5 Raiders Super Bowl memories

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of an occasional series on the history of the Raiders.

To paraphrase former team owner Al Davis, just remember, baby.

It has been 36 years since the Raiders last won the Super Bowl. But they’ve played in five and won three while adding a silver and black accent to the big game’s long and colorful history.

Here are five things worth remembering from the Raiders’ five Super Bowl appearances:

II: The Raiders lost 33-14 to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II — er, make that the second AFL-NFL World Championship game. That is what the Super Bowl officially was called until 1969 when Joe Namath’s Jets shocked the Baltimore Colts. The Super Bowl got its name for the way Sharron Hunt, daughter of the game’s founder, Lamar Hunt, pronounced the name of her “Super Ball” toy.

XI: The Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 at the Rose Bowl for their first Super Bowl title. It also was the game “Old Man Willie” Brown returned an intercepted pass 75 yards for a touchdown that was immortalized in slow motion by NFL Films.

XV: When Raiders wide receiver Cliff Branch missed the team flight to New Orleans, this is the excuse he came up with: His alarm clock malfunctioned. “What the heck’s the difference?” Davis said after the speedy Branch caught two touchdown passes from Jim Plunkett in the Raiders’ 27-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

XVIII: The Raiders’ 38-9 victory over the Washington Redskins will be remembered for two things: Marcus Allen’s 74-yard improvised cutback touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter, and the airing of a commercial for the Apple Macintosh called “1984” that established the Super Bowl as a premier marketing platform. Bring on the Bud Bowl.

XXXVII: Raiders starting center Barret Robbins, who had a history of depression and battled other mental health issues, missed a team meeting two days before the Super Bowl — thinking the game already was over, he went to Tijuana, Mexico, to party. He was incoherent upon returning to the team hotel and did not play in the biggest game of his life, which the Raiders lost 48-21 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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