John Rauch: Rest in Peace

For those of you who only started following the last five years of the NFL, go ahead and check out other stories. However, if you want to know who John Rauch is, take a seat, and class will begin shortly.

John Rauch was the first coach to lead Oakland to a Super Bowl. Granted, we lost to a team stacked with Hall of Famers, but John was given a club that would be one of the best in the AFL at the time.

In his short stint in Oakland, he lost only eight games. He had 13-1 and 12-2 seasons in his last two years.

After his tenure in Oakland, Buffalo came along, which hoped to capture his skills...Alas, it was not to be, as he put a 4-10 record in his first year, and a 3-10-1 in his second, which made him leave the NFL coaching circuit.

However, if all you could say about Mr.Rauch was this, you'd be missing a major aspect of the story.

As a player starting out, he wasn't too bright. At the age of 14, doctors told him he had a heart murmur. However, he decided to keep playing football. As his skills started adding up, he actually played three different sports in high school. Then in college, at Georgia, he secured the QB spot as a freshman.

Four Bowl Games later, the NFL came calling him.

However, as things sometimes happen, Rauch wasn't meant to have an easy time in the NFL.

Drafted by the Lions as the No. 2 pick overall, he was traded to the New York Bulldogs for the rights to Doak Walker, another player just coming out of college.

Rauch also played on both sides of the ball, both throwing TDs, and picking off passes. He was quite the nimble person. However, by 1952, he was on to coaching.

Ironically, as a coach for Army, he'd also meet up with one Al Davis. Ten years later, Al would call him up and ask him to take the reins of a club that was on the rise.

All in all, though, it can be noted that his college numbers had him in places like the University of Florida, Tulane, and finally back to Georgia. His coaching career had its high point in 1967 when he was named Coach of the Year while with the Oakland Raiders.

A couple of years later, he'd also gain notoriety for getting to select O.J. Simpson, and proceeding to use him as a blocking back, instead of a pure running back.

After a short-lived feud with ownership, Rauch left this post, and started the slow drift through clubs as a lower-ranked coach. Some of these spots, like the one for the Eagles, or as a scout for the Packers, didn't carry the limelight as previous jobs.

But in a way, I think it was a better time. His last two stints had him in Atlanta, and finally on to Tampa Bay, where he conflicted with one John McKay.

Probably the last footnote to his career came in 2003, when he was honored to the College Hall of Fame for a stellar career.

Rest in peace, John. Thanks for the three terrific seasons and the foundation for a storied franchise.