The Three Napoleons Part 1 – Napoleon McCallum  

I like to start by apologising by not having an article last week . I just had a ton on my plate, with work, personal issues and the holidays, but we are back this week!

One of the weird trivia questions about the NFL is that there have only been three men named Napoleon that have played in the modern game and all of them were drafted and played for the Raiders! 

They are (in order of appearance) Napoleon McCallum, Napoleon Kaufman and Napoleon Harris.  In fact two of them were first round picks (Kaufman and Harris) and McCallum probably would have been if not for that he went to Navy and had to serve four years in the military. 

McCallum was a college star and a runner up for the Heisman in 1985. In his Junior year he ran for over 1,400 yards rushing and had 11 total tds, in his senior year he had nearly 1,300 yards rushing and 44 catches 1,685 total yards and 15 total tds in only 11 games. 

McCallum then became the first Navy player in history to be allowed to play in the NFL while serving his 4 years in the Navy. The story of his rookie season was one of legend. He would work from 5:30 am to 1:30pm on the USS Peleliu stationed in Long Beach, California. 

His wife would pick him up from the ship and drive him to practise, he would do private film studies by himself in the evening after practice, would go to bed early and get up again. In his second year his new ship was stationed in the Indian ocean preventing him from playing.

His rookie year of 1986 was his most productive season. With Marcus Allen injured much of the 1986 season McCallum received significant playing time and he ran for over 500 yards and caught 14 passes. In a win over Houston that season he ran for a career high 84 yards and had a career high 106 yards from scrimmage. 

After he finished his Navy service McCallum returned to the Raiders in 1990 and served mostly as a backup and on special teams. In a blow out win over the Chargers in 1991 McCallum scored his first touchdown in 5 years and in a win over the Bengals he ran 10 times for 40 yards, the most yards and carries he had in a game since his rookie year.

It was the 1993 postseason that McCallum would be most remembered for. During the 1993 season McCallum scored 3 TDs on only 37 carries and ran for 114 yards including  a season high 50 yards on 9 carries and a TD in a win over the Bears. 

Late in the year starting Running Back Greg Robinson was injured and the Raiders employed a running back by committee approach. 

In the playoffs McCallum seized the lead role. The Raiders faced the hated Broncos in the first round of the 1993 playoffs after a comeback win in Overtime against them in the final game of the 1993 season. After a shoot out of a first half which saw Jeff Hostetler throw for 3 TDs and the game tied at 21 at the half, McCallum and the Raiders power run game took over. 

In the second half Napoleon had TD runs of 1,2 and 26 yards, the 26 yarder being the longest touchdown run of his career. He finished the game with 14 carries for 82 yards 5.9 yards per carry and a Raider playoff record 3 rushing TDs (which is still a Raider playoff record to this day). 

The next week he ran for another 56 yards and 2 tds in the cold of Buffalo (a game I attended) in a playoff loss in one of the coldest games in NFL history. On one drive the Raiders handed him three consecutive carries to punch in a TD from the one yard line. This gave him 138 yards and 5 TDs in two playoff games. The 5 rushing TDs in two consecutive playoff games remains a Raider playoff record.

It is ironic that I wrote this article the day after Nick Chubb suffered a brutal injury because Napoleon suffered a similar horrific knee injury during a Monday night game in 1994 which ended his career. 

Another irony of McCallums career is that he might be more famous for playing a major role in the Raiders moving to Las Vegas. For years McCallum had recommended to Mark and Al Davis relocate the team to Vegas not Los Angeles if they could not get a new stadium in Oakland. 

