Oakland Raiders
Greatest Player: Marcus Allen
After completing just his second year in the NFL, it still gives Washington Redskins fans incredible heartburn to watch replays of Marcus Allen take the hand off, go left, stop on a dime, reverse field, and take the ball 74 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XVIII. There was really nothing, as a running back, that Allen wasn’t good at. He was the first player in NFL history to gain more than 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards during his career. Despite being a tall, gliding runner, he was considered one of the greatest goal line and short-yard runners of his generation.
The fact that Allen was able to play for 16 seasons at a high level in the NFL was remarkable in and of itself, let alone the fact that he scored 11 touchdowns in his final year in the league (1997). The six-time Pro Bowl selection led the NFL in rushing touchdowns twice, and won the NFL’s MVP and Offensive Player of the Year award in 1985.
Oakland Raiders
Runner Up: Ken Stabler
The Raiders’ franchise is still looking for the stability and high-level play from the quarterback position that they enjoyed in the 1960’s and 1970’s. After Daryle Lamonica, aka “The Mad Bomber,” there was Ken “The Snake” Stabler, one of the greatest quarterbacks of the 1970’s, and the leader of the team that went to five-straight AFC Championship games, and won Super Bowl XI (the franchise’s first of three Super Bowl wins).
Stabler was named the league’s Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year in 1974, and lead the NFL in touchdown passes in 1974 and 1976. Even after leaving Oakland in 1979, Stabler’s 150 touchdown passes as a member of the Raiders has yet to be surpassed.