Jim Plunkett, the Raiders' Best Free Agent Signing
The Las Vegas Raiders have been ultra-active in the National Football League’s free-agent signing period by adding defensive tackle Bilal Nichols, cornerbacks Darius Phillips and Anthony Averett, running back Brandon Bolden, Jakob Johnson and Ameer Abdullah, edge rusher Chandler Jones, wide receiver Mack Hollins and guard Alex Bars, and of course Davante Adams.
Of course, the Raiders have a memorable history of signing outstanding free agents, including quarterback Jim Plunkett, tight end Todd Christensen, kicker-quarterback George Blanda, center Rodney Hudson, defensive end John Matuszak, wide receiver Jerry Rice, quarterback Rich Gannon, and defensive lineman Otis Sistrunk, among others.
You can argue that Plunkett was the best of the lot because he helped lead the Raiders to victories in Super Bowls XV and XVIII.
The 6-3, 220-pound Plunkett was selected winner of the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Award, and the Maxwell Award in 1970, when he was a consensus All-American and led Stanford to a 27-17 victory over heavily favored Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
Plunkett was the first overall pick of the 1971 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, but in five seasons with the Pats, he was beaten up physically and mentally before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers, who released him after he played there in 1976-77.
Managing General Partner Al Davis of the Raiders signed Plunkett and told him to simply take care of himself for a while and he didn’t even practice with the team at first because the Silver and Black was set at quarterback with Kenny “The Snake” Stabler and David Humm.
“I owe Mr. Davis a lot,” said Plunkett, who played the last nine seasons of his career with the Raiders in Oakland and Los Angeles. “He signed me and although I had other offers, I didn’t want to leave California again and go somewhere else. He provided me that opportunity and then my job was to take advantage of that opportunity, and fortunately, I did.
“Going with the Raiders, I was allowed to do what I could do best and that’s throwing the football. It put me in a situation where I could help them win being surrounded by the talent they had back in those days. It was a great time for me personally because I proved the critics wrong and it was a great time to be a Raider, there was no doubt about it.”
Incredibly, Plunkett was not the starting quarterback all season in the two years he led the Raiders to victory in the Super Bowl.
In 1980, the Raiders obtained quarterback Dan Pastorini in a trade with the Houston Oilers, but in the fifth game of the season, he sustained a broken leg against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 32-year-old Plunkett led the Silver and Black to nine victories in 11 games to earn a wild card berth in the NFL playoffs with an 11-5 record.
Then the Raiders, with Plunkett at quarterback, defeated the Houston Oilers, 27-7, and the Cleveland Browns, 14-12, in the first two rounds of the playoffs before upsetting the San Diego Chargers, 34-27, in the AFC Championship Game.
In Super Bowl XV, Plunkett passed for 261 yards and three touchdowns in another upset, 27-10, over the Philadelphia Eagles and he was selected the game’s Most Valuable Player after helping the Raiders become the first wild card team to win the Super Bowl.
“It was a tremendous thrill and satisfaction after taking over the team in ’80 and leading the Raiders to a Super Bowl victory,” Plunkett said. “I was very proud of that fact.”
Three years later, Plunkett again was the backup quarterback for the Raiders, having been benched in favor of younger Marc Wilson, but he was back in the starting lineup when Wilson sustained a broken left shoulder.
“It was amazing what three weeks off did for him,” Coach Tom Flores said of Plunkett. “He was like a new guy. He was fresh, crisp, he moved better in the pocket. It was like he had a shot of adrenaline or something.”
Plunkett started the last 13 games of the regular season, with the Raiders winning 10 of them to finish with a 12-4 record to win the AFC West title.
In the playoffs, Plunkett led the Raiders to a 38-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers and a 30-14 win over the Seattle Seahawks, before they trounced the favored Washington Redskins, 38-9, in the Super Bowl XVIII as Plunkett completed 16-of-25 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown.
Plunkett is the only quarterback with two Super Bowl victories not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Similarly, 6-8, 270-pound Matuszak was a bust on and off the field after being the first overall pick of the 1973 NFL Draft out of the University of Tampa, and he played with the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins before signing with the Raiders in 1976. All he did was play a vital role on the defensive line as the Silver and Black won Super Bowls XI and XV.
The 6-3, 235-pound Christensen was selected in the second round of the 1978 Draft (No. 56 overall) out of BYU by the Dallas Cowboys and played for the New York Giants the following year before signing with the Raiders. In the next 10 years for the Oakland-Los Angeles Raiders, he caught 461 passes for 5,872 yards and 41 touchdowns while making All-Pro four times, playing in five Pro Bowls, and helping the Silver and Black win Super Bowls XV and XVIII.
Hall of Famer Blanda, after an already brilliant career with the Chicago Bears and Houston Oilers, signed with the Raiders in 1967 and helped them reach the Super Bowl that year, kicked 156 field goals, 395 extra points, and threw 23 touchdown passes as the backup quarterback in nine seasons before retiring when he was 48. In 1970, Blanda led the Raiders to five straight victories in which he provided the winning points in the final minutes with his leg and his arm.
Gannon, after playing for the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, and Kansas City Chiefs, signed with the Raiders in 1999, passed for 17,585 yards and 114 touchdowns and led them to a 45-29 record in six seasons, but they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII. He was first-team All-Pro in 2000 and the NFL’s MVP in 2022.
Rice, after his incredible career with the San Francisco 49ers, signed with the Raiders in 2001 and caught 243 passes for 3,286 yards and 18 touchdowns in four seasons, made second-team All-Pro, and played in the Pro Bowl in 2002, in addition to helping the Silver and Black reach Super Bowl XXXVII.
The 6-4, 265-pound Sistrunk did not play college football and after playing three seasons with the Norfolk Neptunes of the Continental Football League, he signed with the Raiders in 1972 and played seven seasons for the Silver and Black. According to ABC commentator Alex Karras was from “The University of Mars,” Trunk was second-team All-Pro and played in the 1974 Pro Bowl, was a key factor on the offensive line as the Raiders won Super Bowl XI. Sacks and tackles were not official statistics in those days, but we know he had seven fumble recoveries and two pass interceptions.
If the Raiders get even a few players like this from their latest free-agent haul, they will be in business in 2022.
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