Although I find there are many Oakland Raiders who are missing from the Pro Football Hall of Fame (like Ken Stabler) there are 18 players (plus Al Davis and John Madden) in the Hall of Fame who wore the Silver and Black. Here’s a look at three great Oakland Raiders Hall of Famers:

Gene Upshaw

Truly one of the greatest pro football players in the history of the game, Gene Upshaw was was a first-round draft pick for the Raiders in 1967, which was the first combined AFL-NFL draft. He played 15 seasons for the Silver and Black, retiring after the 1981 season. Gene Upshaw played in 307 preseason, regular season and post-season games. He helped the Raiders win the AFL championship in 1967, along with Super Bowls XI and XV. He was a leader on the field and was the Raiders’ offensive unit captain for eight seasons.

This great Raider passed away in 2008, after 25 years as the head of the NFL player’s union. Influential off the field as well, he helped introduce free agency into the NFL, and I think he helped create the modern business of professional football we know today. Another milestone for Upshaw, he was the first African-American head of a professional sports player’s union.

Dave Casper

Dave Casper, known as “The Ghost” as in “The Ghost to the Post,” one of the Raiders’ greatest plays ever. In 1977, during the AFC playoff game against the Colts, Casper had the reception that won the double-overtime game for the Raiders. The “Ghost to the Post” refers to his 42-yard reception, that set up the field goal that tied the game at the end of regulation.

Casper was part of another famously named Raider play, the “Holy Roller” against the Chargers in 1978. With the Raiders down six points, QB Ken Stabler fumbled, but the ball rolled towards the Chargers goal line, RB Pete Banaszak knocked it further, and Casper helped it along before falling on it in the end zone to tie and then win the game. Dave Casper played for the Oakland Raiders from 1974-1980, then returned to play in Los Angeles in 1984 after playing with the Oilers and Vikings. In his eight years with the Raiders, Casper had 255 receptions for 3,294 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Mike Haynes

Cornerback Mike Haynes is unique as he is one of the only Raider Hall of Famers to only play in Los Angeles. He came to the Raiders from the Patriots in a settlement that gave the Pats a number one draft pick in 1984 and a number two pick in 1985, which shows his value. He got to work quickly and played the last five games in 1983, then started and even grabbed an interception in the Raiders’ Super Bowl XVIII win. In his seven years with the Raiders, he had 18 interceptions for 295 yards and one touchdown.

Although born and raised with Eagles fans in Philadelphia, Freddy Sherman has always been a citizen of Raider Nation at heart. Since his dad got him a signed George Blanda football as child, to meeting Lyle Alzado in the 1980s, he hasn’t looked back. Follow him on twitter @thefredsherman

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ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP)

The Oakland Raiders have re-signed safety Matt Giordano to a free-agent contract.

The team announced the move Monday.

Giordano played 15 games for Oakland last season. He led the team with five interceptions and added 66 tackles and one sack.

The 29-year-old Giordano has history with the Raiders new hierarchy. He played one season in Green Bay, where new general manager Reggie McKenzie worked in the personnel department and spent 2010 in New Orleans with Oakland coach Dennis Allen serving as defensive backs coach.

Giordano played his first four seasons with Indianapolis, winning the Super Bowl after the 2006 season. He has eight interceptions in his seven-year career.

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) The Oakland Raiders have re-signed safety Matt Giordano to a free-agent contract.

The team announced the move Monday.

Giordano played 15 games for Oakland last season. He led the team with five interceptions and added 66 tackles and one sack.

The 29-year-old Giordano has history with the Raiders new hierarchy. He played one season in Green Bay, where new general manager Reggie McKenzie worked in the personnel department and spent 2010 in New Orleans with Oakland coach Dennis Allen serving as defensive backs coach.

Giordano played his first four seasons with Indianapolis, winning the Super Bowl after the 2006 season. He has eight interceptions in his seven-year career.

The Oakland Raiders‘ former head coach and player Art Shell will be honored once again by the Pro Football Hall of Fame where he’ll be given recognition as a Hometown Hall of Famer in North Charleston, South Carolina on Friday, April 6, at 2 pm. EDT at North Charleston High School.

The national program honors the hometown roots of the NFL‘s greatest players and Shell will be presented with the plaque by representatives of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Allstate Insurance Company and the North Charleston, S.C. community. It will remain on permanent display at North Charleston High School.

