Oakland Raiders Shined: NFL Year by Year Touchdowns Leaders

Recently, I was reminded of three characteristics of the drive that writers have: ethos, pathos, and logos. I immediately connected these ideas with the "drives" that I believe the Oakland Raiders need to more fully develop.

I admit that each of these drives overtakes me when I get my shovel and dig through the NFL data focusing on the Oakland Raiders.

I believe in a historical continuum. What existed in the past can serve as a foundation for the future. A knowledge of the history of a team can ignite, I believe, the ethos, pathos and logos of current players. We just have to pound these facts into the heads of those who have physicality, but need to have a love and passion for winning.

On Feb. 10, I discovered a list of NFL players who are recognized as "NFL Year by Year Touchdowns Leaders."

Two men stood out who were Oakland Raiders. Their performance on the playing field made the Oakland Raiders shine in the historical data. These men accomplished a unique historical fact not once, but twice in their career with the Oakland Raiders.

Let's first honor Art Powell who had 16 touchdowns in 1963. Powell was the first Oakland Raider to distinguish the team with the honor of being a touchdown leader. He scored his 16 touchdowns during a 14 game season.

In 1968, Warren Wells was recognized for 12 touchdowns. Wells is listed twice in the archives because he managed to get 14 touchdowns in a 14 game season in 1969. He was the first player on the Oakland Raiders team to get this recognition twice.

Marcus Allen was a type of "double dipper," too. Allen made 14 touchdowns in 1982; he exceeded Wells and himself by getting 18 touchdowns in a 16 game season in 1984.

Allen helped Oakland shine during 16 game seasons, while Wells achieved his goal twice during 14 game seasons.

If the rate for each of these outstanding players means anything, here is a computation. Take the total number of touchdowns for a given year and divide it by the length of the season.

In 1969, Wells would have had a rate of 14/14, which is 100 percent. We could conjecture that if Wells got his hands on the ball, he would have a high probability of getting a touchdown. There are historical comments by George Blanda and John Madden suggesting that very fact.

The second time Wells made the list of touchdown leaders, his rate is computed to be 12/14 which is 85.7 percent accuracy or proficiency.

In 1982 when the season had 16 games, Allen's rate was 14/16 which is 87.5 percent accuracy or proficiency.

Again, in 1984 Allen's rate was above average. He had 18 touchdowns in a 16-game season. This gives us 18/16 which is 112.5 percent. Using this parameter, Allen's performance was outstanding.

There are only five times that an Oakland Raiders player is listed in this category.

The Raider Nation should treasure the history of their team. The current Oakland Raiders should be inspired to reach for the stars, although it seems the stars have grown dim in the minds of many fans.

Yes, the Oakland Raiders shined. Once more, we expect the current team to shine again.

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