We’re going back in the archives for this one, WAY back. Picture it. Oakland California, 1960. A thriving sports city. The NFL as we know didn’t exist. It was the NFL, and the AFL. That’s right folks, this article takes place pre league merger. We got back to a time where double zero wasn’t just for basketball players like Robert Parrish in Boston. The game as we know it wasn’t the same either. It was ruthless out there especially in the trenches. Something that the legend Jim Otto learned the hard way, but he still wouldn’t change a thing.
An OG (And I don’t mean offensive guard)
Jim Otto was an ironman at the center position for the Oakland Raiders. He got his start at the University of Miami playing both ways as a center and linebacker. The 6’2 255 Otto got zero interest from the NFL due to being what they considered undersized, so he defaulted to the Raiders after things didn’t work out with Minnesota. For 15 years he didn’t miss a snap while playing 210 consecutive games and started all of them. A true fixture on the offensive line. He played in multiple championship games but only came away with one, taking the AFL title in 1967. Otto is one of 21 players that played in the AFL for it’s entire existence.
A Real Raider
The Raiders during their glory days showed the most toughness and grit at that time. But because the game was more physical with less safeguards, the players paid the ultimate price, their bodies. Otto had to have 74 operations including 28 on his knee. Between arthritis, joint replacements, back and neck problems, and four near death experiences from procedures, he was put through the ringer in retirement. All of these issues ultimately led up to his right leg being amputated. But despite all of this post retirement pain and anguish, he would do it all again. He recently passed away in May of 2024.
In the modern sports era of entitlement, instant gratification, lucrative contracts, holding out and pouting like a spoiled child when athletes don’t get what they want, and now NIL and the transfer portal, Otto was the epitome of staying quiet, keeping his head down, and working for everything he earned. A lost art these days in sports. There were no second chances or alternative opportunities if one didn’t work out. It was all or nothing. You gave it everything you had all the time. No excuses. That doesn’t exist on a consistent basis right now. Athletes today need a stark reminder that nothing is guaranteed and if you aren’t willing to lay it all on the line for more than just yourself, then there is no point in pursuing this in the first place.