Shell spoke with Levi Damien of SilverandBlackPride.com about what the ceremony means to him, commenting, “With the Pro Football Hall of Fame and All State insurance company getting together and giving us a chance to go to our roots and where we came from and where we were nourished as football players back in the day. It’s a great opportunity to go back home and be among friends, family and football players I played with and to be honored. I’m looking forward to it and I think it’s going to be a wonderful event.”

On January 21, 1989, the Raiders’ former 15-year offensive tackle was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He made his NFL debut with the Raiders in 1968 and retired in Oakland in 1982, spending every year of his playing career with the Silver and Black. His presentation speech was given by the Raiders’ late owner, Al Davis.

Shell starred in the Raiders’ first Super Bowl Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings on January 9, 1977, helping the team capture their first title with a defeat over Minnesota, 32-14. He was credited with a near flawless performance against the Vikings’ standout defensive end, Jim Marshall.

In college with Maryland State-Eastern Shore, Shell was a star on offense and defense and was named All-Conference three years, All-America two years by the Pittsburgh Courier and Ebony Magazine and little All-America as a senior in 1967. He was selected to the Pro Bowl eight times and made the All-Pro team three times in addition to many other great accomplishments. Many felt that Shell was the ” finest of many excellent Raiders offensive linemen of the 1970s.”

As the Raiders’ head coach, he was named the 1990 AFC Coach of the Year and amassed a record of 54 wins and 38 losses during his first stint from 1989 to 1994 in Los Angeles.

It’s no wonder players like linebacker Philip Wheeler, who was recently signed to the team, credit Oakland’s reputation as one of the most legendary teams in the NFL as the reason for wanting to become a Raider. Men like Shell helped it become that way.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan for her entire life. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett. Follow her on Twitter @kcdermody or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kcdermodywriter.

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The Oakland Raiders sometimes controversial senior executive, John Herrera, was reported by some as being fired by the Silver and Black, which might make some sense considering his extreme loyalty to the team’s late owner, Al Davis. However, it’s unlikely that Herrera was fired considering that he’ll still be involved with the Raiders working on special projects with the new owner, Al’s son Mark Davis.

Entrance to Oakland Coliseum and the home of the Raiders.
Wikimedia Commons

Herrera has been with the team on and off, though mostly on, for nearly five decades. He started as a ball boy at just 16 years old back in 1963. He went on to work in many capacities for the Raiders including player personnel, scouting, media relations, training camp operations, team travel, stadium negotiations, community relations, security and even one season as a member of the coaching staff.

Perhaps Herrera’s loyalties to Davis may have blinded him from reality a bit in the end. When the Raiders’ last great quarterback, Rich Gannon, offered to help the team at the end of the 2009 season after seven years of failing, Herrera snapped back at Gannon and told him that it was him that needed help. Probably not the smartest move.

In any case, Herrera’s official statement makes it sound like a mutual semi-retiring. He commented, “At this point in my career and after careful thought and consideration, I have decided to take a break,” said Herrera. “I’ve had a great run, 35 years over three tours of duty, and have been privileged to work in every area of the organization. I’ve enjoyed the whole ride and cherish my relationships with the Davis family, players, coaches and front office staff. I have developed lifelong friendships with people that have come through the organization and my time with the Silver and Black has exceeded my wildest expectations.”

Herrera obviously has a wealth of knowledge behind him in regard to the team despite some of his rather boneheaded moves, and I think it makes sense that he’s not completely severing ties with the Raiders.

Willie Brown, who was a cornerback for the Raiders for 13 seasons, from 1967 to 1978, and a coach from 1979 to 1988, has been working as an administrator for the team since 1995 and will continue on with the team. He’s b een in charge of “squad development” and helped the coaching staff, but will remain in a “redefined” role, though it hasn’t been revealed what that role will be.

If there was any truth to the rumor that Mark Davis wanted to get rid of anyone and everyone that had been involved when his father was there, it’s unlikely that either Brown or Herrera would stay, in any capacity. I think that one can now be put to rest. Davis and McKenzie are doing what they need to do to get the Raiders back to excellence, and that’s all that matters.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan for her entire life. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett. Follow her on Twitter @kcdermody or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kcdermodywriter.

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Oakland Raiders’ Reggie McKenzie Not Wasting Time, Cut Stanford Routt: Fan Perspective

New York Giants Win the Super Bowl Rematch Over the Patriots: A Little Satisfaction for Many Raider Fans

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And Sunday makes eight. Eight sellouts out of eight home games for the Oakland Raiders. The team announced the January 1 game against the San Diego Chargers is sold out, which makes 2011 the first season the team has gone without a television blackout since they returned to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995.

