Jim Otto
Encyclopedia
James Edwin Otto is a former Professional Football
center for the Oakland Raiders
of the American Football League
.
, under coach Win Brockmeyer
. He then went on to play collegiate football at the University of Miami
. In addition to playing offensive center at UM, he also played linebacker
on defense.
team showed interest in the undersized center, Otto signed with the Oakland Raiders
of the new American Football League. He was issued jersey number 50 for the AFL's inaugural season, 1960, but switched to his familiar 00 the next season. The AFL permitted the unusual number because it was a pun on Otto's name (aught-oh). Otto worked diligently to build his body up to his playing weight of 250 pounds.
For the next fifteen years, Otto became a fixture at center for the Raiders, never missing a single game due to injury. Including pre-season, regular season and post-season games, Otto competed in 308 consecutive games. With the Raiders, he won 1 AFL/AFC championship in 1967 against the Houston Oilers, but lost 5: in 1968, 1969, and 1970, 1973, and 1974 to the New York Jets
, Kansas City Chiefs
, Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins
, and Pittsburgh Steelers
, respectively, all 5 teams winning the Super Bowl
of their respective years, playing alongside Gene Upshaw
, a Hall-of-Famer, at left guard from 1967 until Otto's final year in 1974. In the 1967 regular season, Oakland scored 468 points (33.4 points/game), leading the AFL, but lost Super Bowl II
to the Vince Lombardi
-led Green Bay Packers
. In the 1968 regular season, Oakland scored 453 points (32.4 points/game), once again leading the AFL, beating the Kansas City Chiefs
in the divisional round before losing to the Jets. In the 1969 regular season, Oakland scored 377 points (26.9 points/game), once again leading the AFL, beating the Houston Oilers in the divisional round before losing to the Chiefs. In the 1970 regular season (1st year of the NFL-AFL merger), Oakland scored 300 points (21.4 points/game), 9th of 26 teams in the NFL, beating the Miami Dolphins
in the 1970-71 NFL playoffs before losing to the Colts. The Raiders missed the playoffs for the first time in 5 years in 1971, despite scoring 344 points (24.6 points/game), 2nd of 26 teams in the NFL. However, they came back stronger in 1972, scoring 365 points (26.1 points/game), 3rd of 26 teams in the NFL, but lost 13-7 to the Pittsburgh Steelers
in the divisional round of the 1972-73 NFL playoffs, the infamous and outrageous (from Oakland's point of view) Immaculate Reception
game. In the 1973 regular season, Oakland scored 292 points (20.9 points/game), 10th of 26 teams in the NFL and avenged their defeat at the hands of the Steelers during the 1973-74 NFL playoffs before losing to the Dolphins. In Otto's final year, 1974, Oakland scored 355 points (25.4 points/game), leading the NFL, and then avenging their loss to the Dolphins during 1974-75 NFL playoffs before losing to the Steelers again. In 1975, he was replaced by Dave Dalby
.
To this day, Otto embodies the toughness and determination the Raiders began to ferment in the mid-1960s, after Al Davis
took control of the team and later hired John Madden as head coach.
Otto was one of only 20 players to play for the entire ten-year existence of the American Football League, and was selected as the Sporting News All-League center from 1960 through 1969. He was an All-Star in the first 13 of his 15 seasons (every year in the AFL from 1960
through 1969) and three of his five seasons in the NFL. He was also named the starting center on the AFL All-Time Team
.
He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 1980, the first year he was eligible. In 1999, he was ranked number 78 on The Sporting News
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
Since 1995, Otto has worked for the Raiders in the department of special projects and is active in the business world. As a show of respect, he always calls Raiders' owner Al Davis "Mr. Davis."
One time, Otto nearly died on the operating table. He also fought off three life-threatening bouts of infections due to his artificial joints, and during one six-month stretch, was without a proper right knee joint because he had to wait for the infection to clear up before another artificial one could be implanted. Today, Otto is handicapped, but he says he wouldn't change a thing if given the opportunity to do it over again. It's detailed, proudly, in his book, "The Pain of Glory" (ISBN 1-58261-066-5), published in 2000.
Jim Otto had his right leg amputated on August 1, 2007.
In 1997, Otto's daughter, Jennifer, a 39-year-old mother of four, died from a blood clot. Five years later, in 2002, Otto was stricken with prostate cancer
, though the cancer is currently in remission.
Otto is also the subject of works by artist Matthew Barney
.
He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
in 1998.
Professional football
In the United States and Canada, the term professional football includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football. In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country...
center for the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
.
Wausau High School and University of Miami
Otto played high school football at Wisconsin's Wausau High SchoolWausau East High School
Wausau East High School is a comprehensive public secondary school in the Wausau School District, located in the city of Wausau, Wisconsin. Originally named Wausau High School, it became Wausau East with the opening of Wausau West High School in the early 1970s. As of 2007, the school enrolls 1,322...
, under coach Win Brockmeyer
Win Brockmeyer
Win Brockmeyer was an American football coach from Wausau, Wisconsin.-Background:Winfred Otto Brockmeyer was born in Mankato, Minnesota on September 16, 1907, the son of Otto and Margaret Brockmeyer. He attended the University of Minnesota where he played football under two legendary college...
. He then went on to play collegiate football at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
. In addition to playing offensive center at UM, he also played linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
on defense.
Oakland Raiders
After no National Football LeagueNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
team showed interest in the undersized center, Otto signed with the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the new American Football League. He was issued jersey number 50 for the AFL's inaugural season, 1960, but switched to his familiar 00 the next season. The AFL permitted the unusual number because it was a pun on Otto's name (aught-oh). Otto worked diligently to build his body up to his playing weight of 250 pounds.
