Las Vegas Raiders are a professional football team that plays in the National Football League (NFL). The team competes in the West Division of the American Football Conference. The Raiders play their home games at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
The Raiders began play in Oakland, California, in 1960 as an original member of the American Football league (AFL). The team has been identified for most of its history with Al Davis. Davis coached the team from 1963 to 1965. In 1965, he became the team’s owner, a position he held until his death in 2011. The Oakland Raiders entered the National Football League when the AFL and NFL merged in 1970.
The Raiders were one of the dominant teams in the NFL from 1965 to 1985. During that time, the team went to the playoffs 15 times and had only one losing season. The Raiders were coached from 1969 to 1978 by John Madden, the most successful head coach in the team’s history. They won Super Bowl XI (played in 1977), Super Bowl XV (played in 1981), and Super Bowl XVIII (played in 1984). The Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles for the 1982 season and played there until moving back to Oakland in 1995.
The Raiders went to the playoffs three times during the early 1990’s. The team was coached during this time by Art Shell, a former Raider Pro Bowl offensive tackle who became the first African American in modern NFL history to serve as a head coach. In 2003, the Raiders played in Super Bowl XXXVII, but lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since that game, the team has made the playoffs only twice. In 2017, the NFL approved a move by the Raiders to Las Vegas, Nevada. The team continued playing in Oakland while a new stadium was built in Las Vegas. The Raiders moved to Las Vegas in 2020.
Raiders legends have included running back Marcus Allen (1982-1992), wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff (1965-1978), wide receiver Cliff Branch (1972-1985), wide receiver and punt returner Tim Brown (1988-2003), defensive end Howie Long (1981-1993), center Jim Otto (1960-1974), quarterback Ken Stabler (1970-1979), guard Gene Upshaw (1967-1981), and defensive back Charles Woodson (1998-2005 and 2013-2015). Recent stars have included quarterback Derrick Carr, running back Josh Jacobs, and kicker Sebastian Janikowski.
