Yet another old Raider has passed away without getting his just NFL Hall of Fame (HOF) call.
This time it was wide receiver Cliff Branch at the age of 71. A few years ago, it was his longtime quarterback (QB) Kenny “Snake” Stabler, whom was not inducted until after death.
Along with Bob Hayes, Branch, more than any other track athlete, made the successful transition to impact NFL receiver. He was one of the most feared deep threats of his era and unlike Renaldo Nehemiah, whom the 49ers attempted to convert, Branch could actually catch.
The case for Branch is so simple, even a die-hard Steeler fan who hated the local Northern California Raiders at the height of their storied 70s rivalry, can acknowledge its merits. I can say without hesitation that Branch was as every bit as good as Steelers HOF receiver Lynn Swann. His career numbers are better and he certainly had more longevity.
There has been a disturbing trend of former Raiders with legitimate, though debatable, HOF claims, who have died without getting the call.
The list includes the following:
- Defensive End Lyle Alzado passed away in 1992. He was a Raider in mindset long before coming to the team. His pass rushing was elite, but difficult to document because the stats were not kept until 1982, which was the later part of his career. During that strike-shortened 9 game season of 1982, Alzado had 7 sacks as a pass rushing specialist;
- Safety Jack Tatum died in 2010 and was simply one of the most intimidating players in NFL history. He laid the groundwork for other hard-hitting safeties, such as Ronnie Lott, Kenny Easley, and Sean Taylor. All were better players than Tatum, but Tatum held his own with 37 career interceptions, including a career-high 7 in his final season. They called him “The Assassin”;
- Tight End Todd Christensen passed away in 2013 and was a 5-time Pro Bowler, with numbers remarkably similar to those of fellow Raider Dave Casper, who is in the HOF and whom he replaced. He led the league in receptions twice.
Then there is offensive lineman Steve Wisnewski, who at least is alive, and was an 8-time Pro-Bowler.
A case can be made for Tom Flores being one of only 3 men to both play for and be head coach on a Super Bowl (SB) winning team. He was among the first Latino starting QBs. My apprehension on Flores is his unremarkable Seattle coaching tenure. His induction would bring other 2-time situational SB winning coaches like George Seifert and Mike Shanahan screaming bloody murder, and neither of them is deserving.
Then there are those Raiders that their fan base lobby for without merit, to include Lester Hayes and Jim Plunkett.
Hayes had 20 interceptions in a two-year period to include 13 in 1980, when he won Defensive Player of the Year. Here is the secret about corners with a lot of interceptions: it tells you that offenses know that they can be beat. HOF corners Deion Sanders, Darryl Green, and Mike Haynes never led the league in interceptions. Why? Because QB’s knew the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. The Raiders would learn of Hayes’ flaws after 1980, when the league would outlaw the stickem Hayes used excessively. It led them to acquire Haynes in 1983. From that point forward, Hayes never had to cover a number 1 receiver.
Jim Plunkett was one of the truly great comeback stories in NFL history in 1980. Nothing can ever take that away. He is also among the first known Native American QBs. With that being said, he has one of the most absurd HOF cases I have ever heard. He is a classic example of giving an individual player too much credit for team/organizational accomplishments. Plunkett did not win 2 Super Bowls. The Raiders teams of which he was the QB did. Yes, he was MVP against the Eagles, but that award could have as easily gone to linebacker Rod Martin, who had 3 interceptions. He was selected to go to a total of zero pro bowls. At no time was Jim Plunkett one of the best QBs in football. Raiders fans exaggerate about Jim Plunkett the way Black Washington fans exaggerate about Doug Williams. Both were social trailblazers to some extent, and in the right place at the right time and played exceptionally well in the Super Bowl. It doesn’t make either of them Hall of Famers.
There are three primary reasons for the reluctance to recognize the Raiders. The first is the large shadow of my Pittsburgh Steelers. During the 70s the Steelers won 4 SBs to the Raiders 1 and held a 3-2 playoff edge on the Raiders. Simply put, the better team’s players have been recognized more. Steelers HOF linebacker Jack Ham was honest enough to admit that were he not a Steeler, he might not be in the HOF. The same can be said of several Celtics in the basketball HOF. The second reason is their “over the line” style of play, which many called “dirty”. I personally think that this is unfair. Short of safety George Atkinson’s assault on Swann, the Raiders were no “dirtier” than my Steelers, the 85 Bears, the Parcells era Giants, Shannahan’s cut blocking Broncos, or Buddy Ryan’s Eagles. They did embrace the image more than anyone else and I suspect that turned some HOF voters off.
As I see it, by far the number one reason the Raiders have been snubbed of HOF recognition is the Godfather of “RaiderNation” himself, the late Al Davis and his endless feud with the league. Even his own HOF call was unjustly delayed. It goes back to the AFL/NFL battles for elite college players in the 1960s. If one listened to Davis, he beat the NFL every time, which is grossly misleading. He did win the legal battle to move to Los Angeles, which only added to the organization’s rebel image. As the Cowboys were marketed as America’s team, the Raiders were the team of the counter-culture. Even after the rapper Ice Cube uttered the line, “Stop givin’ juice to the Raiders Cause Al Davis never paid us”, he also admitted to how influential the team was on the Los Angeles based hip hop group NWA.
But Davis also engaged in a lot of frivolous litigation, such as suing to keep marketing rights in Los Angeles after the team had already returned to Oakland. Most of that stuff never saw the inside of a court and was summarily dismissed. This infuriated blue blood owners to include the Rooneys of Pittsburgh. Al Davis could also be petty as was clear with his feud with future HOF running back Marcus Allen.
But I suspect the die had been cast long before this. NFL ownership is the most exclusive sports club in the world and admittance to such comes with the understanding that you will go along with the program. The forces of the 1970 NFL/AFL merger got Davis admitted. Had the owners been able to vote on him alone, I suspect he would not have been accepted. He just was not “their kind of people”. He grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan and often envisioned his team as an NFL version of the groundbreaking organization that broke baseball’s color barrier. He was never the “go along to get along” type and for that and the cumulation of all else mentioned, his players have paid in the form of HOF snubs.
It’s time that it stopped.
Next year, to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the NFL, the HOF class will be expanded to as many as 20. Let’s hope some long overdue and deserving Raiders get the nod. Even the Hatfields and McCoys called a truce. Surely the ghost of Al Davis, the Raiders, and HOF voters can do the same.
