“Oakland Raiders Defensive Players Who Should/Shouldn’t be in the NFL Hall Of Fame”

 

Yesterday we looked at Bill King, Tom Flores, and the Raiders offensive players that might or might not be placed in the Hall of Fame.  Today we will look at players on the defensive end who have been overlooked.

I was really happy to see so many eyes opened on social media yesterday and so many discussions on some of the players I put in my article.  It’s great and fun to discuss and many put some very intelligent thoughts into their responses.

 Eye Opening: 

I’ve tried to do my part of showing people about grudges and biases that writers and voters to the HOF may have had on some players who could possibly be inducted.  I never really understood totally just how vicious and deep some biases were, especially with east coast writers.  It was eye opening.

For the last year and a half I’ve researched the stories of Raider players that might get into the hall and seen how clueless or how vengeful writers are to some of them; especially Raiders.  Ken Stabler and Jack Tatum went through hell with them, and others have been black listed and will never see the HOF even though they deserve it.

Let’s also remember too, if a west coast team plays at night, usually east coast writers won’t even see them play.  They read about the game or look at highlights.  They are in bed sleeping.  They won’t admit that but let’s be real.

Without further ado, let’s look into some of these players credentials and make the argument for or against their inductions.

 

 

Jack Tatum from Ohio State attends the National Football Foundation’s College Hall of Fame class of 2004 induction dinner in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004. (AP Photo/John Marshall Mantel)

Jack Tatum:

When Chris Berman and Chris Collinsworth were talking about players that should be in the HOF a couple of years ago, they both said one guy; Jack Tatum.  And Chris Collinsworth looked like he saw the Headless Horseman while saying it.

The running joke in the NFL in the 1970’s for NFL fans was that when you looked in your closet at night you don’t look for the boogeyman; you look for Jack Tatum.  Just like Dick Butkus, Jack Tatum revolutionized his position.  He was 225 pounds of educated, tough muscle from Woody Hayes University, Ohio St.  He never said much on the field; said less off of it; but wow did he change football and every safety want’s to be him.

“Jack was my guy”, said a proud Ronnie Lott.  “Everything I did I tried to copy from him.  He was the man”.

NFL Bad Boy Conrad Dobler was amazed at Tatum.  “Jack hit people so hard.  It was like when he hit them they would not be hurt but they would be buried”.  Running mate and trash talker of the Soul Patrol George Atkinson said, “Even I could not believe the force he hit people with.  It sounded like a car wreck when he hit someone. His angles and his timing were perfect.  No one wanted to come over the middle because it was like being hit by a truck.  I’ve never seen anything like it”.

Tatum could take on Tackles and stop the run, or eliminate a WR so that they would never want to catch a ball over the middle again.  He was so tough that if he was on the other side of the field and knew he wouldn’t make the play, he would go after anyone in his area just to hit them.  Iconic Dolphins WR Paul Warfield once said, “if you didn’t have your head on a swivel against the Raiders, you would not finish the game.  They were that scary.”

In his famous hit in the Super Bowl against the Vikings, people could not believe Sammy White caught the ball.  Viking great Fran Tarkenton explained the play.  “I was watching this helmet fly by me.  For a split second I literally thought Sammy’s head was in it.  I never heard a harder hit.  How he caught that is beyond me”.

Sadly in a meaningless exhibition game he hit Patriots WR Darryl Stingley in a very legal hit.  In fact the NFL and even the Patriots coaching staff went over the film dozens of times and admitted Tatum did nothing wrong.  Stingley was paralyzed and his family was very angry at Tatum.  Tatum said he tried to reach out to the family but they refused him.  John Madden actually visited Stingley instead and said Jack never got over it.  The east coast media; especially Boston; shredded Tatum in the papers for years and vowed he’d never be in the HOF.  He sadly died at the age of 61.

Deserves to be in the HOF: YES YES YES

Will be Voted into HOF: No

 

Lyle Alzado:

Lyle Alzado roamed the field like a volcano ready to erupt.  His Raider teammates called him “Three Mile Lyle” after the explosion of the nuclear plant Three Mile Island.  No one knew when he’d blow up.

He grew up with an abusive father.  Once when a sibling was getting beaten, Lyle at the age of 15 protected them and hit his father and broke his jaw.  Lyle’s father called the police and pressed charges; assault.  He was arrested.  The scars on his soul were deep and unexpressed.

