The Las Vegas Raiders have been a laughingstock for the past two decades, and it is therefore easy to forget that they were once one of the NFL’s more iconic franchises.
Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, the team, which was then based in Oakland, Calif., won a couple of Super Bowl championships, and it did so with the help of a strong offensive line that included tackle John Vella.
Vella has reportedly passed away, and the Raiders organization issued a statement.
pic.twitter.com/Uxiq3foKOl
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) April 2, 2025
Vella was drafted by the Raiders in the second round of the 1972 NFL Draft out of the University of Southern California, where he played both football and baseball and was even a member of the 1970 Trojans team that won the College World Series.
When he came to Oakland, they had already been a fairly competitive team under head coach John Madden, and they would continue to be competitive, as they reached the AFC Championship Game in 1973, 1974 and 1975.
They lost there on each of those three occasions before they finally went all the way in 1976 after posting a 13-1 regular season record.
But afterward, injuries slowed him down, and he left to play for the Minnesota Vikings in the 1980 season, the same season the Raiders won their second Vince Lombardi Trophy.
After retiring following the 1980 campaign, Vella started a Raiders merch store in Alameda County in 1987, at a time when the franchise had entrenched itself in Los Angeles following its move there in 1982.
It took a while, but the business started to take off once the Raiders returned to Oakland in the mid-1990s.
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