973	7	4	0	.636	0	0
New York Jets New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	1960	21	15	2	.579	2	2	.500
Philadelphia Eagles Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	1971	5	5	0	.500	1	0	1.000
Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...	1970	10	9	0	.526	3	3	.500
San Diego Chargers San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	1960	57	44	2	.563	1	0	1.000
San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...	1970	6	6	0	.500	0	0
Seattle Seahawks Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...	1977	28	23	0	.549	1	1	.500
St. Louis Rams St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...	1972	8	4	0	.667	0	0
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...	1976	6	1	0	.857	0	1	0
Tennessee Titans Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...	1960	23	19	0	.548	4	0	1.000
Washington Redskins Washington Redskins The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...	1970	7	4	0	.636	1	0	1.000

Founding the Franchise

A few months after the first AFL draft in 1959, the owners of the yet-unnamed Minneapolis franchise accepted an offer to join the established National Football League

National Football League

as an expansion team (now called the Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

) in 1961, sending the AFL scrambling for a replacement. At the time, Oakland seemed an unlikely venue for a professional football team. The city had not asked for a team, there was no ownership group and there was no stadium in Oakland suitable for pro football (the closest stadiums were in Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

and San Francisco) and there was already a successful NFL franchise in the Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

in the San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

. However, the AFL owners selected Oakland after Los Angeles Chargers owner Barron Hilton

Barron Hilton

William Barron Hilton I is an American business magnate, socialite, and hotel heir. He is the former co-chairman of the Hilton Hotels chain, and the original owner of the Los Angeles Chargers...

threatened to forfeit his franchise unless a second team was placed on the West Coast. Accordingly, the city of Oakland was awarded the eighth AFL franchise on January 30, 1960, and the team inherited the Minneapolis club's draft picks.

Upon receiving the franchise, Oakland civic leaders found a number of businesspeople willing to invest in the new team. A limited partnership

Limited partnership

A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners , there are one or more limited partners . It is a partnership in which only one partner is required to be a general partner.The GPs are, in all major respects,...

was formed to own the team headed by managing general partner Y. Charles (Chet) Soda

Chet Soda

Y. Charles "Chet" Soda was an Oakland, California businessman who was the first general partner of the Oakland Raiders, an original franchise in the American Football League .-See also:...

(1908–1989), a local real estate developer, and included general partners Ed McGah (1899–1983), Robert Osborne (1898–1968), F. Wayne Valley

F. Wayne Valley

(1914–1986), restaurateur Harvey Binns (1914–1982), Don Blessing (1904–2000), and contractor Charles Harney (1902–1962) as well as numerous limited partners.

The Raiders

1960 Oakland Raiders season

finished their first campaign with a 6–8 record, and lost $500,000. Desperately in need of money to continue running the team, Valley received a $400,000 loan from Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

founder Ralph C. Wilson Jr.

Ralph C. Wilson Jr.

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. is the founder, owner and president of NFL's Buffalo Bills. He was one of the founding owners of the American Football League, the league that the NFL merged with in 1970. He is the oldest owner in the National Football League, at age...

After the conclusion of the first season Soda dropped out of the partnership, and on January 17, 1961, Valley, McGah and Osborne bought out the remaining four general partners. Soon after, Valley and McGah purchased Osborne's interest, with Valley named as the managing general partner.

In 1962, Valley hired Al Davis, a former assistant coach for the San Diego Chargers, as head coach and general manager. In April 1966, Davis left the Raiders after being named AFL Commissioner. Two months later, the league announced its merger with the NFL

AFL-NFL Merger

The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...

. With the merger, the position of commissioner was no longer needed, and Davis entered into discussions with Valley about returning to the Raiders. On July 25, 1966, Davis returned as part owner of the team. He 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.

In 1972, with Wayne Valley out of the country for several weeks attending the Olympic Games

1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Davis's attorneys drafted a revised partnership agreement that gave him total control over all of the Raiders' operations. McGah, a supporter of Davis, signed the agreement. Under partnership law, by a 2–1 vote of the general partners, the new agreement was thus ratified. Valley was furious when he discovered this, and immediately filed suit to have the new agreement overturned, but the court sided with Davis and McGah.

In 1976, Valley sold his interest in the team, and Davis — who now owned only 25 percent of the Raiders — was firmly in charge.

Current ownership structure

Legally, the club is a limited partnership

Limited partnership

with nine partners — Davis' heirs and the heirs of the original eight team partners. Since 1972, however Davis had exercised near-complete control as president of the team's general partner, A.D. Football, Inc. Although exact ownership stakes are not known, it has been reported that Davis owned 47% of the team shares before his death in 2011.

Ed McGah, the last of the original eight general partners of the Raiders, died in September 1983. Upon his death, his interest was devised to a family trust

Trust law

In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...

