Pictures from Raider Days Fall 1980 and January 1981
This is from media day during Super Bowl week. Taken on the floor of the Super Dome in New Orleans.
Post Super Bowl 15 celebration at the New Orleans Hilton. That's Ted Hendricks and Gene Upshaw on the stage talking to the crowd at the team party. The band played the song Celebration over and over again. It was a popular new song at the time and really made the crowd and the team sing at the top of our lungs.
These shots are from a pheasant hunting trip that Jim Otto hosted at his home and ranch. This picture makes me smile, very much the spirit of the times and our team. The size of my arms and the beard reminds me of how hard we worked but the wild spirit of the team.
Ted didn't fire a shot all day, but he posed for this picture as the conquering hunter. Note the blackberry brandy - a popular and symbolic drink of our team that year. Went back to in Raider lore somehow. It tasted aweful.
Dave Browning and I. He was a great defensive end for our team. That's my car we are sitting on - a Buick LeSabre deisel I bought when I got my "make the roster" bonus of $7,500! Dumbest purchase I ever made. The car was a piece of junk. The whole day is exactly as you might see in the movie North Dallas Forty.
Two Hall of Famers - Ted Hendricks and Jim Otto, then John Adams, me and Mike Ornstein.