With 80 days until the opening game of 2020, we start the count down with the best Raiders player at every jersey number. Today we focus on No. 80.
With the season just 80 days away we take a look at the best player to wear the jersey number of the number of days left before the opener on September 13, 2020 against the Carolina Panthers. That game will kick off the new era of Raiders football.
We continue our series with No. 80.
This was a closer race than we thought initially as several players could be chosen for the honor but the winner is a player that only spent a brief time with the Raiders but made a big impact. The honorable mention in this slot is not someone you would expect to wear the number 80 but things were a little funkier in the 1970s.
Defensive Tackle Art Thoms was chosen 22nd overall by the Oakland Raiders in 1969 and spent the next seven years of his career with the Silver and Black. The statistics from that era are not as readily available as they are for more recent players but Thoms was part of some special Raiders teams under the tutelage of John Madden.
The Raiders never had a losing season while Thoms was on the squad and he was a starting member of two top-five defense in 1973 and 1975. He moved on to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1976 and missed out on the Raiders first Super Bowl triumph but was part of the other great teams of that era.
Now on to the best Raiders player to wear the number 80 jersey.