His life was one big tornado.  In an amazing career, this great pass rusher ended with 97 sacks.  Lyle is a hall of famer through and through but there is a saying if you work for or work with the NFL; Protect the Shield.

Just like with police and politicians, they feel you keep your mouth closed and Lyle didn’t.  While he was dying of brain cancer and losing over 100 pounds, he did interviews talking about his immense use of steroids.  Players hated him for it because it tarnished them; the NFL hated him for it because it embarrassed them.  A year after his death, the NFL started testing for steroids, many say due to the backlash of Lyle’s speaking out.

He sadly died at the age of 43.  Many said he was always looking for happiness and peace, but never really found it.  I hope he finally has.

Deserves to be in the HOF: For Sure

Will He be Voted into HOF:  No

Rod Martin:

I remember talking to an east coast writer and asking him what he thought about Rod Martin maybe going into the hall of fame.  His answer?  “Who is Rod Martin”.  See what I’m telling you?

Don’t get me started on how clueless some Americans are in our history. Sports is included.  Why sports fans don’t educate their kids on the history of their teams is beyond me.  We should have more of an appreciation of the foundation of a team and not just live life like we’re 15 year old girls. For the most part as a nation we are clueless if it happened before 1990.  (Rant over).

Rod Martin had a long and illustrious career as linebacker of the Oakland Raiders.  He had the greatest defensive Super Bowl of all time with 3 interceptions against the Eagles.  People also forget he played a key role in the Washington win in the Super Bowl too with many key plays including stopping John Riggins on a 3^{rd and 4th} and short, once near the goal line.  He also batted down key passes and picked up a fumble.

He was AFC defensive player of the year one time and a pro bowler twice.  He was a mainstay for the Raiders and in the biggest games he played his best.  One of the forgotten Raiders who should be better remembered.

Deserves to be in the HOF: Yes

Will be Voted into HOF: No

John Matuszak:

He once overdosed when he was with Kansas City being taken to the hospital while his coach gave him chest compressions on the way to the hospital.  Raider staff members had to sleep in front of his hotel room to make sure he wouldn’t leave at night and party.  Fans saw him as a big ton of fun, but at times players saw him as a big pain.  A nice guy off of drugs, but a whirlwind while on them.

Matt Millen wrote in his book at what a pain John was at times.  He used drugs often.  Qaaludes, Valium, pot, cocaine, pain killers, alcohol.  Nothing was off limits when the Tooz was around.  His partying was of legend.  The night before the Raiders played the Eagles in the Super Bowl he said he would patrol Bourbon Street to make sure Raider players were in at a decent hour.  He ended up partying until 3 a.m. and was fined $1000.  Disciplined Dick Vermeil told the national media, “if that were an Eagle, his ass would be on a plane home by now”.

In the 1970’s the strong man competitions on ABC were extremely popular.  Most trained over 6 months for the events.  Just to pass time, Matuszak entered into one competition; without a day of training.  Most of the competitors kind of laughed at such arrogance.  After the smoke cleared, he placed in the top 10 at 9th.  “He’s super human”, said one competitor.  “I really never saw anything like him”.

Once when the Tooz was arrested, Ken Stabler had to bail him out.  When he got to the Police Station Stabler said, “Drunk, cowboy hat, cowboy boots and no clothes.  Yep, that’s my roomie; I’d know him anywhere”.

On the field John was a great player one minute, and a disappearing act the next.  He was a good guy when sober and he played well, but it was hard to get him when he wasn’t high off the field.  He was an inconsistent but solid player.  No telling how good this 6′ 8″ giant could have been.  Sadly at the age of 38 he died of an accidental overdose of pain killers.  A small amount of cocaine was found in his system.  Sadly 2 years later one of his sisters Dawn passed away suddenly.  Their family went through a lot of pain.

For many he will forever be fondly known as Sloth in the movies Goonies.  The stories of his kindness are of legend.  It took 4-5 hours to put on his makeup.  The kids in the movie adored the Tooz and they constantly played pranks on him.  He never said a word and just laughed.  He said once, “How can you get mad at kids who are just having the time of their lives”.  One of the kids said, “I saw him play football on television and he looked so mean.  But with us he was just our Giant friend; he was Sloth to us”.  He had several acting accomplishments including a memorable scene in North Dallas Forty.  He was well liked by a lot of people on the sets who still talk of him fondly.

