Trade for Archie Matsos Helped Turn Raiders Around in '63

Al Davis made many memorable moves as the distinguished owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, but one of his best is rarely mentioned.

The Las Vegas Raiders have several new players on their roster this season and Coach Josh McDaniels hopes one or more of them will step up and become standouts in their first season with the Silver and Black.

That’s what happened in 1963 when 34-year-old Al Davis left his job as an assistant coach with the San Diego Chargers to become Coach and General Manager of the Oakland Raiders, who had been 1-13 the season before and were 9-33 in the first three seasons of the fledgling American Football League.

One of the first things Davis did after taking over the Raiders was trade cornerback Hank Rivera and defensive tackles Pete Nicklas and George Shirkey to the Buffalo Bills for an established All-AFL middle linebacker and an AFL All-Star, Archie Matsos.

Matsos played only three seasons with the Raiders, but he made them pay off, especially in 1963 when he had the best season of his career, anchoring the defense and helping Davis turn around what would become one of the greatest franchises in sports.

“He’s not as big as we’d like, but he is fast and is agile,” Davis said after acquiring the 6-foot, 217-pound Matsos, who was selected out of Michigan State in the 16th round (No. 189 overall) of the 1958 National Football League Draft by the Baltimore Colts and spent two years on their taxi squad, and later played for the Bills, Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers in his nine-year pro career. “He is good against both the pass and run and figures to make a big contribution to the team in ’63.”

All the 29-year-old Matsos that year did was take control of the defense as the Raiders posted a 10-4 record and twice defeated the arch-rival Chargers, who captured the AFL title and many believed were better than the NFL champion Chicago Bears.

Those were the first two times the Raiders won in the four-year California rivalry, but the reversal didn't happen right away.

The 1963 Raiders won their first two games, but then looked like the team of the previous three seasons by losing four straight. However, they didn’t lose another game for the rest of the season, running off eight consecutive victories to finish at 10-4 to wind up one game behind the Chargers in the AFL’s Western Division.

Matsos was one of the Raiders’ leading tacklers, although we don’t know how many stops he made because that was not an official statistic at the time, he intercepted four passes that he returned for 39 yards and made one sack--although he might have had more because sacks also were not yet an official stat.

His season-long brilliance led Matsos to be selected for the 1963 All-AFL First Team by The Associated Press, United Press International, The Sporting News, and the New York Daily News, in addition to starting for the Western Division in the AFL All-Star Game.

Most importantly, he was the captain and leader of perhaps the most improved defense in pro football that season, which included cornerback Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and safety Tommy Morrow, both All-AFL selections, plus young standouts including defensive end Dalva Allen and rookie defensive tackle Dave Costa.

“(Davis) lets me call the defensive signals,” said Matsos, who started all 14 games for the third of six consecutive seasons, rarely coming of the field. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been allowed to do that. No hand signals from the side or anything.

“(Davis) tells us right before the game starts: ‘Come on, when you go out there, remember you’re the Raiders of Oakland. We’ve got to start building a tradition.”

That’s exactly what they did, but Matsos wouldn’t be part of it for too much longer.

In 1964, Matsos again started every game as middle linebacker even though he suffered from a severe case of the flu at the start of the season and according to teammates his weight dropped to under 200 pounds.

Matsos played only one more season with the Raiders and in 1965, with a group of good young linebackers that included middle linebacker Dan Conners, the Raiders traded him to the Broncos for tight end/running back Hewritt Dixon before the 1966 season.

The Broncos dealt him to the Chargers, whose starting middle linebacker Chuck Allen sustained a broken leg midway through the season, which would turn out to be Matsos’ last.

Matsos had 22 interceptions that he returned for 311 yards in his career, including a 33-yard touchdown, with nine picks for 141 yards and returns of 47 and 27 yards in his three seasons with the Raiders.

In addition, he was credited with three sacks, but again we will never know the true number.

Matsos passed away on May 28, 2021, at Robinwood Landing in Lansing, Mich., at the age of 86.

Gone, but not forgotten by the long-time members of Raider Nation who remember the earliest glory days of the Silver Black.

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