Early Raiders Had Two Standouts Named Otto
In the mid-1960s, a sportswriter in the Bay Area who will remain unnamed wrote a story about the Otto brothers, Jim and Gus, of the Oakland Raiders.
The thing is, the Ottos are not related, other than being standouts for the Raiders.
Jim Otto, of course, is one of the all-time great Raiders, having played every regular-season game—210 in a row—between 1960 before retiring in 1974 after being selected to the All-American Football League team every year of its existence from 1960-69 and being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 plus the NFL 10th Anniversary Team in 2019.
Otto joined the Raiders in the inaugural season of the AFL in 1960 and became known as “The Original Raider.”
Gus Otto didn’t have quite as magnificent a career, but he is another forgotten star of the AFL.
The 6-1, 220-pound Gus Otto was drafted by the Raiders in the fourth round (No. 27 overall) in the 1965 AFL Draft out of Missouri, moved into the starting lineup at linebacker in his first season, and was selected to the AFL All-Rookie Team.
Otto was a valuable member of the Eleven Angry Men of Defense, who in 1967 allowed the fewest yards rushing and the fewest rushing yards per attempt in the AFL, as well as being third in fewest passing yards allowed and second-fewest points.
Those Raiders routed the Houston Oilers, 40-7, in the AFL Championship game, one of three title games Otto played in but lost to the Green Bay Packers, 33-14, in Super Bowl II, and he never made it back to the Super Bowl.
Otto made a touchdown-saving tackle on running back Donny Anderson of the Packers on the two-yard line in the third quarter of that Super Bowl and was in on several other plays in the game. Green Bay held only a 13-7 lead right before halftime, but scored a touchdown in the final seconds of the half and pulled away for the victory.
Otto made eight tackles (three solos, five assists).
We don’t know how many tackles and sacks Otto had in any season he played because they were not official statistics at the time, although the Raiders took down quarterbacks 67 times in that 1967 season.
“(Oakland) was a great place to play,” Otto said. “Al Davis was great for the players. ‘Just win, baby.’ He didn’t care what you did as long as you won on Sunday.”
Otto intercepted three passes and returned them for 131 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie in 1965, in addition to recovering four fumbles, and he started 95 of the 102 games he played in his Raiders career.
It’s obvious that he had a nose for the ball, even when playing on defense.
“You always liked to carry the ball,” said Otto, who rushed 127 times for 424 yards and four touchdowns in addition to catching caught three passes for 65 yards during his three seasons as a two-way starter at Missouri.
Gus Otto was selected as an AFL All-Star every year from 1967 and 196971 and made the All-Pro team four times, in addition to being chosen to the Raiders All-Time Team. Otto was rated as the 42nd best Raider of all time by Bleacher Report in 2011.
Like Jim Otto, Gus never missed a game in his pro career before retiring in 1972.
Before joining the Raiders, Otto was a fullback and linebacker for Missouri from 1962-64, was a team captain as a senior, when he was an All-Big Eight Conference selection and made third-team All-American.
A native of St. Louis, Otto was selected to Missouri’s Hall of Fame in 1996 and to the Missouri All-Century team in 1990. Otto also overcame a serious health issue, undergoing quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2006, and still lives in his old hometown at the age of 78.
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