According to Wikipedia 

“McCallum played a significant role in the Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas by setting up a meeting in 2015 between Raiders owner Mark Davis and various officials in Las Vegas after approaching Davis about moving the team to Las Vegas before a Broncos-Raiders game on November 9, 2014, in Oakland. McCallum was the first to suggest meeting with UNLV about the idea. Previously, Las Vegas officials, notably Mayor Carolyn Goodman, had suggested building a stadium near Las Vegas Motor Speedway.[13] He later set up a meeting between Davis and his boss at Las Vegas Sands Sheldon Adelson who would later help Davis secure the public money needed to build Allegiant Stadium.[14]”

Source: wikipedia.com

One of the reasons I started this blog is to pay tribute to players like Napoleon McCallum, who might have ended up being forgotten despite being a great man who served his country, set Raider records and paved the way for the Raiders move to Las Vegas ! 

Below are the highlights of the 1993 season with Napoleon’s playoff game coming around the 21 minute 20 second mark! The beginning of the video also shows one of his touchdowns against the Bills. 

Raider Classics – Raiders Knock Chiefs out of Playoffs in KC in 1999 Season Finale

Much like the last decade since 2013 The 1990s were a tough decade for the Raiders against the Chiefs. So tough that they only won two games against them entering the 1999 season finale . The entire decade the raiders had a 2-18 record against KC (they played 20 games as they also played in a wildcard game in 1991) . The Raiders only wins coming in 1992 and 1996. 

Entering the final game of the 1999 season KC sported a 8-7 record and held the tie breaker over Seattle if both teams finished 9-7. Therefore, the Chiefs were win and you’re in. The Raiders had been up and down the 1999 season they sported one of the best offences in football and won a few blowouts. However, the Raiders’ failure to win close games cost them in 1999 . They entered the game with a 7-8 record with 7 of the 8 losses being by 1 score or less. 

THe Raiders were beat up on the Oline starting 2 rookies and a long term backup at LT, RT and RG. 

The game started out as a nightmare for the Raiders as Rich Gannon threw a pick 6 then Tamarick vanover returned a punt for a TD. Another Raiders drive ended in a Gannon INT and the Chiefs drove for a FG. However, the Raiders responded with a Special Teams TD of their own with Kenny Shedd returning a blocked punt for a TD. The game stood 17-7 at the end of the first quarter with all 3 TDs coming on Special Teams or Defense.

The Raiders changed up their game plan, with their Oline beat up the Chiefs were coming after Gannon and sitting on long routes. The Raiders began to use short passes and screens to RBs. Zack Crockett (who would score 5 TDS on only 53 touches in 1999) scored on a 13 yard screen pass and Napolean Kaufman scored on a 20 yard shuddle this swung the game and gave the raiders a 21-17 lead.

The Chiefs came back with a TD pass to  Tony Gonzalez. Then the Raiders ended the half with another TD pass to a RB this time to Tyrone Wheatley.  This wild game ended 28-24 at the half. 

The Chiefs came out firing in the second half with a TD pass from Elvis Grbac to Joe Horn giving them a 31-28 lead.

Then Tyrone Wheatley had the run of the season breaking a half a dozen KC tackles and dragging 2 Chiefs 5 yards into the endzone for a 26 yard td. Wheatley on the day would finish with 86 yards and a TD rushing and 34 yards receiving and another TD. Ending his comeback 1999 season in high style. 

The Chiefs retook the lead 38-35 on a TD pass to Kevin Lockett. On the day Grgac completed 20 for 39 passes for 263 yards 3 tds and 0 ints and the Chiefs 3 headed monster at RB of Donnell Bennett (84 yards) Richardson (70 yards) and Bam Morris (34 yards) led the way for 189 yards rushing for the Chiefs. 

The Raiders got the ball back late in the game and drove to kick a game tying FG with 35 seconds left . Then KC quickly moved the ball into field goal range themselves but Pete Stoyanovich missed a FG.

In OT the Raiders drove into Field Goal range on the back of passes to Tim Brown who would finish the day with 122 yards receiving and short passes to FB Jon Ritchies who finished with a career high 8 catches for 50 yards. After the slow start and 2 INTs Rich Gannon would go 25 for 47 324 yards 3 TDs and 2 INTs. Both teams finished with over 400 yards as the Raiders won this wild shootout 41-38.

