Cheating Is Encouraged: A Hard-Nosed History of the 1970s Raiders

by Mike Siani, Kristine Setting Clark

Overview

Straight from the mouths of the legends of the Silver and Black, Cheating Is Encouraged recapitulates the many infamous stories from the last team to play “outlaw” football.

Regardless of whether you loved or hated them, the Oakland Raiders of the 1970s were an amusing cast of outlaws, misfits, and anomalies that made up one of the greatest pro football teams of their era. The Raiders’ roster consisted of a collection of mavericks and rebels, some with behavioral issues, such as John “Tooz” Matuszak and Lyle Alzado, as well as castoffs like the aging George Blanda and the sandlot player Otis Sistrunk, who were passed over or disregarded by other NFL teams. To say that this group of outlaws had “attitude” would be a gross understatement. They were the Oakland Raiders, the Silver and Black, and Al Davis’s dream of “Just win, baby.”

Gridiron characters (such as the Snake, Foo, the Assassin, the Hit Man, Dr. Death, and many others) chronicle the notorious on- and off-the-field exploits, away-game adventures, and the party-hard attitudes that are reflected in the team’s intimidating and glorified mix of renegades. Cheating Is Encouraged defines an era that can only be considered the last days of “real football played by real men.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683580621
Publisher:	Sports Publishing LLC
Publication date:	08/08/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	316
Sales rank:	240,759
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Mike Siani is a retired football player most famously known for being on the 1977 Oakland Raiders Super Bowl team. An All-American at Villanova, he was voted the all-time greatest athlete in the school’s history. Cheating is Encouraged is his first book, and Siani resides in Palm Springs, California.

Kristine Setting Clark was the long-time feature writer for the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys for Gameday Magazine. She has authored many books on football, including Undefeated, Untied, and Uninvited; Controlled Violence (with Sam Huff); Nothing Comes Easy (with Y. A. Tittle); and many others. She resides in Stockton, California.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

First Half: 1970-1974 1

Al Davis: The Defiant Owner 3

John Madden: The Creative Coach 23

Training Camp: A Explosive Mix of Testosterone, Alcohol and Insanity 31

Oakland Night Life: One for All and All for One 59

Rivals, Enemies, and Foes 65

Oakland Raiders Highlights, 1970-1974 95

Second Half: 1975-1980 129

A Colorful Cast of Misfits: Players, Nicknames, Superstitions, and the Two Coke Cups 131

That Incredible 1976 Season and Super Bowl XI 211

More Unforgettable Games: Sea of Hands, Ghost to the Post, and the Holy Roller 225

Oakland Raiders Highlights, 1975-1979 247

Beginning the New Decade on a High Note: Super Bowl XV 280

Oakland Raiders of the 1970s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame 299

Epilogue 300

References 302