Surface of an American football ball.
Wikimedia Commons

While I think eight sellouts is great, and shows the support the team has from local fans, the issue of the stadium remains. The Raiders play in the Oakland Coliseum, now known as the O.co Coliseum after the stadium’s website sponsor, Overstock.com (which now also goes by o.co). Opened in 1966, the stadium is almost 50 years old and even the last renovation was seventeen years ago in 1995. The cash-strapped city of Oakland has been unable to build a new stadium and the team has been unwilling to share a stadium with the San Francisco 49ers. As the 49ers stadium project is moving forward, perhaps after the passing of Raiders’ longtime owner Al Davis, the new Raiders’ ownership (led by Davis’ son) will have a different view. I think the shared stadium makes sense for the Raiders if they want to stay in Northern California.

I still wonder if the team will move back to Los Angeles to play in one of the two competing stadium projects, both vying for a team. AEG, the company behind the proposed Farmers Field project in downtown Los Angeles has already confirmed the Raiders were one of the five teams they’ve already met with about the move to L.A.

While the team sold out all eight home games they didn’t win all eight, of the seven played as I write this article, the team is 3-4 at home, while doing much better on the road (5-3). Raiders coach Hue Jackson confirmed the power of Raider Nation and how he thinks the team needs the fans this week, a must-win for the Silver and Black. Commenting about the fans, Coach Jackson said: “They’ll bring the noise and the passion. I expect them to be as loud as they’ve ever been, and we need a true 12th man this week.”

Although born and raised with Eagles fans in Philadelphia, Freddy Sherman has always been a citizen of Raider Nation at heart. Since his dad got him a signed George Blanda football as child, to meeting Lyle Alzado in the 1980s, he hasn’t looked back. Follow him on twitter @thefredsherman

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Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

With just two days before the Oakland Raiders determine their fate in the playoffs, it’s hard for many fans to think of anything else. New Year’s Eve bash, who cares? We just want New Year’s Day to arrive so that we can (hopefully) watch the Raiders defeat the San Diego Chargers and ultimately take the AFC West title when the Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback, Kyle Orton, exacts his revenge on the Denver Broncos.

Sebastian Janikowski
Wikimedia Commons

In light of that fact, I thought it was time we looked at some of the significant moments and facts in the history between the Chargers and the Raiders.

The Raiders lead the series record over the Chargers, 58-44-2. Oakland has won their three most recent battles, but had lost the previous 13. Could they be on their way to a longer winning streak?

In their last match up on November 10, the Raiders defeated the Chargers by a score of 24-17. Several players had stand out performances on that Thursday evening, including the rookie receiver Denarius Moore. Moore somehow held on to a long pass by quarterback Carson Palmer for a 46-yard catch, and it was just one of five catches and two touchdowns by the end of the game. Linebacker Kamerion Wimbley was on fire, and had four of six sacks on the San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers.

Running back Michael Bush ran down the field 55 yards to set up a Raiders touchdown and by the end of the game he’d been credited with a touchdown and had a total of 30 carries for 157 yards. Bush needs just 89 rushing yards this Sunday to surpass 1,000 for the first time in his career.

On October 10, 2010, the Chargers met the Raiders at home, and Oakland went on to defeat the team by a score of 35-27. In that match up, Bush had 26 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown. The second time they met up last season was in December at Qualcomm Stadium. Running back Darren McFadden had 19 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown and Bush had 23 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Jacoby Ford scored a touchdown as well, and by the end of the game, the Raiders defeated the Chargers by a score of 28-13.

Punter Shane Lechler, arguably one of the best in the history of the NFL, remarked about the upcoming game, “I think everybody in the locker room wants to win and wants to win now. My situation is hopefully to get to see this thing go full circle. I had it great when I first got here with the AFC championship game my rookie year and then the snow game up in New England and then the Super Bowl, and then not much after that. To see it come all the way back full circle, last year 8-8, just to see it go full circle would be good.”

I agree. Sebastian Janikowski is in the same situation as Lechler, with both players starting in 2000. Finally getting into the postseason after all this time would be a welcome change, and very well deserved.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter, Twitter @kcdermody, or www.kcdermodywriter.com.

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After the December 24 match-up, on paper, the Kansas City Chiefs had a slightly better game than the Oakland Raiders. But the only stat that matters is the final score, and the Raiders emerged victorious, winning the game 16-13 and keeping their playoff hopes alive. The Raiders left the game 8-7-0, the Chiefs fell to 6-9-0. The Raiders have one more regular season game against the San Diego Chargers, at home, on January 1, 2012.