, of which his son, E.J. McGah, was the trustee

Trustee

Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...

. The younger McGah was himself a part owner of the team, as a limited partner, and died in 2002. Several members of the McGah family filed suit against Davis in October 2003, alleging mismanagement of the team by Davis. The lawsuit sought monetary damages and to remove Davis and A. D. Football, Inc. as the team's managing general partner. Among their specific complaints, the McGahs alleged that Davis failed to provide them with detailed financial information previously provided to Ed and E.J. McGah. The Raiders countered that—under the terms of the partnership agreement as amended in 1972—upon the death of the elder McGah in 1983, his general partner interest converted to that of a limited partner. The team continued to provide the financial information to the younger McGah as a courtesy, though it was under no obligation to do so.

The majority of the lawsuit was dismissed in April 2004, when an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled that the case lacked merit since none of the other partners took part in the lawsuit. In October 2005, the lawsuit was settled out of court. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but it was reported that under its terms Davis purchased the McGah family's interest in the Raiders (approximately 31 percent), which gave him for the first time a majority interest, speculated to be approximately 67 percent of the team. As a result of the settlement, confidential details concerning Al Davis and the ownership of the Raiders were not released to the public. His ownership share went down to 47% when he sold 20% of the team to Wall Street investors

In 2006, it was reported that Davis had been attempting to sell the 31 percent ownership stake in the team obtained from the McGah family. He was unsuccessful in this effort, reportedly because the sale would not give the purchaser any control of the Raiders, even in the event of Davis's death.

Al Davis died on October 8, 2011, at the age of 82. According to a 1999 partnership agreement, his wife Carol would assumee full control of the team. After Davis' death, Raiders chief executive Amy Trask

Amy Trask

Amy Trask is the current CEO of the Oakland Raiders, hired in 1997. Trask is currently the only female CEO in the NFL.Trask grew up in the Brentwood district of Los Angeles and graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 1982 with a degree in political science and with a law degree from...

said that the team "will remain in the Davis family."

Financial operations

According to a 2006 report released by Forbes Magazine
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

, the Raiders' overall team value of US $736 million ranks 28th out of 32 NFL teams. The team ranked in the bottom three in league attendance from 2003–2005, and failed to sell out a majority of their home games. One of the reasons cited for the poor attendance figures was the decision to issue costly Personal Seat License

Personal Seat License

A personal seat license, or PSL, gives the holder the right to buy season tickets for a certain seat in a stadium. This holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season tickets. However, if the seat license holder chooses not to sell the seat licenses and...

s (PSLs) upon the Raiders' return to Oakland in 1995. The PSLs, which ranged in cost from $250 to $4,000, were meant to help repay the $200 million it cost the city of Oakland and Alameda County to expand Overstock.com Coliseum. They were only valid for 10 years, however, while other teams issue them permanently. As a result, fewer than 31,000 PSLs were sold for a stadium that holds twice that amount. Since 1995, television blackouts of Raiders home games have been common.

In November 2005, the team announced that it was taking over ticket sales from the privately run Oakland Football Marketing Association (OFMA), and abolishing PSLs. In February 2006, the team also announced that it would lower ticket prices for most areas of Overstock.com Coliseum. Just prior to the start of the 2006 NFL season

2006 NFL season

The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

, the Raiders revealed that they had sold 37,000 season tickets, up from 29,000 the previous year. Despite the team's 2-14 record, they sold out six of their eight home games in 2006.

Legal battles

The Raiders and Al Davis have been involved in several lawsuits throughout their history, including ones against the NFL. When the NFL declined to approve the Raiders' move from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1980, the team joined the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Commission in a lawsuit against the league alleging a violation of antitrust laws. The Coliseum Commission received a settlement from the NFL of $19.6 million in 1987. In 1986, Davis testified on behalf of the USFL

United States Football League

The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...

in their unsuccessful antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. He was the only NFL owner to do so.

After relocating back to Oakland, the team sued the NFL for interfering with their negotiations to build a new stadium at Hollywood Park

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

prior to the move. The Raiders' lawsuit further contended that they had the rights to the Los Angeles market, and thus were entitled to compensation from the league for giving up those rights by moving to Oakland. A jury found in favor of the NFL in 2001, but the verdict was overturned a year later due to alleged juror misconduct. In February 2005, a California Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the original verdict.

When the Raiders moved back from Los Angeles in 1995, the city of Oakland and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority agreed to sell Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs) to help pay for the renovations to their stadium. But after games rarely sold out, the Raiders filed suit, claiming that they were misled by the city and the Coliseum Authority with the false promise that there would be sellouts. On November 2, 2005, a settlement was announced, part of which was the abolishment of PSLs as of the 2006 season.