This would send the teams in opposite directions the next three seasons. The Raiders would win three straight AFC west titles from 2000-2002, beating the Chiefs 5 straight times and 6 of 7, making the conference championship twice culminating in a Super Bowl appearance after the 2002 season. Where as the Chiefs would not finish above .500 till 2003.

Below are highlights of this wild game along with the full game. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFdoqjk2VQ8&t=4033s&ab_channel=RaiderClassics

Harvey Williams – From Outcast with the Chiefs to Stardom with Raiders 

As it is Chiefs’ week I will talk about one of my favourite players of all time, who was first a Chief then a Raider. Harvey Williams.

I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was watching a Chiefs/Dolphins game in 1993 and Harvey Williams was knocked out and lost his second fumble of the game. He was unconscious. However, Marty Schottenheimer in his infinite wisdom decided that Harvey was now fumble prone and should be benched. He would play only 7 games in 1993, which would also kill any trade value he had. This almost ruined his career until he signed with the Raiders in 1994. 

Harvey was a highly recruited RB out of high school who went to LSU who ran for 1,000 yards his sophomore year and nearly 1,000 his senior year and was a first round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1991. At the time the Chiefs had Barry Word and Christian Okoye but both were big backs nearing 30 years of age and the end of the line so Harvey was drafted to be the replacement. 

In his rookie year he ran for nearly 450 yards and a TD, averaging 4.6 a carry and caught 16 passes for another 147 yards and 2 TDs. Williams also averaged 21.8 yards per kick return on 24 kickoff returns.

His stats took a step back in 1992 but the Chiefs run game as a whole did. Okoye, Word and Williams all averaged under 4 yards a carry. 1992 would be Word and Okoye’s final year as Chiefs. In 1993 KC would start over at RB with Williams, Marcus Allen and Kimble Anders all of whom fit their new west coast offence much better. However, that fumble due to a concussion nearly ended Harvey’s career as he was benched after that and Marcus took over as the lead back. 

The Chiefs cut Williams in 1994. A few teams showed interest in signing him including the Rams and Raiders. However, after a meeting with Al Davis, Williams signed with the Raiders. The Raiders were also starting over at RB. Greg Robinson was hurt after leading the team in rushing in 1993, Napoleon McCallum (the team’s leading rusher in the playoffs in 1993) suffered a horrible knee injury in Week 1 in 1994 and Tyrone Montgomery was a small back who looked more suited to be a WR. 

During the first 4 games the Raiders started 1-3 after being a favourite for the AFC to make the Super Bowl. They had not decided on a lead back. However, that changed in the 5th game of the season when the Raiders upset the Patriots 21-17 with Williams scoring the winning TD on a 27 yard screen pass and running 17 times for 65 yards and catching another 3 passes for 41 yards in that game. 

The next game,  a loss to Miami, Williams ran 16 times for 72 yards and then in back to back wins over the Falcons and Oilers Williams had back to back 100 yard games of 107 and 128 yards rushing. In a loss to the Chiefs he exacted a bit of revenge running 24 times for 93 yards and catching 5 passes for another 38. 

After the 1-3 start the Raiders went 8-4 the rest of the season and Williams ran for 900 yards in those final 12 games finishing just shy of 1000 rushing on the season. He added 47 catches, gaining nearly 1,400 total yards and scoring 7 TDs. The Raiders finished 9-7 missing the playoffs by 1 game. I always felt if they had started Williams from Week 1 they would have made the playoffs. 

In 1995 the Raiders and Williams got off to a hot start, beginning the year 8-2. New coach Mike White instituted a more west coast style of offence which played to Williams strengths. Williams ran for over 930 yards in the first 12 games of the season which included 3 100 yard games. One of these 100 yard games included a career game in a blowout win over the Chargers when Willams ran for 160 yards on only 19 carries and a Rushing TD and threw a 13 yard TD pass. This TD pass put him in a select group of players which includes Marcus Allen, Darren McFadden and Jacobi Meyers as players who have thrown, ran and caught TD passes as Raiders. 