For the next fifteen years, Otto became a fixture at center for the Raiders, never missing a single game due to injury. Including pre-season, regular season and post-season games, Otto competed in 308 consecutive games. With the Raiders, he won 1 AFL/AFC championship in 1967 against the Houston Oilers, but lost 5: in 1968, 1969, and 1970, 1973, and 1974 to the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
, Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, respectively, all 5 teams winning the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
of their respective years, playing alongside Gene Upshaw
Gene Upshaw
Eugene Thurman Upshaw, Jr. was an American football player for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League and later the NFL, later the executive director of the National Football League Players' Association...
, a Hall-of-Famer, at left guard from 1967 until Otto's final year in 1974. In the 1967 regular season, Oakland scored 468 points (33.4 points/game), leading the AFL, but lost Super Bowl II
Super Bowl II
The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later to be known as Super Bowl II, was played on January 14, 1968 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida....
to the Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
-led Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
. In the 1968 regular season, Oakland scored 453 points (32.4 points/game), once again leading the AFL, beating the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
in the divisional round before losing to the Jets. In the 1969 regular season, Oakland scored 377 points (26.9 points/game), once again leading the AFL, beating the Houston Oilers in the divisional round before losing to the Chiefs. In the 1970 regular season (1st year of the NFL-AFL merger), Oakland scored 300 points (21.4 points/game), 9th of 26 teams in the NFL, beating the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the 1970-71 NFL playoffs before losing to the Colts. The Raiders missed the playoffs for the first time in 5 years in 1971, despite scoring 344 points (24.6 points/game), 2nd of 26 teams in the NFL. However, they came back stronger in 1972, scoring 365 points (26.1 points/game), 3rd of 26 teams in the NFL, but lost 13-7 to the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
in the divisional round of the 1972-73 NFL playoffs, the infamous and outrageous (from Oakland's point of view) Immaculate Reception
Immaculate Reception
The Immaculate Reception is the nickname given to one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1972...
game. In the 1973 regular season, Oakland scored 292 points (20.9 points/game), 10th of 26 teams in the NFL and avenged their defeat at the hands of the Steelers during the 1973-74 NFL playoffs before losing to the Dolphins. In Otto's final year, 1974, Oakland scored 355 points (25.4 points/game), leading the NFL, and then avenging their loss to the Dolphins during 1974-75 NFL playoffs before losing to the Steelers again. In 1975, he was replaced by Dave Dalby
Dave Dalby
David Merle Dalby was a former American football center.-College:Dalby played for UCLA, where he became part of their All-Century team as center...
.
To this day, Otto embodies the toughness and determination the Raiders began to ferment in the mid-1960s, after Al Davis
Al Davis
Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...
took control of the team and later hired John Madden as head coach.
Otto was one of only 20 players to play for the entire ten-year existence of the American Football League, and was selected as the Sporting News All-League center from 1960 through 1969. He was an All-Star in the first 13 of his 15 seasons (every year in the AFL from 1960
1960 American Football League All-League Players
-Sporting News American Football League All-League Team - 1960:The American Football League did not have an All-Star game after its first season in 1960, but an All-League team, selected by vote of the AFL players themselves, was published by the Sporting News...
through 1969) and three of his five seasons in the NFL. He was also named the starting center on the AFL All-Time Team
American Football League All-Time Team
The American Football League All- Time Team was selected on January 14, 1970. The first and second teams would be determined by a panel of members of the AFL's Hall of Fame Board of Selectors: Since the First team included two halfbacks, rather than a halfback and a fullback, Cookie Gilchrist, a...
.
He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 1980, the first year he was eligible. In 1999, he was ranked number 78 on The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
Since 1995, Otto has worked for the Raiders in the department of special projects and is active in the business world. As a show of respect, he always calls Raiders' owner Al Davis "Mr. Davis."
Injuries and surgeries
Otto punished his body greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 40 surgeries, including 28 knee operations (nine of them during his playing career alone) and multiple joint replacements. His joints are riddled with arthritis, and he has debilitating back and neck problems.One time, Otto nearly died on the operating table. He also fought off three life-threatening bouts of infections due to his artificial joints, and during one six-month stretch, was without a proper right knee joint because he had to wait for the infection to clear up before another artificial one could be implanted. Today, Otto is handicapped, but he says he wouldn't change a thing if given the opportunity to do it over again. It's detailed, proudly, in his book, "The Pain of Glory" (ISBN 1-58261-066-5), published in 2000.
Jim Otto had his right leg amputated on August 1, 2007.
Personal
During the 1980s, Otto was involved in numerous business ventures. He owned numerous Burger King Restaurants near Sacramento, California until the early 1990s.In 1997, Otto's daughter, Jennifer, a 39-year-old mother of four, died from a blood clot. Five years later, in 2002, Otto was stricken with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, though the cancer is currently in remission.
Otto is also the subject of works by artist Matthew Barney
Matthew Barney
Matthew Barney is an American artist who works in sculpture, photography, drawing and film. His early works were sculptural installations combined with performance and video...
.
He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame is a promenade in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dedicated to honoring distinguished members of Wisconsin's sports history. New members are honored at a biennial banquet.-History:...
in 1998.
See also
- Bay Area Sports Hall of FameBay Area Sports Hall of FameThe Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame honors sports figures who have made a significant impact in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organization is a section 501 non-profit, that was created by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in 1979.-Inductees:...
- Most consecutive starts (NFL)
- Other American Football League players