Longtime Raiders center and Hall of Famer Jim Otto died Sunday, the team announced.
He was 86 years old.
Otto, who was one of the last players in the league to wear the No. 00 jersey, spent 15 years as a center for the Raiders in the 1960s and 1970s. The team described him as “the Original Raider.”
“’00’ was the cornerstone of a transcendent offensive line that not only propelled the Raiders to success on the field, but resonated with fans and helped build the Raiders’ personality and mystique,” the team said in a statement, on part.
Otto spent his entire career with the Raiders, who selected him in the new AFL Draft in 1960, in their first year of existence. He played non-stop for the Raiders throughout his career and was one of three players who played in all 140 possible AFL regular season games before the league folded and merged with the NFL. He did not miss a single game in his 15 seasons in the league and played in an incredible 210 consecutive games before retiring after the 1974 season. Otto won the AFL title in 1967 and played in six AFL or AFC title games with the team.
“I often consider being a football player to be a gladiator,” Otto told Bleacher Report in 2009, . “There’s something inside you that says, ‘I want to go out there and prove myself.’ Most of the time you will get hurt. This is the life you choose. Some people need a challenge in life and playing hockey or football was the way I could prove it.
After retiring, Otto spent time working in the Raiders’ front office and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, the first year he was eligible. He also had several health problems following his playing career. He had to undergo more than 70 surgeries, according to ESPN, and had his right leg amputated in 2007.
Otto, who was from Wausau, Wisconsin, was a two-way player in college at Miami, where he played center and linebacker.