A few weeks later Williams ran for 134 yards in a win over the Bengals and added another 100 yard game in a Monday night loss to the Chargers. The Raiders had a huge rash of injuries on the Line that year and Williams only ran for 187 yards the final 4 games. However, he would finish the 1995 season with a career high 1114 yards averaging 4.4 a carry and 9 tds and adding 53 catches (he did not drop a ball all season) for 375 yards. Meaning in 1994 and 1995 he gained nearly 2,900 yards off total offence. 

The next season, Napoleon Kaufman took over as starter and his production fell to just over 400 yards as the Raiders backup. In 1997 like Marcus Allen before him, Williams showed he was a true team player, playing fullback which led to Williams carrying the ball only 18 times that season. During a Sunday game in 1997 he would explode against the Chargers for 4 TDs on only 7 touches (2 TDs Rushing and Receiving on 4 rushes and 3 catches).

In his final year in 1998 he finished with nearly 500 yards rushing and 26 catches. His final hooray as a player came in a Week 10 20-17 victory against the Seahawks. Kaufman was injured and Williams ran for 79 yards on only 12 carries including a 25 yard TD and caught 4 passes for 29 yards.

That season he gave Jon Gruden his famed Chucky name as after making a mistake practice Gruden pulled Williams from practice and snarled at him and Williams made the comment that he looked like that Chucky doll from the horror movies!! 

Williams finished his career with 3,952 yards rushing and 20 TDs and added another 193 catches for 1,442 yards and 7 receiving TDs. He still ranks 13th on the Raiders all time rushing list with just over 3,000 yards rushing and is one of only 12 Raiders in team history to run for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He also finished his career completing 3 for 5 passes for 58 yards 2 TDs and 0 Ints and a 140 QB rating! 

Below are the Raiders highlights of the 1995 season, his best year as a pro, along with highlights of the 1995 160 rushing game against the Seahawks and the 1997 4 TD game against the Chargers. I have also included an excellent interview with the POW Raiders Podcast in which Harvey talks about his career and the story about how he gave Chucky his nickname. 

Raiders Steam Roll Chargers 42-10 on Thursday Night in 1983 En Route to Winning Super Bowl 18

Few remember that Thursday night football is not a new thing. In the 1980s the NFL began to experiment with it. It was first run by ABC sports as a special edition to go along with Monday night, then in the late eighties TNT had Thursday night games. It was not a constant thing but done a few times a year as a way to take advantage of football ratings that were already huge on Sunday and Monday night. 

In 1983 the Raiders played the Chargers in week 14. This was seen as a marquee matchup before the season. The Raiders had played the Chargers in 1980 in the AFC championship game, the Chargers again made the AFC championship in 1981 and both were playoff teams in 1982. 

The Chargers fell off a cliff in 1983, they were 5-8 entering the game and would end the season 6-10. Their defence was now one of the worst in the NFL and while their offence could still move the ball, ranking number 1 in the NFL yards, it now suffered from a slew of turnovers which would lead them to only being the 12th highest scoring offence in the NFL in 1983. 

1983 was also the year that Dan Fouts’ body began to break down. He had taken a pounding as a pocket passer and even though he averaged nearly 300 yards a game and threw for 20 TDs but  it was only in 10 games in 1983. Every season from 1983 to when he retired in 1987 Fouts would miss games due to injuries. 

The Raiders on the other hand were on a roll winning 4 straight and a record of 10-3, well in the lead in the AFC west. A win on this Thursday night would clinch the AFC West. 

The Chargers started off with a bang. Scoring early on a 5 yard TD pass from Fouts to RB Chuck Muncie then added a short Field Goal taking a 10-0 lead.

The Raiders would open their scoring on a HB option pass from Marcus Allen to Todd Christensen, then later in the second quarter Jim Plunkett hit Christensen again on a brilliant 25 yard one handed TD giving the Raiders a 14-10 lead at the half. Giving the Raiders 14 points in less than 2 minutes. 


