OROakland Raiders

Franchise history

Oakland's AFL franchise came about almost by accident: when the league's planned Minneapolis franchise defected to a rival NFL expansion offer in early 1960, the AFL scrambled for a replacement, partly under pressure from Los Angeles Chargers owner Barron Hilton, who threatened to withdraw unless a West Coast rival was added. Oakland, with no owner, stadium, or prior bid in place, got the team. A local naming contest initially produced the "Oakland Senors," but public backlash was immediate and within nine days, in April 1960, the club renamed itself the Raiders. The original colors were black, gold, and white; when Al Davis took control of football operations in 1963, he switched the palette to the silver and black that became the franchise's enduring identity.

After nomadic early years at Kezar Stadium, Candlestick Park, and Frank Youell Field, the Raiders settled into the Oakland Coliseum in 1966, remaining there through 1981. Under coaches John Rauch and John Madden, and shaped by Davis's aggressive, vertical-passing philosophy and mantras like "Commitment to Excellence" and "Just Win, Baby," Oakland became one of pro football's dominant forces, winning Super Bowl XI (1976) behind Fred Biletnikoff and a stacked roster of future Hall of Famers. Davis moved the team to Los Angeles in 1982, where it won Super Bowl XVIII (1983), before returning it to Oakland in 1995.

The second Oakland era reopened with playoff runs under Jon Gruden and a Super Bowl XXXVII appearance following the 2002 season (a loss to Gruden's own former team, Tampa Bay), but the franchise then spent most of the 2000s and 2010s mired in coaching turnover and losing seasons. The Raiders left Oakland for Las Vegas after the 2019 season.

Sources

• Pro Football Reference
• Wikipedia - Oakland Raiders
• Stadium Journey - From Senors to Raiders: The Story of a Football Name

Super Bowl Champions won (2)

• Super Bowl XI - 1976
• Super Bowl XV - 1980

Runner-up finishes (2)

• Super Bowl II - 1967
• Super Bowl XXXVII - 2002

See the full super bowl champions list for the winner each of these years.