Raiders' George Atkinson Undersized, but Not Underrated

The Las Vegas Raiders history reads like a Who's Who of NFL greatness, and one name often overlooked that shouldn't be is the great George Atkinson.

George Atkinson came to the Oakland Raiders as a skinny cornerback they drafted in the seventh round (No. 190 overall) out of Morris Brown in 1968, and he wound up playing 10 seasons for the Silver and Black.

Atkinson was listed at 6-foot and 180 pounds but probably was closer to 5-10, 160, and Joe Namath took advantage of him in leading the New York Jets to a 27-23 victory over the Raiders in the 1968 American Football League Championship.

In the final minutes, Namath hit wide receiver Don Maynard for a 52-yard pass over Atkinson, and one play later, Broadway Joe found Maynard for the game-winning, six-yard touchdown pass with Atkinson trying to guard him.

However, Atkinson beefed up by about 25 pounds after that and moved to strong safety, where he teamed with the feared Jack Tatum to become an intimidating force on the Silver and Black’s back line.

“There was nothing like them,” said Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who knows first-hand because the Raiders dominated his Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, in Super Bowl XI at the end of the 1976 season. “In 1979, the NFL created the five-yard chuck rule because of Atkinson, Tatum, Willie Brown, Skip Thomas (the famed ‘Soul Patrol’), and the Raiders.

“Wide Receivers could not get off the line of scrimmage against them. Atkinson and Tatum and the rest of the gang were so physical and strong that I’d have to wait and hope my guys could get open before I got killed.”

Added Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield: “When you went over the middle against Oakland and didn’t account for Tatum and Atkinson, you would not be in the game long without being carried off the field.”

Atkinson still was outmatched physically because he had to cover tight ends such as 6-2, 230-pound John Mackey of the Baltimore Colts; 6-6, 245-pound Russ Francis of the New England Patriots; 6-4, 235-pound Charlie Sanders of the Detroit Lions; 6-4, 240-pound Riley Odoms of the Denver Broncos, and 6-2, 235-pound Ozzie Newsome of the Cleveland Browns.

However, to cover them, Atkinson became a very aggressive defender, so much so that he developed a reputation as a dirty player.

“Atkinson was an intimidator who roamed the field like a lion ready to pounce,” according to a story on JimJax Media. “He was the trash talker of the group often seen taunting and intimidating players who were much bigger than he was. He broke Russ Francis’ nose with a vicious forearm hit, and his hits against wide receiver Lynn Swann of the Steelers are a part of NFL history.”

Swann was not the intended receiver on either play but sustained concussions. Coach Chuck Noll of the Steelers said Atkinson was part of pro football’s “criminal element,” so Atkinson filed a $2-million defamation lawsuit against Noll and the Steelers. Even though Atkinson didn’t win, Noll admitted under oath that some of his defenders played virtually as Atkinson did.

“I just played the game the way I thought it was meant to be played,” Atkinson said.

Once again, we don’t know how many tackles Atkinson made in his career, although there were many because they were not official NFL statistics then. Still, he put up plenty of numbers and played a vital role as the Raiders won Super Bowl XI in that rout of the Vikings.

In his 10-year career with the Raiders, he had 30 interceptions for 448 return yards while recovering 13 fumbles and returning two for scores. He also returned 148 punts for 1,247 yards and three more touchdowns.

Atkinson, who made the All-AFL team in 1969 and was a two-time AFL All-Star, worked on Raiders radio during pre-and post-game shows and hosted the television show Behind the Shield in the team’s final seasons in Oakland before the move to Las Vegas.

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