The second half began with 2 TD runs (20 and 1 yard) by FB Frank Hawkins with the 1 yard TD run set up by a Chargers fumble that the Raiders recovered at the Chargers 3 yard line, then a 29 INT Return TD by the great Rod Martin and another TD pass to Christensen. The Raiders erupted for 42 straight points with 28 points in the third quarter alone!! 

After completing 16 for 30 189 yards for 1 TD and 2 INTs, including a pick six, Fouts was replaced in the 4th quarter and the Chargers would not score another point. Charlie Joiner led the Chargers with 5 catches for 72 yards. The Chargers threw for over 300 yards but had 4 turnovers (they committed an incredible 55 on the year!!) and allowed 6 sacks with Howie Long notching 3 and Greg Townsend 2 for the Raiders. Martin added a sack to go along with his INT TD (as a side note I believe both Townsend and Martin should be in the NFL Hall of Fame). 

Christensen had a monster game catching 8 passes for 130 yards and 3 TDs. The Raiders managed 142 yards rushing with Hawkins running for 56 on 8 carries and 2 TDs as the Chargers keyed on Allen who gained just 38 yards on 16 carries. Plunkett went 14 for 28 156 yards 2 TDs and an INT. 

The Raiders clinched the division with this win and ended the year 12-4 and would romp to Super Bowl 18! 

Below are the highlights of the game along with the full game as well.

Raiders Classics – Raiders Beat Chargers 7-6 on a late Bomb from Wade Wilson to James Jett in in 1998 in One of the Ugliest Games Ever 

This week rather than doing a player and game we are going to do two games on Raider Greats. The next game I will write about is a Thursday night game that happened in 1983 in December during the Raiders Super Bowl season. 

However, with the Raiders losing one of the ugliest games I have ever seen 3-0 to the Vikings this past week I had to talk about a game that might have been the only game I had ever seen rival that. It happened to be against the Chargers who the Raiders play this week and the QB that won the game for the Raiders, Wade Wilson, played most of his career with the Vikings. 

Going into the game the Raiders sported a 3-2 record and the Chargers were 2-3. The Chargers were starting the all time bust Ryan Leaf at QB and the Raiders Donald Hollas. Hollas was a strange story who played for the Bengals in the early nineties, then didn’t play for 3 years but somehow became the Raiders backup to Jeff George in 1998. 

George went down with an injury early in the season and Hollas took over. Hollas actually would end up 4-2 as a Raiders starter and while technically this game was a win he did not play well. He was off from the get go, going 12 for 35 only 101 yards with and INT and was sacked 3 times . The Raiders run game was smothered as well as the Raiders would only run 18 times for 18 yards . 

The Chargers main source of Offense was Natrone Means who pounded the ball 37 times for 101 yards and caught 6 passes for 66 yards. The Chargers actually only had 195 yards of offence and 4 ints but he had 167 of them.

Leaf was awful going 7 for 17 and 3 INTs and Craig Whelihan replaced him, who would add another INT. 

The Chargers scored on field goals in the 2nd and 4th quarters to lead 6-0. It was so bad for the Raiders that they did not have a first down the entire second half and were 1-18 on third down. The two teams combined for 27 punts!! With 16 coming from the Raiders. 

Wade Wilson came in for the struggling Hollas and missed on his first 6 passes .

However, his 7th pass was a gem. Wilson dropped back on a 3rd and 10 and threw a perfect bomb to James Jett for a 68 yard TD and the Raiders led 7-6. The Raiders defence then stopped the Chargers offence on 4th down as they tried to get into Field Goal range and the Raiders won one of the ugliest games in NFL history.

Below are the ummmm urrr highlights of the game !

