10 greatest Oakland Raiders of all time

4. Howie Long, DE

When you think of Villanova University, basketball and fabled coach Rollie Massimino come to mind. It’s not been known as a football factory but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t produced a star player along the way. Case in point is Raiders’ defensive end Howie Long, a second-round pick by the organization in 1981 and a performer who epitomized the spirit of the organization.

He played in all 16 games as a rookie, one year before the NFL recognized individual sacks, but was credited with 7.5 QB traps that year. He would record 5.5 sacks in the league’s strike-shortened nine-game season in 1982. He would officially finish with 84 sacks (91.5 if you include the aforementioned 1981 campaign) and 10 fumble recoveries in 13 seasons with the Silver and Black. The Raiders made seven playoff appearances during his tenure with the club and he totaled four sacks in 12 playoff contests.

Long would wind up being named to a total of eight Pro Bowls and earned All-Pro honors twice. He was also part of the Raiders’ last Super Bowl championship team in 1983 when Tom Flores’ squad humbled the Redskins, 38-9, in Tampa. He would be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, in 2000.