Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders
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They were the NFL's ultimate outlaws, black-clad iconoclasts who, with a peculiar mix of machismo and brotherhood, of postgrad degrees and firearms, merrily defied pro football corporatism. The Oakland Raiders of the 1970s were some of the most outrageous, beloved, and violent football teams ever to play the game. In this rollicking biography, Peter Richmond tells the story of Oakland's wrecking crew of castoffs, psychos, oddballs, and geniuses who won six division titles and a Super Bowl championship under the brilliant leadership of coach John Madden and eccentric owner Al Davis. Richmond goes inside the locker room and onto the field with Ken Stabler, Willie Brown, Fred Biletnikoff, George Atkinson, Phil Villapiano, and the rest of this band of brothers who made the Raiders legendary. He vividly recounts days of grueling practices and hell-raising nights of tavern crawling—from smoking pot and hiring strippers during training camp to sharing game-day beers with their hardcore fans (including the Bay Area's other badasses, the Black Panthers and the Hells Angels). Richmond reveals a group of men who, after years of coming up short in the AFC Championship game, saw their off-kilter loyalty to the black and silver finally pay off with their emphatic Super Bowl victory in 1977. Funny, raunchy, and inspiring, Badasses celebrates the '70s Raiders as the last team to play professional football the way it was meant to be played: down and very dirty. Library Journal The 1970s Oakland Raiders were a team of distinct personality and talent. Known for rough and rowdy behavior on and off the field, the players were a tight-knit band of brothers who welcomed misfits dropped from other teams. Iconoclastic behavior was venerated in Oakland and personified by aggressive owner Al Davis and outsized, vivacious coach John Madden. The Raiders forged a close bond with their fans by going to five straight AFC championships in the decade, reaching the Super Bowl once to bury the Vikings in 1976. Drawing heavily on interviews with Raiders Phil Villapiano, Pete Banaszak, Ken Stabler, and George Atkinson, sports journalist Richmond's book is a treasure trove of uproarious anecdotes skillfully woven into a seasonal chronicle spiced with sharp player profiles. These wild characters, none of whom turned up on police blotters, were a focused bunch whose considerable intelligence was greatly underrated. Richmond concedes that the 1980s Raiders won two Super Bowls under coach Tom Flores but insists those Raiders were not the same lovable "badasses" that he celebrates here. This rollicking read reminds us that football is a game that's meant to be played hard—and to be fun.
