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Las Vegas Raiders – Established 1960

The Las Vegas Raiders franchise history extends back to 1960 when a team named the Oakland Señors was supposed to make their debut. That was the original name for this franchise as decided upon by a public poll. But, after a lot of tasteless joking and backlash from the community, the name was changed to the Raiders before the season began.

The Raiders, then owned by Minneapools Businessman Max Winter, began as one of the original eight teams in the American Football League (AFL) before the organization merged with the NFL in 1970.

After three straight losing seasons, Winter hired Al Davis in 1963 to serve as the team’s head coach and general manager moving forward. Thanks to a unique offensive strategy that incorporated a deep passing attack, the Raiders were contending for titles. Davis moved from being the AFL commissioner to part-owner of the Raiders in 1966. The Raiders won the AFL Championship in 1967 thanks to his guidance. They would go on to lost in the Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers that season.

Then, in 1969, the Raiders hired John Madden as head coach. Under his legendary tutelage, the Raiders flourished. The Franchise posted 10 straight winning seasons with Madden at the helm. With guys like Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, and Art Shell on the roster, the Raiders won the Super Bowl in 1976. It was around the same time that Davis systematically bought out the rest of the owners and took control of the franchise.

After Madden’s departure, the Raiders won the Super Bowl again in 1980, but Davis was not happy in Oakland. Davis tried to make improvements to the stadium but was blocked at every turn. After he was unsuccessful, Davis tried multiple times to move the team out of Oakland. He was blocked by injunctions and years of hurdles but was finally given the go-ahead in 1982 to move to Los Angeles. The newly minted LA Raiders went 8-1 in that first year after a strike shortened the season. It was during this time in LA that the Raiders won their third Super Bowl against the Washington Redskins in 1983.

Since then, the franchise was relocated twice more. Once back to Oakland between 1995 and 2019, and again to Las Vegas in 2020. But the to Sin City has been mired in scandal, bad coaching, and even deaths.

Josh McDaniels was announced as the head coach for the 2022 season and the Davis family is hoping he can turn around what has been a bad start to their time in Las Vegas.