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As the autumn winds blew across the first 15 seasons of the Raiders franchise, there was a constant game in and game out. Jim Otto was that constant, an all-star at center and the epitome of a great teammate. Otto, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, has died at the age of 86, the team confirmed Sunday. "The Raiders Family is in deep mourning following the passing of Jim Otto...The Original Raider," the club said in a statement. "The personification of consistency, Jim's influence on the American Football League and professional football as a whole cannot be overstated. His leadership and tenacity were a hallmark of the dominant Raider teams of the 1960s and 70s."
Otto played alongside a parade of fellow Hall of Famers, combining with guard Gene Upshaw to form one of the finest combinations of interior offensive linemen in league lore. He also shared a roster with HOFers George Blanda, Willie Brown, Fred Biletnikoff, Art Shell, Bob Brown, Ken Stabler and more.
As the autumn winds blew across the first 15 seasons of the Raiders franchise, there was a constant game in and game out. Jim Otto was that constant, an all-star at center and the epitome of a great teammate. Otto, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, has died at the age of 86, the team confirmed Sunday. "The Raiders Family is in deep mourning following the passing of Jim Otto...The Original Raider," the club said in a statement. "The personification of consistency, Jim's influence on the American Football League and professional football as a whole cannot be overstated. His leadership and tenacity were a hallmark of the dominant Raider teams of the 1960s and 70s."
Otto played alongside a parade of fellow Hall of Famers, combining with guard Gene Upshaw to form one of the finest combinations of interior offensive linemen in league lore. He also shared a roster with HOFers George Blanda, Willie Brown, Fred Biletnikoff, Art Shell, Bob Brown, Ken Stabler and more.
RIP, Jim.
I looked him up on Wikipedia earlier this month to see if he was still with us.
I’m a lifelong Raiders and 49ers fan. My dad took me to games as early as their first season at the Coliseum, and he had season tickets one of the years at Frank Youell Field.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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I'm a lifelong Jets fan but the other team I always rooted for if they weren't playing the Jets was the Raiders and 'double-zero' Jim was one of my favorite players along with 'I've got enough stickum on me to hold the world together' Freddie Biletnikoff. It's getting sad to see so many of my past heroes leaving us.
Jim Otto would always talk about the good old days of the NFL, when players like himself would put their bodies on the line and not worry about penalties or the consequences.
Actually, there was no one like Otto. He had 29 knee surgeries and over 75 all told as the result of the way the center played the game and became the face of a tough, win-at-all-costs Raiders organization. Otto was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, having played for the Raiders his entire career.
Otto, born Jan. 5, 1938, died Sunday at the age of 86, the Raiders announced.
“You would break your hand, spit on it, rub it on your pants and go back out and play some more,” Otto once said.
The undersized 6-foot-2, 255-pound Otto never missed a game in 15 years and made the Pro Bowl 12 times. He was a 10-time All-Pro and was the center on the all-time AFL team.
“I watched him bleed,” linebacker Phil Villapiano said in a 2022 interview. “I mean, every f—ing game. Whatever helmet he had on certainly didn’t work, because it would come down and smash on top of his nose. He’d be bleeding every single game. And players on the other team would be like, ‘What the f— is with this guy?!’
“I couldn’t believe how much of a beating he took. Jim Otto just out-toughed everybody.”
The only starting center the Raiders had from 1960 through 1974, Otto would use a muscle relaxant before games so he could bend over and hike the ball. In his autobiography, “The Pain of Glory,” Otto wrote of playing through over 30 concussions and often walking off the field cross-eyed after games.
His lower right leg had to be amputated in 2007.
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He was a true legend Just shows that you don't have to be HUGE to be tough
I remember watching a game as a kid, The ball went from Stabler to a RB who flubbed it and right into OTTO's hands A catch by the center Not sure they allowed it or not, but hey, It looked good
Jim Otto was a fun player to watch When I got a new jersey last year, looking old school, I chose a Raiders OTTO jersey
In addition to his Raider legacy, he is fondly remembered as the very first in a long line of great players from The University of Miami Hurricanes. Otto played at Miami in the late 50s, back when Miami was a little backwater college known mainly as "Suntan U." It would be another 25 years before Miami hit the national stage as a football power and became known as "The U". Jim Otto, of course, is in Miami's Ring of Honor as its very first HOF inductee.
RIP to a great 'Cane and a great man.
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