With the Las Vegas Raiders again failing to qualify for the National Football League playoffs, longtime fans of Raider National could only reminisce about memorable games the Silver and Black played on this Super Wild Card weekend.
One of the most remarkable games came in a 1993 Wild Card game against the AFC West rival Denver Broncos at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum after the Raiders had moved from Oakland to L.A.
Needing to win the final game of the regular season a week earlier to reach the post-season, the Raiders beat the Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and the Broncos, 33-30, on Jeff Jaeger’s 47-yard field goal in overtime.
As luck would have it, the same Raiders and Broncos played again the following week at the Coliseum in an AFC Wild Card game.
This time, Elway and quarterback Jeff Hostetler of the Raiders passed for three touchdowns in the first half before 65,314 fans at the Coliseum to create a 21-21 deadlock at halftime.
However, running back Napoleon McCallum of the Raiders, who rushed for 81 yards on 13 carries in the game, took over by rushing for touchdowns of 26, two, and one yard in the second half, leading the Silver and Black to a 42-24 victory.
McCallum tied an NFL record with his three rushing touchdowns in the game.
“I said before that playoff game, ‘It will be a game of trucks vs. Ferraris,’” Denver safety Dennis Smith said. “If it’s a race, they win. They’ve got too much speed. If it’s a game of collisions, we win. Well, it wound up with trucks chasing Ferraris. There were not enough collisions and too many races.
“McCallum was simply too much for us in the second half.”
Elway completed 29 of 47 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns, but the Raiders intercepted three of his passes. In comparison, Hostetler completed 13 of 19 throws for 294 yards and scored 65 yards to Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown, 54 yards to wide receiver James Jett, and nine yards to tight-end Ethan Horton.
The game was delayed briefly after Elway’s 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Shannon Sharpe to tie the game, 7-7, in the first quarter when an unidentified hang-glider soared over the Coliseum.
Game officials delayed the ensuing kickoff for several minutes until the motorized hang-glider moved on, and he later was arrested a few miles from the Coliseum for interfering with a sporting event.
A week later, the Raiders lost to the Buffalo Bills, 29-23, in an AFC Divisional Round playoff game at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, even though McCallum ran for two more touchdowns, and the Bills went on to be routed by the Dallas Cowboys, 52-17, in Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
In the Raiders’ two 1993 post-season games, McCallum rushed for 137 yards and five touchdowns.
McCallum, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy before being selected by the Raiders in the fourth round (No. 108 overall) of the 1986 NFL Draft, could have been one of the great backs in NFL history. Still, he missed his first three seasons while on active duty in the Navy and then retired prematurely after the 1995 season to become a minister.
Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, McCallum might be a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, had he played a complete career with the Raiders.
But Raider Nation will always remember what he did in 1993
From February 27 to March 4, 2024, the NFL Scouting Combine will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.
The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the No. 13 overall pick.
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