Last year, the Pro Football Hall of Fame finally opened their doors to the greatest quarterback in the history of the Oakland Raiders, Kenny Stabler. Maybe it was because Stabler wasn’t very friendly towards the media, but he wasn’t allowed into Canton, Ohio until he passed away. Now that he’s finally been enshrined forever, which Oakland Raider quarterback is next? After all, this franchise practically invented the deep ball.
Oakland Raiders Quarterbacks and the Hall of Fame
Daryle Lamonica
The “Mad Bomber”, Daryle Lamonica was the first great Raider quarterback. Lamonica was the most dominant quarterback in the now-defunct AFL, and it’s not even close. Lamonica won the AFL’s MVP award twice, and in an era where the passing game was in it’s infancy, Lamonica had two seasons with at least 30 touchdowns. That’s not a typo, he threw for at least 30 touchdowns in only 14 games twice.
However, you might be surprised to find that Lamonica is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It’s actually inexplicable. He won three AFL Championships, was a three time All-AFL/C player, and a two time Pro Bowler. He was the starting quarterback during the infamous “Heidi” game, and during Oakland’s first Super Bowl appearance, a loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Critics will say that his career totals are lacking. He was in the league for 12 years, but he only started for six seasons, and he was only really elite for four seasons. This argument has kept Lamonica out of the Hall of Fame. But… that’s not really fair.
Lamonica was tossing bombs around the same time that Joe Namath was, and the statistics aren’t so different. The biggest difference is that Namath has 8,509 more yards and nine more touchdowns. However, Namath also had 82 more interceptions. The reality is that Namath threw 1,161 more passes than Lamonica did, so of course his career totals will be better.
In all reality, it’s a bit crazy that Lamonica’s touchdown totals are as close as they are. Namath had over 1,000 more opportunities, but only scored on nine of them. The Mad Bomber was one of the innovators of the passing game, and if Namath is in the hall, Lamonica should be too.
Jim Plunkett
Now that Stabler is in the hall, the biggest Canton question mark belongs to Jim Plunkett. The former Heisman Trophy winner won two Super Bowls as the starting quarterback of the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, and yet, he’s not in the Hall of Fame.
Why Should He Be?
He won two championships for the team. In NFL history, Plunkett is the only quarterback to win two Super Bowls without being inducted into the hall of fame. Weirdly enough, he was considered a draft bust until he arrived in Oakland in 1979.
The next season, he became their starting quarterback and led the team to a win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV. The Raiders won 27-10 and Plunkett was named Super Bowl MVP.
Despite that, Plunkett was still later benched for the young Marc Wilson, who the Raiders believed was the future of the franchise. However, in 1983, the Raiders turned to Plunkett yet again, and he helped the Raiders win their third and most recent Super Bowl.
Despite what more passionate fans will say, Plunkett doesn’t really belong in the Hall of Fame. even though he was a vital part of two championship teams, his individual achievements don’t stand out.
Why He Shouldn’t Be
The best season of his career came in 1983 when he threw for career highs in passing yards (2,935) and touchdowns (20). That’s right, in what was easily the best year of his career, he was 13th in passing yards and touchdowns. An average season for Plunkett? 1,725 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Plunkett won championships, but if we’re being honest, so did Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer.
The Raider Nation is very passionate, and sometimes that gets the best of them. While Plunkett was a great underdog that helped lead the team to the promised land, let’s not pretend those Raider teams weren’t loaded on both sides of the ball. Plunkett’s numbers simply aren’t good enough to be considered.
Rich Gannon
It doesn’t seem like it, but there was a great quarterback in Oakland this millennium. How great? He won the MVP and got the Raiders to the Super Bowl. Of course, that quarterback’s name was Rich Gannon. Gannon played for the Raiders from 1999 until his career ended in 2004.
Over that span, Gannon won 62 games, including four playoff games, and one AFC Championship. He led the Raiders to three straight AFC West championships. As a member of Jon Gruden‘s high-flying west coast offense with the likes of Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. Gannon retired 12 years ago, so when will Canton come calling?
Unfortunately, likely never. The reality is that Gannon’s numbers weren’t all that fantastic. Gannon played in the NFL for 11 years before he came to Oakland, and his totals weren’t inspiring. Even when teams let him play, he never threw for 3,000 yards or 20 touchdowns in a season. With the Raiders, he accomplished both in each of his first four seasons with the team, peaking in 2002, when he threw for a career high 4,689 yards.
Injuries ended Gannon’s career in Oakland, but at 39 years old, it’s not like he left a ton of playing time on the table. In 17 years, he was able to compile some decent accumulation stats, but nothing fantastic. Unfortunately, Gannon was never really the best quarterback in the league, so he probably doesn’t belong in the hall of fame.
Derek Carr
Is it too soon to talk about Derek Carr being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Absolutely. Are we going to talk about it anyway? You bet. The young passer out of Fresno State is well on his way to becoming the next big thing at quarterback.
In only 41 games, Carr has already thrown for 9,762 yards and 70 touchdowns. That’s good enough for ninth and fifth in Raiders history after only two and a half seasons. Stabler wore silver and black for 130 games. If Carr plays as long as Stabler did, he’ll amass 30,952 yards, 222 touchdowns, and only 89 interceptions. The first two would obliterate the previous records, while throwing almost half as many interceptions as Stabler and Lamonica did.
Obviously this is all hypothetical and ridiculously premature. Carr could surpass or fall way below these expectations. However, with a stud offensive line and a couple of great weapons in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree, anything is possible. Don’t be surprised if Derek Carr ends up in Canton in about 20 years.
