Oakland Raiders Set a Standard That the 2011 Players Ought to Exceed

Historical data tells the story of how outstanding the Oakland Raiders were when you look at certain records. A little analysis of the data points out just how outstanding some of the senior Oakland Raiders were since 1962 when Dick Dorsey caught a 90 yard pass.

Here is a chart:

Longest Passing Plays
99	Jim Plunkett to Cliff Branch	10-02-83 at Washington
94	George Blanda to Warren Wells	11-10-68 at Denver
93	Tom Flores to Dobie Craig	10-20-63 vs New York
92	Marc Wilson to Marcus Allen	10-07-84 vs Seattle
90	Cotton Davidson to Dick Dorsey	12-02-62 at San Diego

A simple analysis of the chart shows that Cliff Branch still holds the record for catching a 99 yard pass in 1983.  It was Jim Plunkett who released the projectile to Branch, a man who could catch and hold onto a ball.

Here is another data set for review:

			held record
Receiver	yds	year	diff	rank
Branch	99	83	28 yrs	1
Wells	94	68	15 yrs	2
Craig	93	63	5 yrs	3
Allen	92	84		4
Dorsey	90	62	1 yr	5

Here is a comment that is interesting to note:

In 1984 Allen exceeded Dorsey, but was below Wells, Branch and Craig.

Since numbers do tell a story, one version of the story would have to give credit to Cliff Branch and Warren Wells for holding a record in the longest passing plays category. Wells held the record for 15 years. Branch still holds the record, now approaching more than 28 years.

Dorsey held the record in this category for one year.  Craig held it for five years. Allen is in the lineup of outstanding receivers but his yardage is not the maximum. Branch has the maximum yardage and Wells follows with a 94 yard catch.

The idea back in the day was to "catch and hold" the ball. It also was a game called "catch me if you can" because the Branch and Wells  had speed.

We have waited long enough for guys like Branch and Wells to show up on the Oakland Raiders roster.

Who will be our "catch and hold" guy who says boldly, "Catch me if you can"?

He needs to come forward in 2011!