Jim Otto Raider: 1938–2024
The American Football League has never had a better center than Jim Otto, who is widely regarded as the best player on any professional club. The football community is honoring his life.
As per the Las Vegas Raiders, Otto, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, departed from this life on May 19, 2024. His age was eighty-six.
“The Raiders’ aura and mystery were personified by Jim Otto. According to Jim Porter, president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was The Original Raider, steering the team through its glory years from the team’s founding in the late 1960s.
His renowned dependability—210 straight starts in the AFL and NFL—as well as the honors bestowed upon him bear witness to his commitment to both the league and the game.
“He protected his teammates with the same devotion and determination that the Pro Football Hall of Fame will employ to defend his legacy.
Throughout his 15 seasons in the AFL and NFL, Otto consistently referred to himself as a “gladiator” and refused to back down from any of the numerous injuries he had sustained. From the first game of the 1960 season to the last game of the 1974 season, he participated in 210 straight regular-season games, answering every call. The only reason he did not make his much-anticipated Super Bowl comeback was a difficult loss in the AFC Championship.
Otto played every single one of the All-Star, postseason, and preseason games, so the total number of games played in a row exceeded 300.
Otto noted in his fittingly named autobiography, “The Pain of Glory,” that he used the number 308 to symbolize all the wear and tear on his body.
In an interview with Tom LaMarre for SI.com’s Raiders Maven page in February 2021, Hall of Fame coach John Madden stated, “His centering abilities were flawless.” He was one of those individuals who was always eager to practice. It’s not like most rookies, who would advise sending in the other player.
“Jim remained the focal point of the Oakland Raiders, refusing to move from his position.
Otto was a center and linebacker for Wausau, Wisconsin, high school as well as the University of Miami during the one-platoon era. He took on a gruff demeanor while playing offensive line and relished the chance to tackle for the Raiders on special teams.
His strategy for the game is “Hit or be hit,” he stated.
Otto was bestowed with many honors, including membership in the AFL Hall of Fame All-1960s Team, twelve Pro Bowl selections, ten First-Team All-Pro honors, a ranking of 78 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, and inclusion as one of the four centers on the NFL 100 All-Time Team.
Long before Otto received this honor, Hall of Famer Mel Hein, another center on the NFL 100 All-Time Team, stated of Otto, “He has to be rated among the best ever to play the position.”
Both rivals and teammates concurred.
“He was one of the originals,” remarked Chuck Allen, a nine-season San Diego Chargers linebacker. Everybody aspired to be like him.”
without being successful.
Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh remarked, “He had techniques that others tried to emulate but couldn’t.” Walsh was an offensive assistant for the Raiders in 1966. I was in awe of his ability. He put his all into every play.
Daryle Lamonica, the quarterback for the Raiders, referred to Otto as the finest center in history and a true fighter.
Lamonica remarked, “He was different in that he could play through pain and maintain endurance.” In my first Raiders game, he sustained a neck injury. It appeared that he had retired for the year. The following game, he returned. Jim stood for excellence in commitment.
Since Otto’s earliest playing days, “stingers” have been frequent. In college, he made a makeshift sponge and fastened it to his shoulder pads using shoelaces. This became into a fit-foam neck roll that he carried around with him all the time in Oakland.
Otto never wanted to take off the neck roll, the “00” jersey he switched to in his second pro season, or the U-shaped nose guard. Otto’s will to never quit the field was further strengthened by the neck injury.
In his book, Otto described hearing Al Davis, who was then in San Diego, inform the Chargers that the Raiders would lose if Jim Otto was out of the game.
In 1963, Davis took over as Oakland’s coach. Otto left the field after suffering a neck injury during a preseason game against the Chiefs. Davis came to his aid.
Davis was informed by Otto that a Raider would never be seen again. Remain away the next time you go outside.
He stayed for a continuous 11 years.
This is the complete Hindi text translated into a nice English.
