Sixty Years Ago, the First-Year Oakland Raiders Trained in Santa Cruz

Home , Eddie Erdelatz, Jim Otto, Tom Flores

C1 SPORTS

Sunday, August 16, 2020 >> MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/SCSENTINEL AND TWITTER.COM/SCSENTINEL » santacruzsentinel.com Santa Cruz Sentinel - 08/16/2020 Page : C01 SUPRO FOOTBALL RFCITYRAIDERS

SIXTY YEARS AGO, THE FIRST-YEAR OAKLAND RAIDERS TRAINED IN SANTA CRUZ

RAIDERS ARCHIVES — ALBERT KAYO HARRIS AND ASSOCIATES PHOTOGRAPHERS The Raiders’ first day of training camp practice at Santa Cruz High in 1960, the franchise’s inaugural season in the AFL.

Raiders met for practice at Santa Cruz High “We had no Santa Cruz High. money, so we By Jim Seimas “We had a lot of guys out there,” [email protected] hung around said Pro Football Hall of Fame Six decades ago this summer a lineman Jim Otto, now 82. “… it the hotel or the group of misfits from all parts of was, to a certain degree, a rag-tag Boardwalk. the country assembled in town, bunch. But we had some pretty We’d look at the a vacation destination in North- good guys. We all helped put that pretty girls on ern California, in an attempt to team together and were kicking achieve football glory. butt.” the beach, which Some players were All-Amer- They stayed in a historic, but is what most icans who went unselected in now-defunct, middle-rate hotel guys do with no the inaugural American Football off Pacific Avenue. It was a hop, League draft earlier that year. skip and jump away from Memo- money in their Others didn’t stick in the heralded rial Field, their practice facility, pocket.” National Football League. Some which was dotted by gopher holes — Oakland Raiders were local standouts attempting and ruts. The team often prac- quarterback Tom Flores to shock the nation by shining ticed twice a day on subpar facil- RON RIESTERER — SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL during tryouts in their proverbial ities. And if they were lucky and Oakland Raiders coach Eddie Erdelatz with quarterbacks Paul backyard. And some were over- talented enough, they’d last the Larson, left, and Tom Flores at practice at a park in Oakland in MOREINSIDE coming injury, looking for a sec- duration of the six-week training 1960. ond shot to continue their dream camp — and they’d officially be- Page C6: Ohio State of again stepping foot on the field. come Oakland Raiders. players’ parents want Big These prospective profession- “Santa Cruz, 1960. That was Online: Follow the Raiders throughout the NFL season at Ten to play football this fall, als gathered at, of all places, RAIDERS >> PAGE 5 SANTACRUZSENTINEL.COM/SPORTS. News+Notes January 31, 2021 6:45 pm (GMT -8:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

MEN’S BASKETBALL Ex-Santa Cruz star Yee-Stephens extends career

the Waves, the 6-foot-2 guard man confirmed, and the former Malibu. “… I like to believe it hap- By Jim Seimas redshirted one season and has scoring machine is eager to turn pened for a reason.” [email protected] two years of eligibility remain- things around. As a college freshman in 2016- SANTA CRUZ >> Recent Pepperdine ing. Earlier in the week, he was To do that, he has to stay 17, he underwent surgery on his University graduate Kaijae Yee- accepted into NCAA Division II healthy. right ankle. Later in the year, Stephens, the leading basketball Cal State San Bernardino, where “I didn’t think this is the way he had surgery to repair an in- Yee-Stephens scorer in Santa Cruz High history, plans to get a master’s degree in my career would’ve panned out jured left labrum. And in the be- had a forgettable college career. cyber security. to this point,” said Yee-Stephens, ginning of his sophomore year, Inside: Justin Sanders The first half, anyway. Yee-Stephens has a spot wait- who scored a record 2,066 points he had his left knee scoped, but wins sprint car main After undergoing four surger- ing for him on the basketball in his four-year Cardinals career, the procedure wasn’t successful. event at Ocean Speedway, ies over a three-year span with team, Coyotes coach Andy New- but only 29 over the past four in STAR >> PAGE 2 PAGE C2. Santa Cruz Sentinel - 08/16/2020 Page : C05 SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2020 SANTACRUZSENTINEL.COM | SPORTS C | 5