Trademark and trade dress dilution

In 1996, the team sued the NFL in Santa Clara County, California

Santa Clara County, California

Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...

, in a lawsuit that ultimately included 22 separate causes of action. Included in the team's claims were claims that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers'

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

pirate logo diluted the team's California trademark in its own pirate logo and for trade dress dilution on the ground that the League had improperly permitted other teams (including the Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

) to adopt colors for their uniforms similar to those of the Raiders. Among other things, the lawsuit sought an injunction to prevent the Buccaneers and Panthers from wearing their uniforms while playing in California. In 2003, these claims were dismissed on summary judgment

Summary judgment

In law, a summary judgment is a determination made by a court without a full trial. Such a judgment may be issued as to the merits of an entire case, or of specific issues in that case....

because the relief sought would violate the Commerce Clause

Commerce Clause

The Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." Courts and commentators have tended to...

of the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

BALCO Scandal

In 2003, a number of current and former Oakland players such as Bill Romanowski

Bill Romanowski

William Thomas "Bill" Romanowski is a former American football player. He was born in Vernon, Connecticut. A linebacker, he graduated from Rockville High School in 1984, Boston College in 1988 , and then went on to a 16-year career in the NFL, playing for the San Francisco 49ers , Philadelphia...

, Tyrone Wheatley

Tyrone Wheatley

Tyrone Anthony Wheatley is the running backs coach at Syracuse University and a former professional American football player who played 10 seasons in the National Football League and was one of the most successful high school and collegiate athletes in Metropolitan Detroit history...

, Barrett Robbins, Chris Cooper

Chris Cooper (American football)

Chris Cooper is an American football defensive lineman who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft...

and Dana Stubblefield

Dana Stubblefield

Dana William Stubblefield is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League. After graduating from Taylor High School in North Bend, Ohio, Stubblefield attended the University of Kansas....

were named as clients of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO
Balco
Balco can refer to:* the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative - a controversial sports medicine/nutrition centre in Burlingame, California.* Balco balcony systems who develops, designs and manufactures balcony systems and glazing solutions....

). BALCO was an American company

Economy of the United States

The economy of the United States is the world's largest national economy. Its nominal GDP was estimated to be nearly $14.5 trillion in 2010, approximately a quarter of nominal global GDP. The European Union has a larger collective economy, but is not a single nation...

led by founder and owner Victor Conte

Victor Conte

Victor Conte is a former musician with Tower of Power and founder and president of BALCO, a sports nutrition center in California. He served time in prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering....

. In 2003, journalists Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada

Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada

Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada co-authored the book Game of Shadows while they were reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle...

investigated the company's role in a drug sports scandal later referred to as the BALCO Affair. BALCO marketed tetrahydrogestrinone

Tetrahydrogestrinone

Tetrahydrogestrinone is an anabolic steroid developed by Patrick Arnold. It has affinity to the androgen receptor and the progesterone receptor, but not to the estrogen receptor...

("the Clear"), a then-undetected, performance-enhancing steroid developed by chemist Patrick Arnold

Patrick Arnold

Patrick Arnold is an American organic chemist responsible for creating the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, also known as THG and "the clear". THG, along with two other anabolic steroids that Patrick Arnold manufactured , were drugs at the heart of the BALCO scandal...

. Conte, BALCO vice president James Valente, weight trainer Greg Anderson

Greg Anderson (trainer)

Greg F. Anderson is a former personal trainer, best known for his work with Barry Bonds, and links with BALCO.-Early life:...

and coach Remi Korchemny

Remi Korchemny

Remi Korchemny is the former sprint coach of a number of high profile athletes mainly from the USA. He was an early coach for Soviet Olympic champion Valeri Borzov.After the 1972 Olympics Korchemny moved to America...

had supplied a number of high-profile sports stars from the United States and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

with the Clear and human growth hormone for several years.

Headquartered in Burlingame, California

Burlingame, California

Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for its many surviving examples of Victorian architecture, its affluence, and...

, BALCO was founded in 1984. Officially, BALCO was a service business for blood and urine analysis and food supplements. In 1988, Victor Conte offered free blood and urine tests to a group of athletes known as the BALCO Olympians. He then was allowed to attend the Summer Olympics

1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

in Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. From 1996 Conte worked with well-known American football star Bill Romanowski, who proved to be useful to establish new connections to athletes and coaches.

Pro Football Hall of Famers

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has inducted eleven players who made their primary contribution to professional football while with the Raiders, in addition to owner Al Davis and head coach John Madden. The Raiders' total of thirteen Hall of Famers.

Notes:

Hall of Famers who made the major part of their primary contribution for the Raiders are listed in bold.

Hall of Famers who spent only a minor portion of their career with the Raiders are listed in normal font.