According to Otto’s interview with Lamare, “What Al said to me was permanently etched in my mind.” I had to lose at times, but I never gave up on the game. I didn’t want to disappoint my teammates, my family, or the fans. For twelve of my thirteen years as captain, I think I was a leader.
Occasionally, it was difficult due to an old neck issue I had. It would almost hurt me, and I would receive a sting. However, I was unable to exit the game. Al only needed to say it once.
Persistent Pain
Otto suffered from neck and back problems throughout of his adult life. He underwent an estimated 74 surgeries as a result of several of his vertebrae being fused. There were about 28 knee surgeries performed overall, including 10 joint replacements, virtually yearly. When physicians ran out of alternatives in 2007, they amputated Otto’s right leg.
He had both of his shoulders replaced. Following surgery, Otto had three near-death experiences with infections.
More than twenty broken noses, a fractured hip, broken fingers, broken ribs, a broken jaw, countless injuries, kicked-in teeth, and two cases of pneumonia were all seen by him as minor setbacks.
I was paid to play football, not to lounge around the locker room, he remarked.
Otto frequently said that he had no regrets about leaving the game, even with the physical toll it took on his body, and that he would even re-enlist in the NFL despite the years of suffering he had.
Otto was really proud of how durable he was. Over the AFL’s ten-year history, just twenty other men participated in games, and only three of them started every game. Every season, he was a first-team All-AFL center.
When Otto left Miami weighing 217 pounds, nobody could have predicted his future success or longevity. He wasn’t drafted by an NFL team; instead, Minneapolis selected him in the AFL draft’s 24th round and then parted ways with the organization to provide room for an expansion franchise in the NFL. Oakland was given the right to draft him.
Rapid Identification
Otto was the only Raider to receive post-season recognition following the 1960 and 1961 campaigns. Some NFL teams expressed interest in wooing him away from the AFL after his outstanding debut season, but he stayed true to his original league and squad.
Otto briefly thought about retiring after the Raiders were 9-33 in his first three seasons—”We were the doormat of the league,” he said—but I sensed there was hope.
Davis led the club to victory in 1963 after assuming leadership. Otto saw a change even with the Raiders’ new color scheme.
In his memoirs, he stated, “I wanted to wear the silver and black uniforms forever when I first wore them.”
Otto was known by the moniker “Mr. Raider” because of his devotion to the squad, endurance, love for them, and will power.
The Raiders won seven division titles and the 1967 AFL Championship between 1963 and 1974. One of the few disappointments that lingered with Otto was that they were defeated by the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II, and he was never able to return to the championship game. Five times his teams lost in the AFL or AFC championship game, and each time the other club won the Super Bowl.
Otto was as ferocious and unwavering off the field as he was on it, showing the same generosity toward rivals and teammates—including the person who eventually succeeded him. Dave Dalby, a 14-year Raiders player with 205 games played, learned from him.
Otto also showed off his charm off the field with his yearly Halloween party and dinners at his residence.
Without a doubt, Jim is the greatest center I have ever faced. The opposing Chiefs linebacker Bobby Bell, a Hall of Famer, described him as a warrior who was difficult to contain. “Off the field, the Chiefs and Raiders rivalry was a fight, yet both groups were close friends. Jim is the pinnacle of my pyramid; he’s simply a class act. He worked well in a group.
Otto spent several years as the Raiders’ business manager following his time in football. He purchased a walnut farm and farmed it until his health prevented him from doing so. He also owns other companies and a number of fast-food franchises.
His real interest, though, was football.
He declared, I love football as much as I can convey my enthusiasm for the game in terms that matter to others who have never played it. I was unable to adequately convey my motivation to my teammates, who believed that my ailments, which typically prevented football players from playing, were insane.
Otto compared his wounds to a gladiator’s battle scars in a 2012 PBS interview. A gladiator fights till his body gives out.
Otto’s reputation as one of the greatest centers and all-time iron men in football will live on in the Canton, Ohio-based Pro Football Hall of Fame.