RON RIESTERER — SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL The Oakland Raiders offense lines up at a park in Oakland in 1960.

for camp. Erdelatz and his Raiders staff had to make a series of cuts, which included get- FROM PAGE 1 ting to 43 players by Aug. 23 and down to 33 by Sept. a long time ago. I’m pretty 6 — five days ahead of the sure the statute of limita- team’s season opener. tions has expired, so I can Santa Cruz High wasn’t talk to you,” said 83-year- the perfect venue for camp, old Tom Flores, a stand- but it was hard to beat the out quarterback at Sanger weather and the scenery. High and College of the Pa- Now the Las Vegas Raid- cific. He became the Raid- ers, the team is preparing to ers’ first starting signal- play its inaugural season in caller and, decades later, Sin City. their Super Bowl-winning Flores and his wife, Bar- head coach. bara, visited the Raiders’ That’s right, today’s new $75 million training Raiders, beloved by many facility in Henderson, Ne- and hated by many more, vada, last month. It wasn’t got their start in this surf- a high school field pocked ing community and did so with gopher holes. with minimal fanfare. “Oh man, their workout The Santa Cruz Sentinel facility is friggin’ breath- reported on June 26, 1960 taking,” he said. the Raiders would hold training camp in town. But Judging the talent the front page of the paper The roster was reduced was dominated by coverage to 69 players after three of Miss San Diego Suzanne days of practice, Sentinel Reamo claiming the title of sports editor Mel Bowen Miss California at the Civic reported. Fourteen were RON RIESTERER — SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL Auditorium. News of the cut and three left camp. The Oakland Raiders defense lines up at a park in Oakland in 1960. White House administra- Six others were injured, in- tion being accused of blun- cluding Santa Cruz’s Fred ders in the handling of the Fehn, a 256-pound tackle Jose State linebacker Tom worst way,” he said. “So I Erdelatz, fearing for his And intense. U2 spy plane incident and who pulled a leg muscle on Louderback and 33-year-old didn’t go out and do what a player’s safety, shot down “They had a lot of scuf- Santa Cruz’s dog ordinance the first running exercise of cornerback Eddie Macon, lot of the others did.” the suggestion. fles at practice that had controversy also made the camp. Among the more hu- who finished with nine in- Otto did have one late “You should use some of to be separated,” Ross re- cover. morous of injuries: Charlie terceptions. night tradition: He bought the guys we sent home for called. “They kept having The Raiders were buried Powell, an ex-49er and ex- Little did they know, but a large sandwich from a that,” Erdelatz told the Sen- new people come to the fa- in the middle of the paper, pro boxer, pulled a tendon two players were at the out- nearby vendor. He wanted tinel. cility. I attribute their suc- on page 14. posing for photographers set of long storied careers to make sure he didn’t lose Several testosterone- cess to Flores, the quarter- Santa Cruz was as much on Day 1. with the franchise: Flores weight after all of the phys- driven players joked about back. He was a steady guy. an unknown to the play- “If this keeps up, we’ll and Otto. ically demanding practices. wanting a one-on-one wres- Not great, steady.” ers as they were to its res- be eating out of a phone Residents from Otto’s tling match with a tiger. When the team left town idents. booth,” Erdelatz told Around town hometown wanted him to What the photographer after six weeks, the locker “I was a young guy, fresh Bowen two days after camp For whatever the reason, make the pros, too. But they did get was Louderback and room was a sea of discarded out of college,” said Otto, a started. Flores said Erdelatz didn’t wanted him on the home- ex-University of Richmond Raiders’ gear. center who hailed from Wis- He added: “We’ve got a believe in long practices. town Packers. defensive end Carmen Ca- “I got a nice pair of shoes consin and shined at Uni- good group. There’s been The team held two-a-days He said he told them, “If valli playfully trying to out of the deal,” Pillsbury versity of Miami. “Where is no bed check and I haven’t for much of camp, but there I’m going to play for the tackle an elephant named said of his new size 9 cleats. Santa Cruz? That’s the first even