No Oakland Raiders Finalists: The HoF Doesn’t Wear Silver and Black

The Oakland Raiders have no finalists on the 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot.

By now we all know that there has never been love lost between Al Davis and the NFL, but the possibility that this feud has extended to the Hall of Fame is something to ponder. This year’s Hall of Fame class finalists include big names such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Dawkins, Terrell Owens, and Kurt Warner, and no Oakland Raiders.

Now “LT” is a lock in many observer’s view — as he should be, though its painful for Raider fans to admit it — but the fact that no Raiders once again will make the cut is pretty egregious and seems to be following an all too familiar pattern that has developed over the last few decades. This is not a jab or barb against the current finalists, but when a person looks at the list of Raiders that are continuously left off, then one can see why Raiders fans continue to be let down by Canton. Here are just a few Raiders that should’ve been inducted by now — in my humble opinion.

Jim Plunkett

I cheered for Kurt Warner as an underdog story when I was a kid but the fact the he probably will get into the Hall before Plunkett makes no sense. As the Heisman winner and first pick of the NFL draft in 1971, Plunkett showed flashes of greatness his first years in the league, but injuries and offensive line instability in New England combined with an eventual release from the 49ers derailed the first half of his career.

But in typical Davis fashion — a man not afraid to take chances on outcasts — Plunkett was signed in 1978 and in 1980 he was called upon after incumbent starter Dan Pastorini was injured, leading the Raiders to win the Super Bowl as the first Wild Card.

In 1983 he assumed the starting mantle once again and led the Raiders alongside Marcus Allen to a blowout Super Bowl victory over the Redskins. Besides being a two-time winning Super Bowl quarterback he also holds distinctions as the fourth leading passer in Raiders history and longest completed pass in league history (99 yards).

Tom Flores

Flores was the first Hispanic quarterback in the NFL along with being the first head coach of the same heritage but he’s also the most popular head coach in Raiders history besides John Madden.

After winning a ring as an assistant under Madden, Coach Flores went on to lead the Silver and Black to Super Bowl victories on his own in ’80 and ’83. The fact that Flores has 83 wins (2nd highest in Raiders history) and continues to be left out of the Hall of Fame despite these stats is confounding.

Rod Martin

Rod Martin was drafted by the Raiders during the 1977 Draft in the inconspicuous 12th round. In a true dark horse story, when Rod came into the league he was deemed by scouts as too small for a linebacker and too slow to be a safety in the NFL.

However he eventually put on muscle bulking up almost 20 pounds becoming a presence for the Silver and Black, manning the middle at linebacker and helping lead the road to two Super Bowls.

In his first appearance at the “big game” he intercepted Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski three times, his final stats of 2 time Super Bowl winner, two-time Pro Bowler, First Team All Pro in 1984; along with 33 and a half sacks, oh and 10 fumble recoveries I believe have earned him a long-awaited shot to becoming a Hall of Famer.

Steve Wisniewski

A sometimes forgotten Raider legend because of his playing time during losing seasons, Wisniewski was an anchor of the Raiders offensive line from 1989 thru 2001. If 8 Pro Bowls can’t get you into the Hall of Fame then what would it take? You can also tack on two-time First Team All Pro and six-time Second Team All Pro, let’s not forget the NFL itself put him on the 90’s All Decade Team, I mean no love for this man, really?

There are other Raiders that continue to be excluded such as Cliff Branch, George Atkinson, and Todd Christensen but I’m sure Raider fans are all too familiar with this. Ray Guy who is considered by many as the greatest punter of all time took nearly 30 years to get accepted, I can only imagine what it will take for Shane Lechler to get inducted.

Many observers say these players simply “weren’t good enough or had enough of an impact” to get the golden jacket but who exactly defines that? Jim Plunkett and Jack Tatum mean as much to the Raiders as Terry Bradshaw to Steeler fans and as much as Ronnie Lott to 49ers fans.

For executives to be inducted before some of the aforementioned players either is a slap to the face or just perhaps, a sign of being out of touch with a segment of the league, in this case the Raiders and its fan base.

One good thing in all this Hall of Fame talk for the Raiders is that as Al Davis said, “Once a Raider, Always a Raider” is that these players will never be forgotten by the team nor its fans, Raider Nation.

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