With Jimmy Garoppolo officially benched, he officially failed to revive a classic Raiders’ tradition. Historically, veteran quarterbacks have fueled the success of the Raiders. Ken Stabler is the only drafted quarterback with a playoff win.
The younger fans out there are confused because all of the veteran imports they have seen also failed to succeed. They only saw the failures of Kerry Collins, Dante Culpepper, and Carson Palmer. Plus, Derek Carr led the team for the previous nine seasons.
Carr and Stabler are outliers in the Raiders’ history. Stabler and Carr are the only franchise significant quarterbacks drafted by the team. There could be an argument for Tom Flores; however, the Raiders didn’t start to excel until Daryle Lamonica was brought in from the Buffalo Bills.
Maybe Marc Wilson, who was one of the rare first-round quarterback picks, if he wasn’t overshadowed by the two Super Bowl wins by Jim Plunkett.
Raiders Jimmy Garoppolo on wrong side of history with the franchise
Remembering the old veteran QBs the Raiders brought in
Now, I’m not old enough to remember the Lamonica or Plunkett play. I had just turned two when Plunkett won his second Super Bowl. What I do remember is the moderate success of the Jay Schroeder and Jeff Hostetler years and later, the greatness of Rich Gannon.
The Raiders brought all of these guys in from other teams.
There is also a slew of failed draft picks. While Carr never reached the levels that Raider Nation expects, he isn’t counted here. He doesn’t compare to the woeful careers of Todd Marinovich, Marques Tuiasosopo, or Andrew Walter. Oh yeah, there's also that JaMarcus Russell guy.
The Raiders always struggled to draft quarterbacks. Throughout their history, they only drafted four in the first round, and Roman Gabriel opted to play with the Los Angeles Rams. Both teams drafted him before the merger, which allowed Gabriel to pick where he wanted to play. Russell, Marinovich, and Wilson are the three who played with the team, and none of their careers were worth the pick.
Jimmy Garoppolo failed with the Raiders
Garoppolo’s signing caused memories to bubble up of past glory. A cast-off veteran trying to rekindle his career with the Raiders. The story rings true for plenty of the greatest Raiders of all time not just quarterbacks. Raider Nation was a little torn with his arrival.
Some liked it, some hated it, and some were just happy that Carr was gone.
Unfortunately, we all missed something. The successful veteran quarterbacks that came to the Raiders all have something in common. They all wanted to prove themselves. They were backups or failed starters. Guys who never reached their potential in the league. This is true of Lamonica, Plunkett, and Gannon who all led the Raiders to the Super Bowl.
Lamonica only started four games in four seasons with the Bills before being traded to the Raiders. New England picked Plunkett with the first pick in 1971 after he won the Heisman. He washed out with the Patriots and then the 49ers before coming to the Raiders as a backup. Gannon struggled in the league for 12 years before uniting with Jon Gruden.
Jimmy Garoppolo already proved himself. He already took San Francisco to the Super Bowl. There are even stories out there that Bill Belichick wanted to trade Tom Brady to keep Garoppolo on the roster. Garoppolo really doesn’t have anything left to prove. The often-injured quarterback was just getting another payday.
We were hoping for Rich Gannon. We got Kerry Collins.