3 most underappreciated defensive players in Raiders history
- Greg Townsend
When you think of the NFL's all-time pass rushers, former Raiders star Greg Townsend is not one of the names you usually hear mentioned. People will name the likes of Reggie White, Bruce Smith, and Kevin Greene, and rightfully so, as they finished their careers with over 100 sacks each.
All three of those men are also enshrined in Canton, Ohio as Hall of Famers, something that Townsend has never come close to reaching. Fans of the Raiders know what Townsend meant to the team, a one-time Super Bowl winner who ended his career with 109.5 sacks, with all but two coming while he was wearing the Silver and Black.
A second-team All-Pro for the Raiders on multiple occasions, Townsend terrorized opposing quarterbacks while coming off the edge, and was a finalist for the league's Defensive Rookie of the Year honor in 1983 after notching 10.5 sacks. That was a sign of things to come, and in seven of his first nine seasons with the Raiders he had at least ten sacks per campaign.
He may have never found his way to Canton, but for Raider Nation, he is certainly an all-time great.