NFL – Overview of Oakland Raiders franchise, highs and lows.

Every sports team has a history rich in tradition and culture.  A lot of it depends on the cities that they are located in, the names of the teams, and the players that are recruited.  Bringing all of these variables together is what makes watching pro sports so exciting. 

When it comes to the National Football League, everyone has heard of the Oakland Raiders.  They are based out of Oakland, California and are a professional football team here in America.  They play in the Western Division and they are a part of the AFC (American Football Conference).

The Raiders have a rich history that began back in 1960 when the team was first formed.  They were actually the 8th charter member of the AFL and they won three different division titles as well as a single championship.  A decade later the team would join the NFL during the time of the AFL-NFL merger that went on in 1970. 

Oakland has had a lot of success since joining the National Football League and it can be proven by their three Super Bowl wins along with their 12 division titles that they have won.  On top of that, they have a variety of different players that have all excelled and been inducted into the Hall of Fame for Pro Football.

The Raiders haven't always been so successful however.  When the team was first created they actually struggled pretty bad for the first three years.  After three years of losing seasons the Raiders brought on Al Davis as head coach in 1963.  This was a turning point in the franchise as Al Davis brought with him a desire to win as well as a sound strategy of hard work and confidence.  He coined many of the most popular phrases in sports history such as "Commitment to Excellence" and has been with the team through thick and thin.  There were a few legal battles with Davis but eventually he moved the team to Los Angeles in 1982. 

The eighties proved to be a mixed decade for the Raiders as they won their third of three Super Bowls but only managed to make it to the playoffs two other times during that ten year period.  The team went through some major changes in 1995 when they hired Jon Gruden on as head coach and moved the team back to Oakland.  Gruden would help the team to a stunning in season in 2000 when they would go 12-4 and win the division title.