Raiders Gameday
Raiders GUest Column:
&Work HARD,
HAVE FUN JUST WIN
By Daryle Lamonica
IRaiders Quarterback (1967–1974)
n April 1967, I talked to Buffalo Bills owners Ralph Wilson Jr.
and Sr. the night before I was traded to the Oakland Raiders.
They said I was going to be the Bills’ starting quarterback, but
I was traded to the Raiders eight hours later. I looked at the
schedule, it said at Buffalo, third league game. I started that
very day preparing for that game and we went in there and
beat them pretty good. I never lost to them after I got traded.
It was strange the first few days of training camp in 1967
because I was still in shock after being traded. I had to earn the
position of starting quarterback for the Raiders as it wasn’t given
to me. I fought hard to learn the plays. Cotton Davidson was my
roommate, he was a great quarterback in that era for the Raiders. I’d
keep him awake all night asking questions. He was my coach among
coaches and he helped me more than any one individual did. I had to
earn that right and earn the respect of my teammates that I could be
their starting quarterback. We started one game at a time. You build
it with defense. You have to score enough points to make yourself
competitive. Special teams, the kicking game can make it harder or
easier for you to score points. We had a solid coaching staff.
We worked hard during the week because we knew if we did what
we were supposed to do our chances of winning were really good.
When I look back at the Raiders and I look back at what we did, it
was a lot of fun, we worked hard at it, but it didn’t come easy. Our
record proved it, and we’re all proud of that record.
When you look at championship teams, the teams that go to
the Super Bowl, they are the best defensive teams every year.
Championships are won with defense. If they can’t score on you,
you have a good chance of winning. And that’s what we had. We
had guys that came from different teams, changed positions and
became stars. I can remember Billy Cannon, who was one of the
great running backs of all-time, become a great tight end for us,
because we could flex him out and make a wide receiver out of
him. We had a great defense and we had some guys that could
score with the football like Clem Daniels, Hewritt Dixon (probably
one of the toughtest running backs the Raiders have ever had),
Pete Banaszak and Roger Hagberg. They were just tough guys.
I had Fred Biletnikoff and Warren Wells at wide receiver. I had
the best center that ever played the game in Jim Otto. There was
nobody better. We had guys like Gene Upshaw come in, who was a
rookie that year, and went on to become one of the all-time greats.
We had Dan Birdwell, Ben Davidson and Tom Keating up front
and great linebackers, Dan Conners was in the middle, he could
cover just about anyone, along with Bill Budness and Duane
Benson. Willie Brown is still probably the best cornerback the
Raiders have ever had. We had Dave Grayson back there, Dave
could play anywhere and do well. Kent McCloughan could run with
anybody. That’s what made us special.
We practiced hard every day. Guys would stay out after practice.
Whatever it took to improve, that’s what we did. We took it one
game at a time. We didn’t overlook anybody and we took a lot of
pride in our ability to win. We didn’t care who scored the points,
we just knew we were going to win. And we were going to win as a
team. We did not like to lose.
We had some great guys who had love and passion for the game
of football. We took it serious and we wanted to win. It was a
great team to be with and learn the winning ways and be able to
contribute where we could. That’s what made our group special.
We had a great gameplan against the Houston Oilers in the AFL
Championship game. We had played them earlier in the year in the
regular season and had a good solid game against them. We knew
going in that we had the talent and the ability. We scored some
easy touchdowns and once we gave our defense a lead, they really
turned it on. They really played an outstanding game. We won that
game with defense. I only have fond memories of that game and
the players I played with.
Of all the years I played with the Raiders, we always had winning
seasons. I played 12 years and 11 of those I was in payoffs,
championships or Super Bowls, so I didn’t have a lot of time to think
about the game that I just played in. After winning the 1967 AFL
Championship, it was new territory for us, we had to learn a new
system and go in and do our best in Super Bowl II against the Green
Bay Packers. We went against a bunch of seasoned veterans that
didn’t make any mistakes. We made a few mistakes and it cost us.
It takes coaching, it takes offense, it takes defense especially,
and it takes special teams. It’s all about us and we. That’s what
makes it special.
I’m very proud of a lot of those records because I was part of it.
I look back at my career with the Raiders and how fortunate I was
to be traded and have the opportunity to be a starting quarterback.
That’s what I’m most proud of – that I was able to contribute
to some of those wins and to be part of that group of guys that
enjoyed winning.
88 2019 Gameday