Deserves to be in the HOF: No

Will be Voted into HOF: No

 

Lester Hayes:

When Hayes came out of college, many said he wasn’t very smart.  What the Raiders found out is that he had a stuttering problem.  Now Hayes will speak to anyone that will listen while showing a great personality.

Hayes was a pro bowler 5 times; all pro once; AFC player of the year once; single season record for interceptions in a year (13), and named to the prestigious all decade team for 1980.

It’s not even worth talking about; just like Branch and Tatum, of course Lester should be in.  I feel embarrassed to even defend it.  Eventually he will be but again, it’s a joke for him to wait so long.

Deserves to be in the HOF: Yes

Will be Voted into HOF: Eventually

 

“Oakland Raiders and NFL Revenues: The Staggering Truth”

Last week we first looked at possible stadium venues in Oakland that were realistically being looked at.

“Raiders Stadium Sites Update; Video: How to Morph Levi’s & A Future NFL Stadium”

We also looked at realistic ways to pay for these stadiums.   The outpouring of positive comments and support for these ideas was amazing with thousands seeing that this could actually be done in a responsible manner. I really appreciate my smart readers.

“How to Finance a New Oakland Raiders Stadium”

Raider Fans Awaken:

First off, Mark Davis is the owner of the Raiders and that isn’t changing. He’s not going to sell and can’t be forced to sell unless he does something illegal. No petition will change that.

Let’s face it; social media has changed everything. Many people refuse to look at actions or facts exchanging them for biased opinions and conjecture. I guess I’m not smart enough to do that because I just go by what I see.   And what I see shocks me.

First off I would love to have a beer and a burger with Mark Davis.   He has that dorky fun type of thing going on. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy.   The reality of the matter though is that as an owner, he’s in way over his head. How many of you in your first 6 decades of life never held a job. Now you own a billion dollar business.

His actions have shown a lot about the Raiders situation. It’s almost as if the City of Oakland is like a guy that has this girlfriend. She’s not hot; been beaten up by life a bit; is kind and loyal as all get out but he now sees there are physically hotter women out there. He spends time and money on Inglewood and San Antonio (Raiders gave 50k to help spend for a city wide questionnaire in 2014 on how much their fans would want the Raiders) but all the while he tells his girlfriend Oakland that he’s not cheating and really wants her. He explains that he loves her and he’s not even looking for better options; he’s just using these as leverage to make sure the City of Oakland is serious in making a commitment. Everyone who believes that is as naive as an 18 year old girl at her first fraternity party.

Most Raider fans are angry and they are getting an education in NFL 101. I love football but that doesn’t mean I love how the NFL treats people. Look at how the NFL treats the refs; they said they can’t afford them to be full time even though bad calls are almost the norm now. The cheerleaders have to sue the NFL just to get minimum wage.   Retired players are treated like old race horses that are no longer needed. And fans are money signs where emotions and loyalty mean little.

Yet some fans are sensitive about their love of football and they will deny facts and defend every move the NFL makes until their dying day even though the NFL doesn’t care about anyone else but their profits.   Reminds me of some that blindly defend political parties. You can love a sport but still be honest about it.

Mark Davis acts like Oakland isn’t even on his radar at times.   You hope that he wakes up and puts the same effort into Oakland that he has into other cities.

How Do NFL Teams Make Money?:

The NFL is now the richest professional league in the world.   The NFL has 3 types of revenue.   National Revenue or Revenue Sharing; which has television revenue, national ad revenue and general ticket sales along with other miscellaneous items. This adds up to about 61% of NFL teams revenues.

The second form of revenue; which is NOT shared by the teams; is Territorial Revenue. This is money made anywhere near the radius of the teams home city. It could be in the form of in person or online merchandise sales, local television, radio and tv ad revenues, naming rights to the stadium and other things. This is also a large chunk of the teams revenue. This includes PSL’s.  Below is a list of the PSL revenues. Dont’ kill the messenger.

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/11/15/sports/nfl-personal-seat-licenses-compared

The third which is also not shared; and a far third at that; is ticket revenue. Why do you think teams are so obsessed with getting new stadiums? Well this is why. Teams share general ticket sales but KEEP all revenues made by luxury suites, club seat ticket sales, parking and any type of luxury boxes. While fans gave a salute for New England Patriot owner Robert Kraft for not charging a PSL (personal seat licenses) to the fans on his stadium, they forgot to add that he tore down 1500 end zone seats (which is revenue that is shared among NFL teams) and put in a huge luxury/club suite area. He pockets millions without sharing.

