Raiders' top plays Bob Trey

Oakland Raiders This is one of three nominations for the most memorable play in Raiders' history. Oakland Raiders In the previous two days we featured the Sea of Hands, when Clarence Davis somehow came down with Ken Stabler’s flip in the end zone to upend the defending two-time Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins in the AFC divisional playoffs in 1974; and the Holy Roller, Oakland Raiders which gave the Raiders a "zany" victory in San Diego on the final play of regulation when Ken Stabler purposely fumbled forward while being sacked and, Oakland Raiders after Pete Banszak batted the ball even further forward, Oakland Raiders Dave Casper recovered in the end zone for a touchdown in 1978. Please vote for your choice as the Raiders’ most memorable play. Oakland Raiders The Raiders, then calling Los Angeles home, Oakland Raiders were already trouncing defending champion Washington 28-9 in Super Bowl XVIII when their offense lined up for the final play of the third quarter. Oakland Raiders What happened next has gone down in NFL lore as “Marcus Allen, running with the night,” courtesy of legendary NFL Films voice John Facenda. Oakland Raiders Because it was a busted play, one in which Allen had to improvise, it is seen in many corners as the greatest run in Super Bowl history, a reverse-field 74-yard scamper that put the dagger in Washington. Oakland Raiders “Yeah, I called it, but Marcus made it work,” Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett told me with a laugh as he recounted the play. Oakland Raiders “It was one of our steady plays: When in doubt, call ‘Bob Trey O.’ It was always solidly blocked where you shouldn’t lose any yards on it. But their safety messed it up.” Oakland Raiders The play was supposed to be a simple power run to the left, right guard Mickey Marvin pulling to clear space for Allen. But Allen went too far wide of Marvin and safety Ken Coffey blew it up by closing in. Allen stopped on a dime, spun to his left and reversed field. A hole had opened on the right side of the line and Allen sped through it, after Coffey lunged for the ball and Allen’s waist in the backfield. Oakland Raiders Accelerating through the gap, Allen ran past defensive end Todd Liebenstein and linebacker Rich Milot. “After I made that turn, everything slowed down,” Allen told ESPN radio affiliate 95.7 The Game during Super Bowl Week this past winter. Oakland Raiders “I remember Neal Olkewicz just grasping. I could almost see the anxiety on their faces and the tension as I was running by. And then, about 20 yards from the goal line, everything came back to normal speed.” Oakland Raiders The lone Washington player with a shot at Allen past the 50-yard line was cornerback Anthony Washington, but he was cut off by Raiders receiver Cliff Branch. Oakland Raiders Allen, who was supposedly too slow to be a game-breaking running back coming out of USC as the 1981 Heisman Trophy winner, had nothing but open field to the left pylon. After the score, Oakland Raiders which was then the longest run in Super Bowl history, Allen was joined in celebration in the end zone by nearly the entire Raiders team. Oakland Raiders “You can’t teach that kind of running,” John Madden, the former Raiders coach-turned-broadcaster, said while describing the replay. Oakland Raiders “You don’t teach that. You don’t practice that. You don’t see that on film. That happened,” Oakland Raiders.

Doug Williams in Raider

Oakland Raiders I caught part of a replay of Super Bowl XXII the other day on NFL Network, Oakland Raiders and it was the start of the third quarter between the Washington Redskins and the Denver Broncos when announcer Al Michaels said something that caught my attention. Oakland Raiders It actually made me pause the DVR, hit rewind and play again so I could hear Michaels one more time. And then another. Oakland Raiders Sure, there had been rumors that Al Davis had been enamored with quarterback Doug Williams. Oakland Raiders But in the third quarter of that Super Bowl, Oakland Raiders after Williams had essentially won the game for Washington with an epic second quarter that featured five touchdowns, Michaels told the tale. He reported that Williams had been ticketed to the then-Los Angeles Raiders the Monday before the NFL’s 1987 regular season was to begin. Then-Washington coach Joe Gibbs had even told Williams he was on his way to the Raiders. But then, according to Michaels, the Raiders balked at Washington’s price   a first-round draft pick, or a very good player. Now, we’ve already heard the tales of John Elway coming so close to being a Raider, and how the Raiders should have drafted Dan Marino in that same 1983 draft after the purported draft-day trade to land Elway fell through. And while the Williams-to-the-Raiders story might not have that same intrigue as either Elway or Marino wearing Silver and Black, it is interesting nonetheless. Especially when you consider what Williams accomplished later that strike-torn season, and when you realize who the Raiders instead used that first-round pick on in the 1983 draft. Williams, who had been the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ starting quarterback from 1978 through 1982 and had helped author three playoff appearances for them, was also a pioneer as an African American quarterback, following in the footsteps of James Harris and Joe Gilliam. And we know that Davis looked beyond skin tone when it came to players he believed could play  Davis selected QB Eldridge Dickey in the first round of the 1968 draft   and Williams had the big arm Davis was always in search of. But after a contract dispute ended his time in Tampa Bay, Williams played two seasons in the USFL before resurfacing in Washington in 1986 as Jay Schroeder's backup. Williams had not started an NFL game since Jan. 9, 1983, a playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys, so yeah, you could imagine the Raiders not wanting to give up a first-rounder for him less than a week before the 1987 season. Still, the Raiders were relatively unsettled under center entering that season as Jim Plunkett had retired and Marc Wilson and Rusty Hilger were the returners. But even as the Raiders got off to a 3-0 start, the wheels quickly fell off, thanks in part to the strike, which cancelled one week of games and led to three weeks of replacement player games. The Raiders finished 5-10, their worst record since going 1-13 in 1962, the year before Davis arrived in Oakland. And two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Tom Flores resigned following the season. Would Williams have saved the season and steadied the Raiders' ship? Meanwhile, in Washington, Williams still had to bide his time. Sure, he relieved Schroeder a few times in 1987 and even started two regular-season games, but he did not become Washington’s starter for good until there was 6:51 remaining in the third quarter of its regular-season finale against Minnesota. Williams, a huge team favorite, led Washington on its playoff run, upsetting the Chicago Bears in the divisional round and then upending the Vikings in the NFC title game. Then came Super Sunday, in which he threw all four of his touchdown passes in the historic second quarter and passed for a then-Super Bowl record 340 yards in Washington’s 42-10 victory over Elway’s Broncos as Williams became the first African-American starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, a feat not matched until Russell Wilson did it with theSeattle Seahawks this past February. The trade that never happened between Oakland and Washington seemed to work out best for Washington, at least on the surface. But if the Raiders had given up their first-rounder in 1988, they probably would have missed out on Tim Brown, Oakland Raiders though the Raiders did do some wheeling and dealing later to acquire three first-rounders, which they used on Brown, Terry McDaniel and Scott Davis. So, with hindsight always being 20/20, Oakland Raiders do you essentially trade Doug Williams for Tim Brown if you’re the Raiders? Oakland Raiders Whatever your answer, remember this, Oakland Raiders the Raiders and Washington would get together for a trade in 1988, a deal that would haunt the Raiders as they sent offensive tackle Jim Lachey to Washington for… wait for it . Schroeder. Oakland Raiders Williams would only play 15 more games over the next two seasons before retiring, while Schroeder could not fully win over the hearts and minds of the Raiders' locker room in five seasons, Oakland Raiders.