Surface of an American football ball.
Wikimedia Commons

I think the Raiders have been playing strong football, but they’ve had some issues when facing really strong teams like the Green Bay Packers. I think they can beat the Chargers (who are already eliminated from the playoffs) and continue to Super Bowl XLVI. The Chiefs game was close, tied at the end of regulation. It was Raiders’ kicker Sebastian Janikowski who again came through in the clutch to kick the game-winning field goal.

Passing

The Chiefs led the Raiders in total yards with 435, compared to 308 for the Raiders. Raiders’ QB Carson Palmer was 16 for 26, a 61.5% completion percentage for a total of 237 yards. Chiefs’ QB Kyle Orton went 21 for 36, a 58% completion percentage for 300 yards. Each had one TD and two interceptions.

Rushing

The Raiders were held to just 71 yards rushing from Marcel Reece and Michael Bush. The Chiefs dominated them with only 135 yards, from Jackie Battle, Thomas Jones, Dexter McCluster, Le’Ron McClain and Kyle Orton too.

Kickers

Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski hit three field goals for 28, 31 and 36 yards. Chiefs’ kicker Ryan Succop had a 23 and a 20-yarder. It was Janikowski’s field goal in overtime that clinched the game for the Raiders.

Penalties and time of possession

These were more stats where the teams were almost equal. The Raiders had the ball for 29:34, the Chiefs had it for 32:39. The Raiders had 15 penalties for 92 yards and the Chiefs had 11 penalties for 88 yards.

Conclusion

A win is a win, no matter what the score. The team struggled against the Chiefs and the stats show the problems the Raiders have been having. You can’t expect to win games with two interceptions and only 71 yards in rushing.

Although born and raised with Eagles fans in Philadelphia, Freddy Sherman has always been a citizen of Raider Nation at heart. Since his dad got him a signed George Blanda football as child, to meeting Lyle Alzado in the 1980s, he hasn’t looked back. Follow him on twitter @thefredsherman

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Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

When it comes to naming the greatest Oakland Raiders of all time, wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff is always one of the top five. As a career Raider, he was part of the Raiders’ legendary teams of the 1970s. As a little kid I can remember watching him play, unfortunately many times beating the Philadelphia Eagles. His achievements, sportsmanship and loyalty to the team make him a great example of what it means to be an Oakland Raider. Here are some key facts about great Raider Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff:

Surface of an American football ball.
Wikimedia Commons

Stats

Fred Biletnikoff caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and scored 76 touchdowns.

Records

At the time of his retirement, he led the league with the record of catching 40 or more passes in 10 consecutive seasons. He also had 70 receptions, 1,167 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns in 10 post-season games for another NFL career-record. He was an All-AFL pick in 1969, the final year the league was separate from the NFL. He was an NFL All-Pro in 1972 and All-AFC in 1970, 1972 and 1973. He also played in two AFL All-Star games and four AFC-NFC Pro Bowl games, along with three AFL and five AFC championship games.

Loyalty

Biletnikoff played for the Silver and Black from draft through retirement, clocking in 14 years. To me, it shows the special organization that Raiders’ owner Al Davis created, treating players like a family. Biletnikoff started with Oakland as their number two draft pick in 1965 and retired a Raider in 1978.

1976 season

In what I think was his best season, Biletnikoff caught passes for 558 yards for an average of 12.8 yards each. He scored 7 touchdowns to help the team finish 16-1 and set them up to win their first Super Bowl championship

Super Bowl XI

As the MVP of Super Bowl XI, Biletnikoff helped the Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings 32-14. He also helped the team to an amazing 16-1 season in 1976, I think one of the Raiders’ greatest seasons ever.

Created his own destiny

Biletnikoff was drafted as a special teams player in 1965 and didn’t even play until the seventh game of the season. He started as a flanker and went on to catch seven passes for 118 yards in that first game, securing his position as a starting wide receiver.

Although born and raised with Eagles fans in Philadelphia, Freddy Sherman has always been a citizen of Raider Nation at heart. Since his dad got him a signed George Blanda football as child, to meeting Lyle Alzado in the 1980s, he hasn’t looked back. Follow him on twitter @thefredsherman

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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP)—Charles Woodson hasn’t played for the Oakland Raiders
since 2005, so it wasn’t a particularly big deal for him to get an interception
against his old team.

