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Raiders Demise Is MADDENing
By MoonDog | October 3, 2008
We’ve learned the two-week mini-drama surrounding the on again, off again firing of Lane Kiffin as the Oakland Raiders head coach concluded Tuesday, with Al Davis replacing Kiffin with offensive line coach Tom Cable to serve as the interim.
Ben Davidson Pressures Joe Namath in the infamous Heidi Game
The firing of Kiffin means the Raiders will seek their fifth head coach in seven years, a far cry from the days of stability when John Madden and Tom Flores guided Oakland to Super Bowl titles.
I’ve been a devout Cowboys fan since my very early youth, but if Dallas wasn’t contending for the Super Bowl, I wanted to see the Raiders do well.
I recall the day I became enamored with Oakland. It was 1968, two years before the AFL and NFL merged. I wasn’t quite seven years old at the time and as was customary in those days, Sunday’s were for visiting relatives.
One Sunday afternoon just before Thanksgiving, we were visiting my great aunt and uncle. Later that day, the Raiders and New York Jets played what is now known as the “Heidi” game.
It was a marquee matchup pitting the vaunted Raiders against an up and coming Jets team, featuring a quarterback that was nicknamed Broadway Joe.
The game was thrilling and I was completely glued to the television. With less than 2 minutes remaining and the score tied at 29, Namath marched the Jets into field goal range. Jim Turner kicked a 26-yarder and the Jets led 32-29.
After the Jets scored, NBC went to a commercial break. When the break was over, instead of returning to the game, NBC decided to air scheduled programming, which that night at 6:00 p.m. Central was the movie Heidi, starring Shirley Temple.
Instead of seeing the conclusion to one of the most exciting games of the season, there was Shirley in her role as Heidi, herding a bunch of f***ing goats.
Former Oakland Raiders QB Daryle Lamonica
Chaos ensued, especially after NBC aired the final score of the game: Raiders 43, Jets 32. What?!
As it turns out, the Raiders scored two touchdowns in nine seconds, the first coming with just 0:42 remaining to put the Raiders in the lead.
While I was like everyone else who was enraged NBC didn’t bring us back to the game after the commercial break, I became a fan of the Oakland Raiders that day. Perhaps it was the sight of players like Daryle Lamonica, “The Mad Bomber,” or the ageless George Blanda.
Willie Brown, Jim Otto, Fred Biletnikoff and Gene Upshaw were on the field for Oakland that day against the Jets, names that became synonymous with the Raiders.
But the real reasons I became a fan that day were the same reasons anyone following the Raiders became a fan of the team.
Former Oakland Raiders Head Coach John Madden
It was the silver and black uniforms, the logo of a renegade wearing an eye patch on the helmet and the hard-nosed style of play that embodied what the Raiders were all about.
This week’s firing of Kiffin and the creepy live press conference conducted by Davis is a distant memory from the early days when the Raiders were one of the premier teams in the NFL.
Unlike their current state of affairs, the Raiders were a model of organization for nearly 20 years when John Madden and Tom Flores were the head coaches.
After serving as an assistant on former head coach John Rauch’s staff, Madden took over as head coach in 1969, guiding the Raiders until 1978. He compiled a regular season record of 103-32-7 and 9-7 in the playoffs.
Madden coached the Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XI, the organization’s first when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32-14.
Former Oakland Raiders Head Coach Tom Flores
Those Oakland teams of the late 60’s and throughout the 70’s were among the most dominant in NFL history, playing in some of the greatest games that produced indelible memories.
Tom Flores served as an assistant on Madden’s staff and was a former player for the Raiders from 1960 until 1966. After Madden retired in 1978, Flores was named head coach in 1979.
Flores would remain as head coach until 1987, compiling a regular season record of 83-53 and 8-3 in the playoffs. Flores won Super Bowls XV and XVIII, the later coming after the team moved to Los Angeles in 1982.
Since Flores’ left the team the Raiders only other coaching stability occurred when former player Art Shell took over in 1989 and Jon Gruden’s brief tenure that began in 1998.
