Raiders/Pats 1976 And I Have Comments– Oh Do I Run Out And On, Regarding Comments

Forty years ago, the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots each an original AFL team, and one sans a Super Bowl victory in the 10 such games played to that point in time, met in a late afternoon classic in the 1976 “slots”/divisional round.

The great Oakland quarterback, Ken Stabler, denied entry into the no longer glorious NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio (still worth visiting), another “shonda” (a Yiddish word for disgrace, a word Mr. Stabler learned in heaven where he and fellow “hard living” great quarterback Bobby Layne share “drinks” with such as actors, all Roberts–Mitchum, Ryan and Young, discussing how the theme of the 1947 movie they were in, “Crossfire” about ignorant hate of those different, in that instance Jewish people, is sadly and horrifically relevant today, more so with the presence of a “white supremacist” on the “elected” president’s team), despite gimpy knees, rolled into the end zone for the game winning touchdown vs the underdog Pats, who surely covered the spread in defeat. (I did not know of such things then and also loved football. Things change, but, alas ignorant hatred of those different is a disgraceful, veritable “energizer battery,” evoking a Stephen Bishop hit song, in this the “run on” of “run on ” sentences, going “on and on.”)

However, to this day controversy hangs over the Oakland win, which was followed by easy playoff wins en route to the only “Supe” ever won (only appearance as a head coach in such game either) by that “overblown parody of himself,” John Madden. The former coach noticed the improving 1981 “Hack” Giants passed the ball on first down, as was dubbed an analytical genius, by the largely ignorant, go for the “sizzle” (think the otherwise very, very intelligent Mike Lupica), sports media.

On a third down play, the Patriots’ Raymond Hamilton (yes I know his nickname) was called for roughing the passer, the key play to keep the winning drive for an eventual Supe winner going.

Twenty five years later, the two teams met in another classic, controversial, “div” playoff game. More on that one in a future post.