Woodson and the rest of the Green Bay Packers have much bigger things on
their minds these days.

Green Bay is 13-0 and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs after
Sunday’s 46-16 rout of the Raiders. The next steps are securing home-field
advantage in the postseason and, perhaps, pulling off a perfect season.

Woodson hasn’t shied away from talk of a 16-0 season in recent weeks, but
said after Sunday’s game that he’s more worried about the Packers playing their
best by the time the playoffs begin.

“We’ve won a lot of games, but there’s a lot of football left to be
played,” he said. “The only thing that we’ve assured ourselves is we have a
chance going into the playoffs and then that’s when the real fun starts. We’re
just going to continue to stay focused here on out for the rest of the regular
season and just try to continue to roll with Ws and go into those playoffs on
fire.”

Now the Packers have to hope star receiver Greg Jennings will be there with
them. Jennings sustained an apparent left knee injury in the third quarter and
had to be carted from the sideline to the locker room. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers
said after the game that it “didn’t look very good.”

Packers coach Mike McCarthy was more guarded, classifying the injury as a
sprain and saying that it warranted further evaluation.

“Hypothetically, it would be a big loss,” defensive lineman B.J. Raji
said. “But I’ve got my fingers crossed that hopefully he’ll be OK. Ultimately,
I hate to see any one of my teammates, Greg or anybody, be in that kind of pain
where another man has to carry you off the field and carry you to where you want
to go.”

Jennings’ injury—and some problems with Rodgers’ pass protection—were
about the only downsides to Sunday’s game for the Packers.

Rodgers threw for 281 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in less
than three quarters of work before yielding to backup Matt Flynn. Ryan Grant had
two touchdowns rushing.

Including the playoffs, the Packers now have won 19 straight games dating to
last season—nearly a full calendar year. That’s the second-longest streak in
NFL history behind the 2003-04 New England Patriots’ 21 straight victories.
They’re the first reigning Super Bowl champion to start the season 13-0 since
the 1998 Denver Broncos.

McCarthy still isn’t interested in talking about the possibility of the
Packers going 16-0, but his level of confidence is clear.

“(If we’re) taking care of things and keeping our focus on improving the
quality of play, I don’t think we can be beat,” McCarthy said. “You could have
asked me that six years ago, I would have said the same damn thing. That’s the
way we think around here.”

While Green Bay’s defense hasn’t always been at its best this season, it is
causing turnovers. The Packers picked off four passes from Carson Palmer on
Sunday, providing more scoring chances for their offense.

“We feel real good about what they’re going to do once they have an
opportunity,” Woodson said of the offense. “Today they put up a lot of points,
and a lot of that is because defensively we came up with some plays. Those
things work hand in hand. When you’ve got an offense and a quarterback that’s
playing the way he’s playing and you give those guys opportunities, good things
are going to happen for you.”

Things are looking far more grim for the Raiders, who have been blown out
two weeks in a row. With Denver’s overtime victory against Chicago on Sunday,
the Raiders lost their share of the AFC West lead.

“I’m not going to let this team keep going backwards,” coach Hue Jackson
said. “The last two weeks, we haven’t come close to playing or looking like the
football team we’ve been.”

Palmer threw for 245 yards with a touchdown and the four interceptions.

“I did not give us a chance to win today,” Palmer said. “I did not play
well enough and made way too many mistakes.”

Oakland continues to play without injured running back Darren McFadden,
along with wide receivers Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore. And the Raiders made
plenty of mistakes to help an opponent that doesn’t really need it.

“You are not going to beat a high school team with the penalties and
mistakes (like) the ones that we made,” linebacker Aaron Curry said. “You make
a lot of mistakes, you lose.”

Notes: McCarthy said defensive lineman Ryan Pickett and running back Brandon
Saine both sustained concussions. … The Packers set a franchise record with
466 points, topping the previous record of 461 points in 2009. … The Raiders
ran into an odd spell of bad luck on the second-half kickoff, when Green Bay’s
Randall Cobb appeared to step out of bounds during a 50-yard return. Officials
said the replay system was malfunctioning, and the Raiders couldn’t challenge.

I’ve always thought if you look up the phrase “football coach” in the dictionary, there’s simply a picture of John Madden. The larger-than-life personality has always been associated with the Oakland Raiders and while he may now be known more for his video game stardom, commercial endorsements and over-the-top commentary style, John Madden is one of the greatest coaches to ever lead a professional football team.

