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No. 5: 'Old Man' Willie Brown takes it to the house for the Raiders

With Super Bowl 50 at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, a look at top moments and performances by Bay Area players on the game’s biggest stage.

ALAMEDA -- Willie Brown was feeling froggy ... so the spiritual leader of the Oakland Raiders' Soul Patrol decided to jump in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl.

“They were in that hurry-up offense so I knew he was going to throw the ball to Sammy White,” Brown said of the Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton.

“I’m a gambler, and I wasn’t even supposed to be there. I told Ted [Hendricks] to stay inside and I told [Jack] Tatum to stay deep. And that’s where he threw the ball.”

Seventy-five yards and one epic Bill King radio call later, Brown, the godfather of the bump-and-run, had the longest interception return for a touchdown in Super Bowl history at the time, a play and moment good enough to be ranked No. 5 on our list of top Super Bowl performances by a member of a Bay Area team on Super Sunday.

There were less than six minutes to play when the 36-year-old Brown jumped in front of the 36-year-old Tarkenton’s throw.

“Old Man Willie,” King bellowed, “he’s going all the way.

“John Madden’s grin is from ear to ear. He looks like a slick watermelon.”

As Brown crossed the goal line to give the Raiders a 32-7 lead over the Vikings, NBC announcer Don Meredith broke into song: “Turn out the lights, the party’s over.”

Nearly 40 years later, the Hall of Fame cornerback, whose first career interception came against Tom Flores in 1963 and whose last came against Steve Grogan in 1978, insists Tarkenton remains his “favorite” quarterback.

And why not, after the role he played in Brown’s career-defining moment?

“All I’m thinking is, I’ve got to score,” Brown said of his mindset as he raced down the field. “I knew nobody could catch me because wasn’t nobody else out there. We’ve got the game in hand, just don’t get caught.”