seen one of them was still plenty of time to Packers, I gotta play some Opel on a staged fumble. The Raiders finished thing you think.” smoking.” enjoy the area. place first. So leave me There was always some- their inaugural season with Said Flores: “I don’t re- Erdelatz was big on car- Flores said he made alone to kick some butt.” thing to do in Santa Cruz. a 6-8 record. They were out- member many fans. No- dio and drills, not on full- $50 per preseason game. Temptation was in the On Aug. 1, a day after the scored 388-319. Defense body knew who we were, contact scrimmages for “Thirty-seven dollars players’ faces. The Laurel Raiders returned from their was their weakness — they nor did we care. We’d tell much of the first month. cleared,” he said after tak- Inn, a watering hole, was 20-13 exhibition loss to Dal- lost by 14 or more points in them, ‘Do you know where He wanted to make sure ing advantage of a local located on Laurel Street las in front of 12,000 fans seven of their losses. Oakland is? … OK, do you the players knew the plays. check-cashing outfit. He across from Santa Cruz’s at Kezar, more than a dozen “We competed because know where San Francisco The cream started to rise was paid $350 per game in football field. players went deep-sea fish- we were in great condi- is? Well, we’re right across to the top. the regular season. “That’s where the play- ing and caught more than tion,” Flores said. “We’d the bridge.'” Flores stood out with his “We had no money, so we ers spent most of their eve- 400 pounds of rockfish. outrun teams in the fourth consistent play to emerge hung around the hotel or nings,” said Tex Ronning, Webb, a backup quarter- quarter.” Behind the scenes from the pack — a very the Boardwalk,” Flores said. 84, Santa Cruz’s lightweight back, caught three yellow- There are a handful of Santa Cruz’s Chamber large pack. “We’d look at the pretty — roughly the equivalent of tail cod on one line. players and fans who re- of Commerce’s sports com- “We had eleven quarter- girls on the beach, which is JV — football coach at the The Raiders stole head- member the first time the mittee, under the direction backs the first day of camp,” what most guys do with no time. line after headline on the Raiders came to town. (The of Eli Bariteau, wooed the Flores said. “You couldn’t money in their pocket.” Ronning said he never Sentinel’s sports page, al- team returned to Santa Raiders to town. get them all in the same Flores said the players went in to verify. He heard ways buried mid-paper Cruz in ’61 and ’62 before Raiders head coach Ed- picture.” had a curfew, but Erdelatz it from others. “They were though. moving their training camp die Erdelatz, a former Saint A photo published in and his assistants never the talk of the town,” he “You had a professional to Santa Rosa.) Mary’s end who coached the Sentinel on July 12 performed bed checks. That said of the Raiders. “And it team practicing down the “I’d guess that there’s Navy from 1950-’58, felt shows eight quarterbacks left an opportunity to sneak was a popular place for ev- street,” Ross said. “It was probably 10 of us still alive,” Santa Cruz’s moderate crammed into the frame. out at night, but players eryone.” fun. It was entertainment.” Flores said of his ‘60 team- coastal climate would be Erdelatz held his first had to be willing to pay the Stan Pillsbury, a three- mates. most conducive to maxi- scrimmage 11 days after price if they were caught — sport athlete who gradu- Remember when Up until four years ago, mize conditioning. That be- camp started, with the ros- their job. ated from Santa Cruz in ’63 Pillsbury was one of the Otto returned to Santa lief helped Santa Cruz win ter already trimmed to 53 “Rules were still rules,” and lived a block away from lucky few to witness prac- Cruz to cut down Christ- the bid over Santa Rosa, players. Flores said. “He gave you a Laurel Inn, said a large con- tice regularly. Nearly all of mas trees and gift them to Moraga, and Calistoga as Only three quarterbacks lot of leeway, so it was up tingent of employees were the practices were closed the less fortunate. training camp options. were left at camp by the end to you.” bussed up to Davenport to the public. Still, a hand- He has endured 74 sur- Flores, having under- of July: Flores, 1959 Green Otto wasn’t interested in Cement Plant each day for ful of curious fans slipped geries for