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Las Vegas, Nevada - Raiders legend Jim Otto, a Hall of Fame center who played for the team for 15 seasons from its American Football League inception through the NFL merger, has died at 86, the team said Sunday.
Hall of Fame football center Jim Otto of the Raiders has passed away at the age of 86.© Collage: IMAGO / USA TODAY Network
The Raiders, who moved from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020, hailed "The Original Raider" Otto as the "personification of consistency."
A cause of death was not immediately known.
A dominant force on the offensive line in his distinctive 00 jersey, Otto was the Raiders' starting center from their first game in the AFL.
He went on to play 308 career games and set a franchise record with 210 consecutive starts.
Otto helped lead the Raiders to seven division titles and an AFL championship in 1967. He earned nine first-team All-AFL selections over a 10-year span from 1960, with the lone outlier being a second-team selection in 1966.
The AFL and NFL merged in 1970, and Otto earned three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances from 1970-72 as well as a first-team All-Pro selection in 1970.
He retired after the 1974 season and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1980.
"Commitment to excellence, pride and poise, the greatness of our football team were not only exemplified by Jim Otto, but for more than a decade he was the standard of excellence by which centers were judged in professional football," late Raiders owner Al Davis said when Otto was enshrined in the Hall in 1980.
Oakland Raiders head coach John Rauch on the sidelines with center Jim Otto (00) in Super Bowl II against the Green Bay Packers at the Orange Bowl.© Collage: IMAGO / USA TODAY Network
Otto, who was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, told Bleacher Report in 2009 that he looked on being a football player "as being a gladiator."
He never missed a game in his career, but an array of injuries took a toll into his retirement.
Otto had more than 70 surgeries, including multiple operations on his knees. In 2007, he had his right leg amputated after enduring life-threatening infections.
He recalled in one television interview that he would "walk off the field and my eyes would be crossed."
"Did you ever have that happen to you? Get hit in the head so hard your eyes were crossed?"
But Otto retained his love for the game and his connection with the Raiders, working in the front office.
He is survived by his wife Sally, his son Jim Jr. and daughter-in-law Leah, and 14 grandchildren.
Hall of Fame football center Jim Otto of the Raiders has passed away at the age of 86.© Collage: IMAGO / USA TODAY Network
The Raiders, who moved from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020, hailed "The Original Raider" Otto as the "personification of consistency."
A cause of death was not immediately known.
A dominant force on the offensive line in his distinctive 00 jersey, Otto was the Raiders' starting center from their first game in the AFL.
He went on to play 308 career games and set a franchise record with 210 consecutive starts.
Otto helped lead the Raiders to seven division titles and an AFL championship in 1967. He earned nine first-team All-AFL selections over a 10-year span from 1960, with the lone outlier being a second-team selection in 1966.
The AFL and NFL merged in 1970, and Otto earned three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances from 1970-72 as well as a first-team All-Pro selection in 1970.
He retired after the 1974 season and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1980.
"Commitment to excellence, pride and poise, the greatness of our football team were not only exemplified by Jim Otto, but for more than a decade he was the standard of excellence by which centers were judged in professional football," late Raiders owner Al Davis said when Otto was enshrined in the Hall in 1980.
Jim Otto's self-sacrificing love for football
Oakland Raiders head coach John Rauch on the sidelines with center Jim Otto (00) in Super Bowl II against the Green Bay Packers at the Orange Bowl.© Collage: IMAGO / USA TODAY Network
Otto, who was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, told Bleacher Report in 2009 that he looked on being a football player "as being a gladiator."
He never missed a game in his career, but an array of injuries took a toll into his retirement.
Otto had more than 70 surgeries, including multiple operations on his knees. In 2007, he had his right leg amputated after enduring life-threatening infections.
He recalled in one television interview that he would "walk off the field and my eyes would be crossed."
"Did you ever have that happen to you? Get hit in the head so hard your eyes were crossed?"
But Otto retained his love for the game and his connection with the Raiders, working in the front office.
He is survived by his wife Sally, his son Jim Jr. and daughter-in-law Leah, and 14 grandchildren.
