Kicker Daniel Carlson, safety Marcus Epps, and running back Ameer Abdullah of the Las Vegas Raiders will go against their former team this week when the Silver and Black play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
However, they are only two of the many players who have been on the rosters of both teams. They were founded 64 years ago when the Raiders took Minnesota’s place in the inaugural season of the American Football League because the Twin Cities went with the established National Football League instead.
Included among those players were tight end Dave Casper, wide receiver Art Powell, linebacker Greg Biekert, wide receiver Randy Moss, running back Roger Craig, tackle John Vella, kicker Mike Eischeid, quarterback Jeff George, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, running back Latavius Murray, defensive end Lance Johnstone, linebacker Napoleon Harris, kicker Mike Mercer and tight end Andrew Glover.
However, whether he was the best of them or not, quarterback Rich Gannon was the player who earlier in his career was with the Vikings and later had the most memorable impact on the Raiders.
The 6-3, 210-pound Gannon was selected by the New England Patriots in the fourth round (No. 98 overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft out of Delaware. Still, they wanted to move him to wide receiver, tight end, or defensive back, and he balked at the idea, so they traded him to the Vikings.
Gannon played for the Vikings, the Washington Redskins, and the Kansas City Chiefs for a total of 11 seasons before signing with the Raiders as a free agent in 1999 and moving right in as the starter in his first season under Coach Jon Gruden.
“I think the reason Gruden and I hit it off so well is, for whatever reason, is that Jon feels like he has to prove something every day of his life,” Gannon said in 2018. “I think it’s what drives him and motivates him. I think it’s why he and I had such great symmetry because I think I’m wired the same way. I feel like every day I came in as a player, I had to grind and really work on my craft to prove myself to my teammates and my coaches.
“I think (Gruden) saw me as a quarterback who wasn’t young, but was getting a chance to have his own team and wanted to get it right, and wanted nothing more than to win football games and would do whatever it took to do that. I never wanted to do anything in terms of my play that would let him down because I knew how much he had invested in me.”
Gruden left the Raiders after three seasons coaching Gannon to become head coach of the Tampa Buccaneers, but in six seasons with the Silver and Black, Gannon posted a 45-29 record as a starter and is third on the franchise’s all-time passing list with 2,448 yards and 114 touchdowns.
However, you can’t blame Gannon for the 48-21 loss to Gruden and the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII, even though he threw five interceptions and was sacked five times in that game at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
The 2002 Raiders were on a four-game winning streak, including playoff victories of 30-10 over the New York Jets and 41-14 over the Tennessee Titans, as Gannon passed for 569 yards and five touchdowns, in addition to running for another score in those games.
However, All-Pro center Barret Robbins, who probably was the Raiders’ best player, suffered from physical and mental problems and disappeared from the team’s hotel in San Diego a few days before the game and headed to Tijuana, Mexico, where he went on a drunken adventure.
A medical assistant had told Robbins that he might not play in the Super Bowl because of his injuries, and he freaked out and took off South..
The Raiders had beaten the Buccaneers, 45-0, in their previous meeting two years earlier when Robbins dominated the middle of the Tampa Bay line, but this time they had no chance without possibly their best player.
However, Gannon, who finished his NFL career with 28,743 yards and 180 touchdown passes, played well enough to become the fourth quarterback to lead the Raiders to the Super Bowl.
The Silver and Black will return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, December 10, at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST.
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