U.S. Senator Susan Collins, who co-chairs the Senate Diabetes Caucus, was joined recently by football legend and Coach John Madden.
US Govt – public domain

Madden actually started as a player, he was drafted in the 21st round of the 1958 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles but injured himself in his rookie season and never played again. He coached for several college teams before joining the Raiders in 1967 as the linebackers coach. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Here’s a summary of what makes Hall of Fame coach John Madden so great:

Started young

Madden was only 32 when Al Davis hired him to be the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, making him the youngest head coach ever in the AFL. He started with the Raiders as their linebackers coach in 1967 and took over as head coach in 1969.

Hit the ground running

In his very first season as head coach of the Raiders, they went 12-1-1 and won the AFL Western Division title. Madden won the AFL Coach of the Year award for his hard work.

Never had a losing season

Madden coached the Raiders for 10 years, and never had a losing season while he was at the helm.

Just win, baby

As Raiders’ legendary owner Al Davis always said, “Just win, baby.” Madden was all about winning, with an overall record of 103 wins, 32 loses and 7 ties. Under his leadership, the team won seven Western Division titles, including the incredible five-in-a-row run from 1972-1976 and the win in Super Bowl XI in early 1977. In the 1976 and 1977 seasons, the Raiders won 17 games in a row, one short of the record at the time and they went 13-1 in 1976, one of the team’s greatest seasons ever.

One of the greatest ever

John Madden’s .759 regular season winning percentage is the highest ever with coaches who have at least 100 career wins. And only two coaches reached 100 wins before him, Chicago Bears icon George Halas and Green Bay Packers legend (and stadium namesake) Curly Lambeau.

Although born and raised with Eagles fans in Philadelphia, Freddy Sherman has always been a citizen of Raider Nation at heart. Since his dad got him a signed George Blanda football as child, to meeting Lyle Alzado in the 1980s, he hasn’t looked back. Follow him on twitter @thefredsherman

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Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Shane Lechler(notes), punter for the Oakland Raiders for the twelfth season this year, has been in the headlines this week for his amazing kick in the game against the Chicago Bears last Sunday, November 27. Here is a look at a five of the reasons he is the best in the history of the NFL.

Shane Lechler
Wikimedia Commons

80-yard punt

How many of you have watched the video of Lechler kicking the 80-yard punt over and over? On Sunday against Chicago, his amazing kick went into the record books. Not only are 80 yard punts rare, but they usually bounce and roll to get that far. Not Lechler’s.

Lechler tied the previous record of 77 yards in the opening game in Denver this season. It was Wayne Crow who initially set that record way back in 1961. That’s how rare these long kicks are.

Pro Bowler

Lechler is a six-time Pro Bowler, selected in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. He’s also been named an All-Pro six times.

Leader

With nearly 12 seasons under his belt, Lechler has become a veteran leader for the team. Head coach Hue Jackson is said to look to him for “words of wisdom.” Quarterback Carson Palmer(notes) said, “I think he’s definitely the best punter in the league, but as far as a teammate, a leader, a veteran, a professional, he does everything right. He says the right things. He doesn’t act like a kicker. I wouldn’t put him in that mold.”

Lechler isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and it’s obvious he only wants whats best for his team. He’s also honest about the difficulties they’ll face in Miami. He reminded his teammates that the last year the team went to the Super Bowl, they also lost to the Dolphins. He hopes to instill the importance of this game, and the fact that it will be a tough one, despite Miami’s 3-8 record.

Versatile

Lechler is an amazing team player. He is so versatile that he’s an emergency quarterback for the Raiders. In week six in the game against the Cleveland Browns Lechler tossed a 35-yard pass to tight end Kevin Boss(notes) for a touchdown. The Raiders defeated the Browns 24-17.

Best average punt

Lechler holds the record for the best average per punt in the NFL in his career at 47.3. Surpassing the legendary Sammy Baugh who held the record at 45.1 Baugh retired back in 1952. Lechler’s 2011 season average is 51.5.

Just five of the reasons, we should be grateful that Lechler has stuck with the Silver and Black through the good times, and the bad. He is another great player who truly exemplifies what is means to be a Raider.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter or on Twitter @kcdermody.

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Passion Returns to Aaron Curry with Raiders as it Often Has in the past: Fan’s Look

Oakland Raiders’ Fan’s Look: Hue Jackson Proving the Naysayers Wrong

Fan’s Look at Why the Oakland Raiders Will Stay on Top of the AFC West

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