Post by TheShadow on Apr 2, 2006 8:47:47 GMT -5
sfgate.com/
Quarterback guided Raiders' long-ball attack
Glenn Dickey, Chronicle Staff Writer
Nobody symbolized the Raiders' rise to glory in the 1960s more than
quarterback Daryle Lamonica, a.k.a. "The Mad Bomber," a nickname given him
by Howard Cosell for his long touchdown passes.
"Al Davis taught us that the offense could dictate to the defense by
formation," said Lamonica, who came to the Raiders from the Buffalo Bills
for Tom Flores and Art Powell before the 1967 season. "We'd be able to get
receivers in one-on-one situations, and we took advantage of that."
Davis' offense, first developed by San Diego Chargers coach Sid Gillman,
used running backs and tight ends extensively. Fullback Hewritt Dixon caught
59 passes in 1967, and tight end Billy Cannon led the team with 10 touchdown
passes.
Davis wanted his team to look for the deep pass first, and Lamonica was the
perfect quarterback for that system. In his Raiders career from 1967 to
1974, Lamonica had the team's two highest season touchdown-pass marks, 34 in
1969 and 30 in 1967, and had 148 career touchdown passes as a Raider, second
only to Ken Stabler's 150.
Lamonica leads a much quieter life now in retirement in Fresno, where he was
born and raised. "When I was growing up," he said, "we grew apples and
grapes, so my dad taught me what it was to work from dawn to sunset."
The high school Lamonica attended, Clovis High, named its football field
after him in 1976. "That's one of the highest honors I've ever had," he
said.
He worked for the Raiders in the effort to sell luxury suites when they
returned to Oakland in 1995, but has no official connection with them now.
"I still come to games, though," he said. "I've seen three games this season
and I'll come up for another one, too."
Lamonica and his wife, Mary, have been married since 1970 and they have one
son, Brandon, who was born in 1977. "We moved back here because I wanted
Brandon to go to school in the Clovis school district."
Brandon since has graduated from Fresno State, which he attended on a golf
scholarship, and is working in real-estate development in Fresno.
The area has grown enormously since Lamonica was a child. At the time he
went to high school, Fresno and Clovis were separate communities. Now, it's
just one urban sprawl. "Clovis only had 6,000 residents when I went to
school there," he said.
Even though the area is much larger, it still suits Lamonica. "I'm just a
country boy at heart," he said. Fishing and hunting are his passions. He
recently spent a day fishing at Bass Lake and got up at 3:30 the next
morning to go duck hunting.
He watches his old team on television and, though he isn't happy about the
results this year, he likes the young receivers and the return of the
"vertical offense," which was a staple for the Raiders during his career.
In Lamonica's first season, the Raiders went 13-1 during the regular season
and played in the Super Bowl, losing to the Green Bay Packers 33-14.
"We were just a little too young at that point," Lamonica said. "I've always
regretted that we didn't get back there again because I think we could have
won it."
That started a period of frustration for the Raiders, though, as they lost
in the AFL/AFC Championship Game the next three years, and each time the
team that beat them won the Super Bowl.
The most frustrating were the first two losses, to the New York Jets and the
Kansas City Chiefs.
The game against the Jets was played in bitter cold ("The wind chill factor
was a minus-25 degrees," Lamonica said) with swirling winds in Shea Stadium.
Yet, Lamonica threw for 401 yards.
It was a pass that went awry that everybody remembers, though. Trailing
27-23, the Raiders had a first down on the New York 12. Lamonica threw a
swing pass to running back Charlie Smith, but it went behind Smith, so it
was a lateral. Smith didn't realize that, but Jets linebacker Ralph Baker
did. He recovered the ball on the 30. That, essentially, was the game. "The
call was fine," Lamonica said, "but the execution wasn't."
The next season, the Raiders beat Kansas City twice during the regular
season. The AFL playoffs that year matched each of the two division champs
against the second-place team in the other division. The Raiders beat the
Houston Oilers 56-7 with Lamonica throwing six touchdown passes, and the
Chiefs beat the Jets, so the Raiders and Chiefs met a third time in Oakland.
With the score tied 7-7, Lamonica bruised his hand on the helmet of Chiefs
defensive end Aaron Brown. Lamonica hardly could grip the ball after that.
K.C. won 17-7.
So the memories are not all pleasant, but one remains constant for Lamonica:
the Raiders' fans. "We did it for them," he said. "They were the best fans
in the country."