Raiders Classics – Raiders Dominate Vikings 24-7 in 1993 In Hostetler’s First Start at QB

The 1993 Raiders were a restart for coach Art Shell. Gone were Todd Marinovich and Jay Schroader at QB, WRs Sam Graddy and Mervyn Fernandez had retired. RB Marcus Allen signed with the Chiefs. In were Jeff Hostetler at QB, WRs Rocket Ismail, Alexander Wright, James Jett, and Rookies RBs Greg Robinson and Ty Montgomery. 

This week the Raiders play the Vikings with two new QBs, the Vikings have Joshua Dobbs who they traded for from the Cardinals and the Raiders Rookie Aidan O’Connell. 

In 1993 the Vikings and Raiders both had new QBs but of a different variety. As just stated the Raiders were starting the newly signed Jeff Hostetler and the Vikings signed Jim McMahon. Both had a Super Bowl title to their name and both had excellent records as starters on their former teams. 

The Raiders dominated the game from the start. On the first play of the game a short kickoff was recovered by Patrick Bates giving the Raiders a short field. That drive ended on a 17 yard TD pass from Hos to Tim Brown (this would be a sign of things to come for Brown who had a breakout season in 1993). Then the Raiders drove the field but Hos was intercepted in the end zone.

On the next drive a Punt Return TD by Tim Brown was called back due to a hold, but the Raiders drove down the field on the back of Hostetler’s 15 straight completions. The drive would end with Greg Robinson’s first NFL TD on a one yard plunge. 

The Raiders harassed Jim McMahon all day and in the first half he went 4 for 12 and 2 INTs with the second INT being a 36 yard INT TD by Terry McDaniel.

In the second half the Raiders cruised, adding a FG and only allowing a garbage TD from the Vikes. The final score was 24-7 giving the Raiders their first win with Hos at QB.

On the day Hos would go 23 for 27 for 225 yards and run for a team high 34 yards. TE Ethan Horton caught 6 passes for 76 yards and Tim Brown 4 for 41 and a TD. The Raiders Intercepted McMahon twice, sacked him 3 times and forced another turnover on a fumble.

Below are the highlights of the game and the full game. 

Raider Classics – Winless Raiders Beat Chiefs in 2014 to End a 16 Game Losing Streak and Get Derek Carr’s First Win as Starting QB

The 2014 Raiders were not exactly a classic raider team to say the least. They fired Dennis Allen as HC after an 0-4 start. They were starting rookie QB Derek Carr after he out played Matt Schaub in camp (some of the memes on Schaub from that season are some of the all time classics) .

The Raiders lost their first 10 games in 2014 under Allen and interim coach Tony Sparano. They had lost 16 straight games going back to 2013!! 

Thus enter this Thursday night game against the Chiefs who entered with a strong 7-3 record. 

The game started in a downpour which slowed down the Chiefs offence. It benefited the Raiders run heavy game plan with them jumping out to a 14-0 lead on Latavius Murray (who was getting his first start of his NFL career) TD runs of 11 and 90 yards. This made the third Raider after Bo Jackson and Terrell Pryor as players with runs of 90 yards or more in Raiders history (it should be noted that Kenny King did have a 89 yard run in 1980). Murray would finish the day with 112 yards on only 4 carries and 2 TDs, but would leave the game early due to a concussion. 

With Murray out the rain subsiding it would slow down the raiders offence and help KC. Darren McFadden ran only 12 times for 29 yards. KC scored 20 of the next 23 points in the game on TD passes to TE  Anthony Fasano and a screen pass to RB Jamaal Charles. Alex Smith would finish the day 20 for 36 234 yards 2 TDs and 0 Ints. Jamaal Charles finished with 122 yards and a TD. It should be noted that the KC offence would make history in 2014 by not throwing a TD pass to a WR the entire year!

The Raiders offence finally came alive on the final drive which featured FB Marcel Reece Running the ball instead of McFadden, Reece would end the day with 8 carries for 37 yards with most of them coming on that final TD drive. Derek Carr hit James Jones for a TD to go ahead 24-20. Carr finished the game 18 for 34 174 yards and a TD.  Andre Holmes and Jones led the Raiders with 5 catches each for 55 and 47 yards. 

