NAPA, Calif. -- Now that the late Ken Stabler has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which eligible Oakland Raiders figure should be next?
The Raiders are on a run of Hall of Famers lately, as they have had five inducted in the past four years: Stabler on Saturday, Tim Brown and Ron Wolf in 2015, Ray Guy in 2014 and Warren Sapp in 2013. In total, Oakland recognizes 25 former Raiders in Canton.
But with the way classes are selected, there is a logjam, and often, a long waiting period keeps deserving honorees on the outside looking in until, in Stabler’s case, after death.
I created a poll on Twitter, which would allow only four choices, and asked the Twitterverse which Raider should be next to get a bust and gold jacket: Tom Flores, Jim Plunkett, Cliff Branch or Lester Hayes?
Within a day of creating the poll, close to 1,400 followers responded, and Flores was the runaway winner, with 55 percent of the vote, followed by Plunkett’s 18 percent, Branch’s 17 percent and Hayes’ 11 percent.
With #KenStabler now in the @ProFootballHOF, which 'eligible' former #Raiders should be next?
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 7, 2016
Here is a quick look at these four former Raiders:
Tom Flores: Perhaps this year’s selection of Tony Dungy, the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl, has awakened Flores’ supporters? After all, it was the gentlemanly Flores, 79, who was the first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl. Not only did he do it 26 years before Dungy, but also Flores won two Super Bowls with the Raiders. Plus, Flores, the first Latino professional quarterback and the first QB in Raiders franchise history, has two other rings, one as an assistant on John Madden’s staff for Super Bowl XI (a year later, he made the call from the booth to the sideline for the famous Ghost to the Post play) and another as Len Dawson’s backup on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV. Between 1980 and 1985, Flores’ coaching record with the Raiders, who dealt with the shuffling between Oakland and Los Angeles, was a combined 70-31, including the playoffs with those two Super Bowl titles. Then there’s this: Flores was 11-5 against Don Coryell, who was a Hall finalist this year.
Jim Plunkett: How can you write the history of the NFL without mentioning Plunkett, a Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick who washed out with the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers before turning in the ultimate Lazarus act with the Raiders? Plunkett, who ignited a Latino fan base, won two Super Bowls and was named Super Bowl MVP and NFL comeback player of the year to go with rookie of the year. Which stats look more Hall-worthy: a 62-63-4 regular-season record, 2-1 postseason record, 50.1 percent career completion rate, 173 TDs/220 INTs and 65.5 career passer rating or a 72-72 regular-season record, 8-2 postseason record, 52.5 percent career completion rate, 164 TDs/198 INTs and 67.5 career passer rating. The first line belongs to Joe Namath, who went to the postseason twice; the second belongs to Plunkett, the first minority starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
Cliff Branch: Supporters of Branch have been scratching their heads for decades. He was the yin to the yang of the Pittsburgh Steelers' Lynn Swann, yet he eclipses Swann in nearly every receiving statistical category, from catches (501 to 336) to receiving yards (8,685 to 5,462) to TD catches (67 to 51). Sure, Branch played longer than his contemporary, 14 seasons to nine, and Swann has four rings. But Branch is one of only six Raiders to be on all three Super Bowl championship teams. Something seems amiss here, right? With the way voting is done, even if the selectors find it in their hearts to elevate Branch for consideration, he finds a glut of more recent vintage receivers clogging the lane in Terrell Owens, a finalist last year, and the likes of Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Hines Wards and Randy Moss on the horizon for the oft-short-of-memory Hall selectors.
Lester Hayes: The Judge, a self-described Jedi of Silver and Blackdom, is an interesting case study, in that he was the most dominant cornerback in the league -- for a very short time. His running mate with the Raiders when they won Super Bowl XVIII, Mike Haynes, was enshrined in 1997, but it was the Stickum-covered Hayes who had 13 INTs in 1980, when he also had four more called back by penalty and added five in the playoffs, including a memorable pick-six of Ken Stabler in the AFC wild-card game. A five-time Pro Bowler who had 39 career interceptions, tied with Hall of Famer Willie Brown for the Raiders' franchise lead, Hayes has been a Hall finalist four times and was second-team all-1980s, despite not playing after 1986. Perhaps his most impressive accomplishment? The NFL banned Stickum after his success with it.
Others to consider: LG Steve Wisniewski (an eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro who missed only two games in 13 seasons); FS Jack Tatum (“Assassin” was one of the most feared hitters of his era and had 37 interceptions in his 10-year career, though critics wish the late Tatum had shown more remorse after his paralyzing hit of the New England Patriots' Darryl Stingley in a 1978 preseason game); C Dave Dalby (one of just six Raiders to play on all three Super Bowl champions, the late Dalby was selected to just one Pro Bowl but replaced a Hall of Famer in Jim Otto and played alongside two other Hall of Famers in left guard Gene Upshaw and left tackle Art Shell).
Oh, and don’t worry, DB Charles Woodson should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible in 2021.