The Raiders are one of the few teams in sports that doesn’t retire jersey numbers, and therefore one of the few teams that has had more than one great player wear the same number. This opens the door to a nice discussion of who was the best Raider to ever wear a particular number. And it makes for some interesting offseason fodder.
Let’s get started from the beginning… in more ways than one.
00: Jim Otto– Touted as the only Raider to ever have his number retired, because not since Otto has anyone been allowed to wear double zero in the NFL. Befitting for the original Raider and first Hall of Fame inductee.
1: None– Has become a camp number in the NFL and the number all top recruits in college wear. No Raider has ever worn the number 1 in the regular season.
2: Leo Araguz– When the other two number 2’s are real “number 2’s” (Aaron Brooks, JaMarcus Russell) 3-year punter Leo Araguz comes out smelling like a rose.
3: Daryle Lamonica– “The Mad Bomber” was the first great Raider quarterback. He led the Raiders to Super Bowl II, which was their first Super Bowl appearance.
4: Jerry DePoyster– Only player to wear the number 4 and play more than one season for the Raiders. He was the Raiders’ punter from 71-72 and could have played more but was replaced in 1973 by a Guy named Ray.
5: Kerry Collins– Played two seasons for the Raiders averaging over 3500 yards passing and 20 TD’s.
6: Marc Wilson– He was a disappointment overall as a first round pick and his getting injured opened the door for Jim Plunkett to lead the Raiders to the franchise’s third Super Bowl win. But when Wilson was healthy, he shared starts with Plunkett during much of his eight year Raider career. He has two rings to show for it.
7: Jeff Gossett– Had a tough act to follow replacing Ray Guy when he retired. He was the Raiders’ punter for eight seasons from 88-96 and named All-Pro in 1991.
8: Ray Guy– Tabbed as the greatest punter ever. A player who changed the way the game is played as the first primary punter. The words “hang time” were first uttered due to his booming punts. He was a Raider for all three of their Super Bowl wins.
9: Shane Lechler– is on pace to eclipse all of Guy’s NFL and Raider punting records.
10: Chris Bahr– 9-year kicker for the Raiders from 80-88. Raiders’ third all-time leading scorer. After Bahr, the Raiders had just two steady, long term kickers: Jeff Jaeger, and this next guy.
11: Sebastian Janikowski– Has re-written the Raider record books. Janikowski has all the kicking records and last year surpassed George Blanda to become the Raiders’ all-time leading scorer.
12: Kenny Stabler– “The Snake” led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl win. He is the Raiders’ all-time leader in passing attempts, yards, and touchdowns. Stabler continues to be a Hall of Fame snub despite his clutch 2-minute drill heroics and his outstanding winning percentage.
13: Jay Schroeder– Raiders’ primary starting QB for five seasons from 88-92. Not much more to say about him than that.
14: Errol Mann– Was the Raiders kicker for a little over two seasons, in the middle of which, the Raiders won Super Bowl XI. He missed a field goal in that game but was decent otherwise.
15: Tom Flores– The Raiders’ first quarterback in franchise history and played for the Raiders for seven seasons. He made the Pro Bowl in his final season. He went on to be the coach of the Raiders for two Super Bowl wins.
16: George Blanda– The Raiders all-time leading scorer until last year. Blanda was the ageless wonder and racked up the points by playing quarterback and kicker.
17: None- Tim Dwight, Mike Williams, and Olanda Truitt are the only players to wear this number and record any real stats. None of them reached even double digit touches with the Raiders.
18: Jeff Jaeger– Raider kicker from 89-95 and stands as the Raiders’ fourth all-time leading scorer.
19: Cotton Davidson– Played almost six seasons at quarterback for the Raiders; named to the Pro Bowl in his first full season (1963).
20: TIE Tory James and Darren McFadden– Tory James spent three seasons with the Raiders pulling down 11 interceptions and starting nearly the entire season and playoffs en route to the 2002 Super Bowl. Yes, after just one great season, DMac is tied as the greatest to wear the number 20. One more full healthy season and he will stand alone.
21: Cliff Branch– Branch was on the Raiders for all three of their Super Bowl wins and at the time was the all-time leader in playoff receiving yards. Al Davis has spent every season since Branch retired trying to find his equal.
22: Mike Haynes– Spent the final seven seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Raiders. During that time he was named All-Pro twice and won a Super Bowl.
23: Charlie Smith– Played nearly every game of his 7-year career at running back for the Raiders from 68-74. He is the Raiders’ tenth all-time rusher.
24: Willie Brown– Joined the Raiders in 1967 and made seven straight Pro Bowls with four All-Pro nods. His image will forever be etched in our memories from Super Bowl XI, when “Old Man Willie” returned an interception for a touchdown to seal the win for the Raiders.
Notable omissions bumped by even greater greatness:
12: Rich Gannon– The best Raider quarterback since Ken Stabler, they both just happened to share the same number. Was league MVP in 2002 en route to leading the Raiders to the Super Bowl. He is not far behind Stabler in most categories with more completions, a higher completion percentage, and a better QB rating.
16: Jim Plunkett– His stats won’t wow you but he was a winner. He remains the only two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback eligible for the Hall of Fame not to be enshrined.
21: Nnamdi Asomugha– Hard to leave the best corner in the NFL over the past few years off this list but getting bumped by Cliff Branch is not such a bad thing.
24: Charles Woodson– You know you have some great players when two of the best shutdown corners in the history of the NFL were beat out. Woodson gets bumped by another great Raider defensive back: Hall of Famer Willie Brown.
Continue to jersey numbers 25-49
Special thanks to Matthew Sublett for contributing to this list.
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