Guard Buehler Stood Tall Among Raider Giants

George Buehler was one of the greatest players in Raiders' history but is often overlooked because he played next to Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, and Art Shell.

Guard George Buehler of the Oakland Raiders might be considered one of the better offensive linemen in NFL history had he not played alongside center Jim Otto, guard Gene Upshaw, tackle Art Shell, and tight end Dave Casper, who all are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Of course, by being with them, along with tackle John Vella, Buehler is part of what has been selected as the greatest offensive line in NFL history.

“George Buehler has the perfect built for a guard, a Coke machine with a head on it,” quarterback Kenny “Snake” Stabler said of the brilliant Buehler, a Stanford graduate who felt a bit like an underachiever in his family of doctors and lawyers.

“George was a good as any of the other great linemen we had, but was very underrated because of some of the other guys we had.”

The 6-2, 260-pound Buehler, who was selected by the Raiders in the second round (No. 50 overall) of the 1969 NFL Draft out of Stanford, took over the right guard spot from Mickey Marvin in 1971 and played remarkably without getting much recognition because of the players around him.

However, when the Raiders beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buehler helped the Raiders handle future Hall of Famer Mean Joe Greene and the rest of the Steelers defense in a 24-7 victory in the 1976 AFC Championship Game.

“I didn’t hear anything anybody was saying,” Buehler recalled. “I just watched films and thought of Joe.”

However, on one play with the Raiders sending fullback Marv Hubbard up the middle, between Buehler and Otto, Greene moved into the gap between them in the Stunt 4-3 and took his three-point stance, his nose inches from the ground.

“I knew I had to get to Joe quickly because he was my assignment,” Buehler said. “But Joe leaped back and I went falling on my face, and later Hubbard told me: ‘I’ve never been hit so hard.’”

Still the Raiders had enough to win.

In the next game, Buehler was a key force as the Silver and Black routed the Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, in Super Bowl XI by dominating defensive tackle Doug Sutherland at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Buehler is known almost as much for what he did off the field, especially at training camp in Santa Rosa, Calif. He was considered a bit different by his teammates because of his intelligence, and Buehler felt he needed to keep himself busy off the field at camp.

One year, Buehler brought an unassembled remote-controlled toy tank to training camp and spent the first few days putting it together. Then he would stand outside his hotel room and send the tank with the remote controller on the walkway around to the Raiders’ business office.

Once the tank got to Room 147, Buehler would let public relations assistant Ken Bishop know by walkie-talkie that it was there. Bishop would place Buehler’s mail in the tank and say into the walkie-talkie: “OK, you’ve got it.”

Then Buehler would turn the tank around and guide it back to his room.

Another year, Buehler brought a remote-controlled airplane to training camp and was flying it around the practice field in between workouts when linebacker Ted Hendricks shot it down with a gun he used to shoot birds at the back of the El Rancho property.

“You have to understand about George,” quarterback Jim Plunkett said. “He’s the kind of guy who would be in the huddle and you’d be calling the play and, all of a sudden, he’d look up and watch a plane go by.”

Still, Buehler is one of the most underrated Raiders of all-time.

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