On Chiefs final drive a near NFL Football Follies moment broke out when Sio Moore sacked Alex Smith. Khalil Mack and Moore began to celebrate behind the LOS while Smith got back to the line quickly and snapped the ball forcing an offside call. Luckily Justin Tuck, the heady veteran (who led the Raiders with 5 sacks that season), called a time out before the snap saving the Raiders from the penalty. This forced KC into an eventual 4th and 13 and an Alex Smith incompletion ended the Raiders 16 game losing streak!

Since this game in 2014 the Raiders have only beaten KC twice, in 2017 at home (their last home victory against KC) and in 2020 on the road. This loss would send KC on a 2-4 record to end the season at 9-7 and miss the playoffs. This is the only season they have missed the playoffs in Andy Reid’s tenure as KC head coach. 

Raider Greats CB/FS Albert Lewis

As it is Chiefs week I thought I would go over a Raider who was also a Chief. In the 1990s the Raiders and Chiefs exchanged a lot of players. Players such as Albert Lewis, Rich Gannon, Andre Rison and Harvey Williams went from the Chiefs to the Raiders and players such as Marcus Allen and Chester McGlockton went from the Raiders to the Chiefs.

One of the most underrated Cornerbacks in NFL history is Albert Lewis. Maybe it’s because he played for Raiders and Chiefs in the 80s and 90s, teams that never won anything. However, in terms of production and longevity Lewis was as good as any corner of his generation. 


Lewis was drafted in the third round out of Grambling in 1983. In his third season in 1985 Lewis had 8 INTs and returned a fumble for a TD. He made four straight pro bowls from 1987 to 1990 including being all pro twice. 

In 1994 the same year Harvey William transferred to the Raiders, Lewis also joined the Raiders. 

At the time of the signing Lewis was 34 years of age and the Raiders were hoping to get one or two years out of him. They ended up getting 5 years, including his final season when he played Free Safety. Ironically, he would get his only career INT for a TD In his final year of his NFL career in 1998 as a safety for the Raiders. That INT occurred when he was the tender age of 38 making him the oldest player in NFL history to return an INT for a TD.

An interesting tidbit about his career is he was a much better ball hawk for the Chiefs (38 INTs in 11 years in KC compared to 4 INTs in 5 years with the Raiders) but he was much better at rushing the passer and on corner blitzes for the Raiders (he only had 4.5 sacks in 11 years with the Chiefs and 8 sacks in his 5 years with the Raiders).

All and all Lewis was a great player for both teams and finished his 16 year career with 42 Interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries, 2 defensive TDs and 12.5 sacks. 


Below are highlights of Lewis from 1983 to 1990 with KC (the only career highlights I could find). The second video is the highlights of the 1998 game between the Seahawks and Raiders when Lewis became the oldest player in NFL history to record an INT TD.

The play comes in around the 15 seconds mark.

Raider Classics – 50 Years Ago The Raiders Beat The Dolphins to End Miami’s 18 Game Winning Streak 

In the early 1970s the Miami Dolphins were world beaters. They made three straight Super Bowls from 1971 to 1973 winning two. In 1972 they famously went undefeated 17-0 including the playoffs, the only team in history to accomplish this feat. 

The next season the Fins opened the season 1-0 and if you went back to the 1971 season the fins had won 16 straight regular season games and 18 straight total games going back to the 1972 season and playoffs. 

The Raiders had lost their first game and were a bit desperate as despite them being a dominant team starting 0-2 would severely hurt their playoff chances.

This game was a rugged affair with a lot of defence and hard hitting. 

It would also be the last game Darryle Lamonica would win as the Raiders starter. Lamonica had been struggling with the advent of Zone Defences; his Mad Bombing style was no longer effective in the NFL. Ken Stabler’s more intermediate throwing and style was a better fit for the 1973 NFL and Stabler would take over as the starter that season. 