I went on the Dallas Cowboys web site and asked for suite information.   I counted 116 luxury suites alone in Dallas’ AT&T stadium and that doesn’t count club seats. Some of these suites are $30,000.00 per game and ALL of this money is NON revenue sharing and goes straight into Jerry Jones pocket.

Let’s also not forgot PSL’s. It’s literally free money. It’s like what Costco does and teams make so much money off of it you can’t count it.

Once PSL’s are paid for it’s predicted that the 49ers will make between $310-400 million just on PSL’s. The most expensive PSL in Dallas will cost you $150,000.00 PER TICKET and they expect between $625-675 million in PSL revenue once they are paid for.

Oakland Raider Revenue:

The NFL has always been extremely secretive about their profits.   They’ve lied a lot about them in the past before the internet. The number for the Raiders or any team is really a guess. Forbes gives the best estimate. As many have stated, the Raiders are worth $1.4 billion dollars and that the Davis’ family is worth $500 million. Again, San Diego and Oakland do not have businesses so they are considered the poor teams in the NFL. While most of the owners are worth billions, the Davis’ and Spanos’ families only have their NFL teams. Now dry your eyes; somehow these guys will make it financially.

Oakland Raiders Revenue History

Last year Forbes stated that the Raiders made $285 million dollars gross. They made $40 million in ticket sales and paid out $158 million in player salaries. Their operating costs were the lowest in the NFL but again, the Raiders would not disclose the number. In contrast the Dallas Cowboys made a staggering $680 million. The operating costs were #1 as well but no one knows the exact number. The Cowboys are worth 4 billion dollars and are considered the #2 most valuable sports franchise in the world only behind Spain’s soccer empire, Real Madrid.

I read 5 financial online publications and 7 sports publications and got 12 different financial numbers and ideas on NFL revenues. On average most believe the profits for the lower teams like the Raiders are between $25-40 million net profit per year and that doesn’t include the appreciation of the teams which is in the millions. It is believed that this is the first year in NFL history that they made over $14 billion dollars in one year.

Roger Goodell has stated that his goal is for the NFL to make 25 in 25; $25 BILLION per year by the year 2025. They still dream of expanding to London in the next two decades.  The NFL would be considered the 140^th richest COUNTRY in the world right now. They could finance several trips to space and buy several countries. That’s scary power.

Green Bay Packers; The Key To Knowing the Profit:

Remember that before the internet, the NFL lied so much about revenues that it was a running joke in the financial community.  NFL teams still don’t have to disclose financials but the Green Bay Packers are owned by the public so they are the only team that actually has to state their revenues but again, that’s shared revenues only. If you add up their share with the rest of the league, the NFL made $7.2 Billion in money that was shared by the teams. Again, this doesn’t include territorial money.

In the past decade or so the Packers have spent $320 million in upgrades to their stadium and surrounding area. They have built stores to sell Packer gear online and in house and have made a bundle. They also have renovated the stadium and they are building a “Titletown” area which will have shops and other ways to show off the tradition of Green Bay and to give a museum and fan experience to their faithful. They now are in the process of also upgrading their club and luxury suites. Green Bay is a classic Midwest team and is obsessed with giving their fans the utmost they can while turning a huge profit.

In the past 3 years, the Packers revenue has gone up from $300 million to $375 million. Their net profit last year was $39.4 million. Even with putting over $300 million into renovations and upgrades, the Packers have said financially they’ve never been stronger.

Final Thoughts:

The extreme greed of the NFL is unsurpassed and isn’t going to change.   Billionaires want one thing; more billions. Anyone thinking differently has never owned a business. I worked for a fortune 500 company that was the biggest money making medical company in the U.S. To them though it still wasn’t enough. They were caught in a insurance scandal and my CEO was arrested by the Department of Justice and it was reported on national television.

What does this all mean? It means that owners are not loyal to cities or to fans; they are loyal to what will make them money. I’m glad that fans are getting it. You can still love your teams and cheer for players but also realize this isn’t family; its business. In my opinion, if Mark Davis wanted to they could figure out a stadium in Oakland. Apple is making over $200 billion a year and this is chump change to many tech companies.   Just like the 49ers, there isn’t a door I would not knock on.  I hope he learned from the mistakes of his father Al Davis. You can only go back home so many times before no one is there waiting for you at the door.