No.	Player	Inducted	Positions	Years with Raiders
"color:#C3C6CC">Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Hall of Famers
80	Jerry Rice Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...	2010	Wide Receiver Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...	2001-2004
26	Rod Woodson Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin "Rod" Woodson is the current cornerbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He is also a former defensive back best known for his 10-year stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as being a key member of the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl XXXV championship...	2009	Safety Safety Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...	2002-2003
--	John Madden John Madden (American football) John Earl Madden is a former American professional football player in the National Football League, a former Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League and later the NFL, and a former color commentator for NFL telecasts. In 2006, he was inducted into...	2006	Head Coach Head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...	1969–1978
76	Bob Brown	2004	Offensive Tackle	1971-1973
80	James Lofton James Lofton James David Lofton is a former American football player and coach. He is a former American football coach for the San Diego Chargers but is best known for his years in the National Football League as a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers , Los Angeles Raiders , the Buffalo Bills...	2003	Wide Receiver Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...	1987-1988
32	Marcus Allen Marcus Allen Marcus LeMarr Allen is a former American football player and, until recently, was affiliated with CBS as a game analyst. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and caught 587 passes for 5,412 yards during his career for both the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1982 to 1997...	2003	Running Back Running back A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...	1982–1992
87	Dave Casper Dave Casper David John Casper , nicknamed "The Ghost." is a former American football player. He was an offensive lineman and tight end.-High school:...	2002	Tight End Tight end The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...	1974–1980, 1984
42	Ronnie Lott Ronnie Lott Ronald Mandel "Ronnie" Lott is a former American football player who starred as a cornerback, free safety, and strong safety in college football and the NFL. He is most well known for his crushing hits on opposing players...	2000	Safety Safety Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...	1991-1992
75	Howie Long Howie Long Howard "Howie" Matthew Moses Long is an American former National Football League defensive end and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000...	2000	Defensive End Defensive end Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...	1981–1993
29	Eric Dickerson Eric Dickerson Eric Demetric Dickerson is a former professional running back in the National Football League who in his career played for the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Raiders, and Atlanta Falcons.-College career:...	1999	Running Back Running back A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...	1992
22	Mike Haynes	1997	Cornerback Cornerback A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...	1983–1989
--	Al Davis Al Davis Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...	1992	Team, League Administrator	1963–2011
83	Ted Hendricks Ted Hendricks Theodore Paul Hendricks is a Hall of Fame former American football linebacker who logged 15 seasons for the Baltimore Colts , the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders in the National Football League...	1990	Linebacker Linebacker A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...	1975–1983
78	Art Shell Art Shell Arthur "Art" Shell is an American former collegiate and professional football player in the American Football League and later in the NFL, a Hall of Fame offensive tackle, and a two-time former head coach of the Oakland Raiders...	1989	Offensive Tackle	1968–1982
25	Fred Biletnikoff Fred Biletnikoff Frederick S. "Fred" Biletnikoff is a former American football wide receiver and coach. He spent the majority of his professional playing and coaching days with the Oakland Raiders...	1988	Wide Receiver Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...	1965–1978
63	Gene Upshaw Gene Upshaw Eugene Thurman Upshaw, Jr. was an American football player for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League and later the NFL, later the executive director of the National Football League Players' Association...	1987	Guard Guard (American football) In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....	1967–1981
24	Willie Brown	1984	Cornerback Cornerback A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...	1967–1978
16	George Blanda George Blanda George Frederick Blanda was a collegiate and professional football quarterback and placekicker...	1981	Quarterback Quarterback Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line... , Placekicker Placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...	1967–1975
00	Jim Otto Jim Otto James Edwin Otto is a former Professional Football center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League.-Wausau High School and University of Miami:...	1980	Center Center (American football) Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...	1960–1974

Retired numbers

The Raider organization does not retire the jersey numbers of former players on an official or unofficial basis. The number 00, worn by Jim Otto

Jim Otto

James Edwin Otto is a former Professional Football center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League.-Wausau High School and University of Miami:...

for his entire career, is no longer allowed by the NFL. It was originally permitted for him only by the AFL as a marketing gimmick since his jersey number 00 is a homophone

Homophone

A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...

pun of his name (aught-O).

There is speculation that the team may have removed number 2 from circulation, however, as it was last worn by JaMarcus Russell

JaMarcus Russell

in 2009 before being released, due to the stigma of Russell being one of the biggest draft busts in the history of professional sports

Professional sports

Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...

. When the team drafted Terrelle Pryor

Terrelle Pryor

Terrelle Pryor is an American football quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2008−2010...

in the 2011 Supplemental Draft, he was issued number 6 despite number 2 (the number he wore at Ohio State

Ohio State Buckeyes football

The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...

) not being used, and Pryor wasn't given an explanation why he didn't receive the number.

External links

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