Lamonica did not have to do much on this day; he was just 7 for 10 for 63 yards and an INT. The Raiders did not even score a TD, with all their points coming from 4 George Blanda Field Goals. 

The Raiders pounded Miami on the ground with 46 carries for 187 yards with 20 carries for 88 yards coming from Marv Hubbard, 20 carries for 80 yards from Charlie Smith and Clarence Davis chipping in 5 carries for 22 yards and a 17 yard reception. 

The Raiders defence shut down Bob Griese who went 12 for 25 for 90 yards and a TD in front of a record 74,000 fans in the Colosseum. In addition, the Fins three headed monster of Jim Kiick, Mercury Morris and Larry Csonka would only run for 105 yards on 24 carries (which was a small number as the Fins averaged nearly 180 yards on the ground per game in 1973). The Fins turned over the ball twice on fumbles. 

The Raiders dominated the game with those 4 field goals giving them a 12-0 lead before the fins scored a late garbage time TD. 

After this the Fins would reel off 10 straight wins . Meaning that from the start of the 1972 season till week 13 of the 1973 season Miami would have an incredible record of 28-1 with that lone loss being this Week 2 loss to the Raiders!! 

Below are the highlights of the Game:

Raider Greats – The Need for Speed  –  The Raiders 1993 5 x 100 Team

In this update we just won’t focus on one player but rather the Raiders WR unit. 1993 was a bit of a changing of the guard for the Raiders WR. Tim Brown was about to set into the realm of upper echelon WRs and begin a run of 9 straight 1000 yard seasons . Mervyn Fernandez and Sam Graddy retired after the 1992 seasons and 1993 would be Willie Gault’s final season in the NFL. 

In late 1992 the Raiders brought in Alexander Wright from Dallas in a trade, and in 1993 they would sign Rocket Ismail from the CFL and sign an undrafted free agent WR from West Virginia, the very appropriately named James Jett. 

Gault was demoted to 5th WR as the new blood came in  but still managed to average a career high 26.7 yards on Kick Returns late in the year. 

Ismail spent most of the year transitioning from the CFL and was the teams 4th WR catching 26 passes for 353 yards and a TD. He would also return 25 kick returns for an over 24 yards per return average. 

The biggest impact makers as the 2nd and 3rd WRs were Wright and Jett. Wright was the starting WR from Tim Brown and caught 27 passes for 460 yards and 4 TDs. This included  a game tying TD late in the final game of the season to send the game to OT and a Raiders win that would send them to the playoffs. 

Jett did not play in the first 3 games. Jett was considered a raw sprinter coming out of college and it took him some time to get acclimated to the NFL. However, Jett exploded on the scene in weeks 4 to 7 catching 14 balls for 322 yards and 2 tds in his first 4 games of playing action. On the season Jett would catch 33 balls for 771 yards and a lead leading 23.4 yards per reception. Not bad for an undrafted rookie! Jett would add another 111 yards and a TD on 3 catches in the Raiders playoff win over the Broncos. If you include his two playoff games Jett ended the year with nearly 890 yards on only 37 catches and 4 TDs in only 15 games. 

Brown, was probably the slowest of the 5 running a 4.45 40 (he would have been the backup alternate on the 4×100 team!). In 1993 Brown had his first year as an elite WR. On top of returning 40 punts for over 11 yards per punt returns and a TD, Brown caught 80 passes for 1,180 yards and 7 TDs.  Brown would add another 8 catches for 213 yards and 2 TDs in the Raiders two playoff games. 

In addition, all 5 players accounted for plays of 60 or more yards. Ismail and Gault on Kick Returns (68 and 60 yards) and Brown, Wright and Jett on Receptions (71, 68 and 74 yards). 

The 5 speedsters helped the Raiders have one of the most explosive passing attacks in the NFL and helped lead the Raiders to the 1993 playoffs. 

Below are highlights of that 1993 which features many big plays from these 5 men.