Raiders DT Keating Was One of the AFL Greats

With a long history, the Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Tom Keating is often overlooked, but when you study what you did, he was elite.

Another almost forgotten standout member of the Oakland Raiders from the early seasons of the franchise in the days of the American Football League in the 1960s is defensive tackle Tom Keating.

Keating, who seemed perhaps a bit undersized at maybe 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round (No. 53 overall) of the 1964 AFL Draft and also was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.

However, he anchored the Raiders’ defensive line from 1966-72 after being traded by the Bills for wide receiver Bo Roberson, and it turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes the Bills ever made.

“Tom Keating was a great football player because he was strong, quick, and fast,” said Hall of Fame Coach John Madden, who was an assistant coach when Keating came to the Raiders and later their head coach. “He was a bright guy and he had a lot of different interests that football players didn't have in those days.

“He loved to cook, he loved to study wines, and he loved to ride his motorcycle in the offseason. He enjoyed life, and he enjoyed a lot of different things in life. He was a great football player, but he wasn’t all about football. There was a lot more to Tom Keating than that.

“But most of all, he was a great football player.”

Keating was the best player on the Raiders’ defensive line that amassed an AFL record 67 sacks for 666 yards in 1967, when the Silver and Black recorded a 13-1 record and defeated the Houston Oilers, 40-7, in the AFC Championship Game.

Although official statistics on sacks were not kept in those days, unofficial numbers claim that Keating made 17 of those sacks alongside defensive tackle Dan Birdwell while teaming with defensive ends “Big Ben” Ben Davidson and Ike Lassiter on a unit known as the “Eleven Angry Men of Defense.”

Those Raiders finished with the fewest rushing yards and fewest yards per attempt in the AFL that season, in addition to being third in fewest passing yards and the second-fewest points allowed.

“Tom Keating was the premier defensive lineman in the 10-year history of the American Football League,” according to one former AFL coach, who did not want to be identified because it might offend the linemen who played for him.

Statistics were kept in Super Bowl II, when Keating was credited with 2½ sacks of great quarterback Bart Starr, and he also had six tackles as the Green Bay Packers defeated the Raiders, 33-14, at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Somebody took notice.

“Keating might have been the best defensive lineman on the field,” said legendary Packers Coach Vince Lombardi, who was coaching his final game for the Pack. “He seemed to be everywhere.”

In addition to making the AFL All-Star Team three times, Keating was selected to the All-Time AFL Team (1960-69) and played for three AFL Championship teams. Keating was slowed by injuries in his last few seasons with the Raiders and finished his career by playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1973 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 1974 and 1975.

When Keating joined the Raiders in 1966, he and Davidson became good buddies. After the season, they would drive their Harley Davidson motorcycles from Oakland to Mexico and sometimes to Panama, plus other destinations around the United States. Seeing these two giant men tooling south down Interstate 5 in California was quite a sight.

After retiring from football, Keating worked as a private investigator for a law firm and later opened his own agency in Walnut Creek, just outside of Oakland. He maintained his primary residence in the Bay Area but began spending several months a year in Limoux, in the south of France.

During his time in France, he made new friends bicycling and continued his cooking and enjoying the local wines, according to his brother, Bill, who also played at Michigan and in the AFL for the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins.

Tom Keating died of prostate cancer in 2012, two days before his 70th birthday, at a hospice in Denver. His autopsy said Keating was also diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Davidson also developed terminal prostate cancer, and they died two months apart.

The 2023 NFL Draft will go from April 27-29 and be held at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. The NFL Scouting Combine is Feb. 28-March 6, 2023, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. The club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players is March 7, 2023, before 4 p.m. EST.

March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period. Starting at 12 p.m. EDT on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. EDT on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15.

The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15. The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this season.

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