After a failed experiment with Mike Shanahan as coach from 1988 until midway through 1989, Shell enjoyed some success as the Raider’s coach, winning 54 games over six seasons. Shell was named the NFL Coach of the Year in 1990 after Oakland went 12-4 and made it to the AFC championship game.
After finishing the 1994 season at 9-7, Davis fired Shell, a move he would later lament. Mike White and Joe Bugel would guide the team after Shell was fired, but neither produced the acceptable results Raiders fans and Davis had come to expect.
Former Oakland Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden
When Gruden was hired in 1998, Davis felt he’d made the right choice for an organization that was yearning to regain the glory of the Madden and Flores tenures.
Gruden won 38 games during his four years in Oakland, but at the end of the 2001 season the first of a series of bizarre events took place, with Gruden being allowed to leave the team and take over as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ironically, Gruden led the Bucs to their first Super Bowl victory when they defeated the Raiders 48-21 following the 2002 season. Gruden’s former offensive coordinator, Bill Callahan, had been given the head coaching job in Oakland following Gruden’s departure.
Callahan was considered one of the best offensive minds in the NFL and coached the Raiders to a 12-4 record in 2002. But following the Super Bowl appearance, his time in Oakland would soon come to an end after a near mutiny took place.
Jack Tatum - The Baddest Oakland Raider of Them All
After the Raiders got off to a 2-5 start in 2003, many players, in particular Charles Woodson, publicly questioned Callahan, suggesting he was deliberately trying to sabotage the season.
After a loss to the Denver Broncos, during the post game press conference Callahan said the Raiders must have been “the dumbest team in America in terms of playing the game.”
That incident, along with the team’s 4-12 record, led to his firing at the end of the season and began a revolving door to the Raiders head coaching job.
Since Callahan’s firing, Norv Turner, a second stint with Art Shell and the recently fired Kiffin have all failed to meet Davis’ expectations.
But Davis, once a maverick and a man who helped make the NFL into the most popular sport in America, has become an embarrassment to the organization he’s been associated with for 45 years.
Oakland Raiders Managing General Partner Al Davis
Davis is only one of three owners in the NFL to also hold the title of general manager. Davis’ recent draft selections and personnel decisions have been questionable at best. The downward spiral of the franchise has been more a result of his meddling and growing incompetence as opposed to ineffective coaching.
While Davis has never been the favorite among his fellow NFL owners or past commissioners, there was always a level of respect for his accomplishments. Now, he’s viewed more as an old man grasping for the days that have long since past.
An organization that’s made five Super Bowl appearances, winning three, with 13 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees deserves better than the current state they find themselves in.
It’s a sad demise for a once proud franchise that a new generation of fans never got a chance to see. Now the Raiders are identified with failure and a managing general partner whose senility is being questioned, and rightfully so.
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Tags: Jon Gruden, Jim Otto, Tom Flores, NFL, Joe Namath, Daryle Lamonica, Heidi Game, Jack Tatum, Al Davis, Willie Brown, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, MoonDog, John Madden, Art Shell, Super Bowl, Bill Callahan
Topics: NFL |
3 Responses to “Raiders Demise Is MADDENing”
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October 3rd, 2008 at 5:01 am
what a GREAT write up MOONDOGGY aka SexyBeast!
and u r right, AL needs to retire & FAST!! this team was once a dynasty & now it’s the LAUGHING stock of the NFL where NO ONE wants to play. i feel bad for the players, another coach & more AL drama to look forward too. the new players are probably counting down the days till they can exit oakland!
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:48 am
[...] the Blogosphere Wide Receivers by Species Raiders Demise is Madden-ing 2008 Sports Blogscars NFL Players as South Park [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Moon Dog
The saga of the Raiders is just about as an entertaining as watching the drama unfold concerning the malaise of the country and the ongoing debates between the candidates. You’re either wanting to laugh or cry. Whichever or wherever one’s emotions tends to take us at this juncture.
tophatal…………….