JFK Raiders photo becomes collector’s item

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series acquainting fans with the Raiders’ illustrious 60-year history as the team moves to Las Vegas for the 2020 season.

There’s a well documented story about Vince Lombardi calling President John F. Kennedy, and JFK making a follow-up call that released Packers star Paul Hornung from active military duty so he could play in the 1961 NFL championship game against the New York Giants.

Green Bay won 37-0. Many football fans have surmised that JFK must have been a Packers fan.

But could it be that the Raiders and not the Boston Patriots were his AFL team of choice?

An old photo showing the 35th chief executive holding a Raiders cap and smiling gives credence to the notion he might have been a fan of the Silver & Black — or at least was quick to recognize a photo op when one was presented.

Five things about JFK and that Raiders’ cap:

1. The photo is on display at Ricky’s Sports Theatre & Grill in San Leandro, California, where menu items include Ray Chester’s Grilled Crab Sandwich, Jim Plunkett’s Deluxe BLT, Otis Sistrunk’s Fish and Chips, Phil Villapiano’s Spaghetti Bowl and Just Win Baby Fettuccine.

2. The mystery about where the picture was taken has been put to rest by Mike Doyle, a former Danville, California, town councillor. A photo on Doyle’s Facebook page shows him presenting the cap to JFK during a 1960 campaign stop in Oakland. Other versions of the photo have been cropped, showing only the president holding the cap.

3. Did JFK try on the Raiders’ cap? “I asked him if he would put the hat on and he said he would be run out of New England,” Doyle wrote on Facebook. On the fateful day of Nov. 22, 1963, the president was presented with a Stetson during a public breakfast in Fort Worth, Texas. The crowd urged him to try on the hat. “I’ll put it on in the White House on Monday,” Kennedy demurred.

4. The Raiders were practicing when they learned of the assassination from a visibly shaken Al Davis, their first-year coach. “It was so raw when he gathered us and told us what happened,” quarterback Tom Flores told former Review-Journal sportswriter Paul Gutierrez for his book “100 Things Raiders Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.”

5. While the NFL played on in the aftermath — Commissioner Pete Rozelle called it one of the worst decisions of his career — the Raiders’ game against Denver was postponed to the following Thursday. The Raiders won 26-10, part of their eight-game winning streak to end the 1963 season.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.