Tales from the Oakland Raiders by Tom Flores

From the book Tales from the Oakland Raiders by Tom Flores 2003

Our very first game was at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco… on July 31, 1960. It was a night game against the Houston Oilers, which we lost 37-22. And so it started for the Raiders….

Of the Raiders two main rivals –the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos– I would say that the Chiefs rivalry is based on a mutual respect for each other… The Broncos rivalry, however, is based on disgust.

There also were the many times that we’d be in one of the (Denver) end zones and, before the Broncos had sense enough to put up the big fence, fans used to shower us with snowballs. That sounds innocent enough, except some of them were quite lethal because they had rocks in them.

As soon as the dismal 1962 season–when we won one game–was over, coach Red Conkright was fired. In January 1963, Al Davis was hired as the Raider’s head coach and general manager. Since I missed all of the 1962 season with the illness, the first time I met him there was some skepticism as to whether I would be able to play again.Training camp was forever. I think we reported for camp shortly after July 4, and then didn’t break until the Friday before our first league game which was September 7.

Al has a passion for football. He never would do anything to hurt the game. Sure, he does some things attempting to get the edge on people....

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http://theoaklandraiders.wordpress.com/