his football inju- gone shoulder surgery fol- Bay Packers draft pick Rob- putting his dream in jeop- work. They ended each shift into the bleachers attached ries, including the amputa- lowing failed attempts in ert Webb of St. Ambrose ardy by going out drinking. at the Inn. to Turner Gymnasium each tion of his right leg a year the NFL and CFL, was pre- College, and Paul Larson, Well, not hard stuff anyway. “It was a pretty tough day. Others peeked through ago. His left leg is weak- paring to attend graduate a former All-American out “No alcohol, just beer,” place,” Pillsbury said. holes in the fence off Myr- ened, leaving him to use a school at College of Pacific of Cal. Otto said. (And that makes The Raiders had a news tle Street. wheelchair. And he has no in Stockton when he got the Salinas High alum Tony sense if you consider he hole reserved for them A high school sopho- regrets. call to try out. He turned Teresa, an ex-Hartnell Ju- hails from Wausau, Wis- in the Santa Cruz Senti- more at the time, Pillsbury “I worked hard and I down a teaching job to take nior College and San Jose consin.) “We had to be care- nel sports section every was on the field so often he won my opportunity to part in this historic oppor- State quarterback who ful where we were. I didn’t day during camp, but they called himself an unofficial play football,” said Otto, a tunity. He showed up to the played for the BC Lions of want to be the first one ac- weren’t the only circus in ball boy. The team gifted 14-year center for the Raid- team residence at Hotel the CFL in 1956-57, was cused of having a soda.” town. him a football, bearing the ers who was selected to the Palomar — the area’s first moved to running back. For Otto, there was an- They were temporarily imprinted name of AFL Pro Football Hall of Fame in building taller than three He continued to shine at other repercussion if he moved to the girls athletic commissioner Joe Foss, but his first year of eligibility in stories — and found him- his new position and made lost his job, which paid him field on campus — a few it was later destroyed in a 1980. “I’m so grateful I had self in a sea of mostly un- it his to lose a week ahead $8,000 for the season, plus hundred feet closer to the flag football game. the opportunity.” familiar faces. of the Raiders’ preseason a $1,000 bonus. Laurel Inn — when the Po- “The NFL was all new Flores is equally grate- “Some were just out of opener against the Hank “‘If you don’t drink, lack Brothers Circus set up to me,” Pillsbury said. “I ful. Perhaps, a Hall of college, some were out of Stram-coached Dallas Tex- you’re not going to get in shop at Memorial Field in wanted to see the size Fame berth awaits him the NFL and some were ans at Kezar Stadium. trouble,'” said Otto, quoting late July. of the guys, the contact someday. He coached the out of Canada,” Flores said. While the Raiders faced advice from his 140-pound “The circus came in on thing. We didn’t have Pop Raiders to wins in Super “There were football play- deadlines to reduce their father, Lorenz, “‘If you get the train at 3-4-5 a.m.,” said Warner back then or Ca- Bowl XV and XVIII. Ei- ers of all ages. The love of roster, they also offered try- in trouble, I’m going to kick Angelo Ross, 80, a ’58 Santa brillo College. Compared ther way, it all started in football, we all had that in outs to players who were your (butt).'” Cruz alum and longtime as- to high school it was dif- Santa Cruz. common.” being waived by other pro Otto said he respected sistant football coach in the ferent.” “I’ll always have a soft On July 11, the Raiders teams. his father too much to test area. “My parents would The players weren’t huge spot in my heart for Santa showed up to Santa Cruz Teresa went on to lead the water. Plus, he wanted take us out to watch them — not by today’s standards Cruz,” he said. “That’s for their first practice. Me- the team in rushing in 1960, to become a professional unload the animals.” — but they played hard, fast where the egg was planted.” dia Day. his only year in the league. football player more than A photographer wanted and with power. Eighty-six players signed The Raiders’ spotty de- anything. to set up a photo with “They were pretty good,” Contact reporter Jim contracts and showed up fense was led by former San “I wanted to do it in the a player and tiger, but Pillsbury said. Seimas at 831-706-3256.