WR Powell Made the Most of Four Seasons with the Raiders

With the Las Vegas Raiders lineage of great players, wide receiver Art Powell played only four seasons, but he placed himself in Silver and Black history.

Wide receiver Art Powell played only four seasons for the Oakland Raiders, but he placed himself in Silver and Black history.

When Al Davis took over as coach and general manager of the Raiders in 1963, one of the things he did to help turn the franchise around was sign Powell as a free agent after he played one season for the Philadelphia Eagles and three with the New York Titans, now the Jets.

“I played against Art when I was with Denver, and he was a great wide receiver,” Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown of the Raiders recalled. “I had a chance to cover him quite a bit, and one of the best routes he ever ran was the post-corner. All the guys had problems with that because they didn’t know him.

“The thing about it also was his size. He was one of the biggest guys and toughest guys when he was with the Raiders. Mr. Davis just went out and got him for us. Small corners had a problem with him because of his height and speed. He wasn’t a blazing-speed guy, but he had enough speed to beat you, get behind you, and his size helped him.

“I enjoyed playing against him. He was a great ballplayer and he had been to some of the great games over the few years and it was always good to see him. He’ll be remembered as a Raider forever.”

The 6-3 215-pound Powell, who grew up in San Diego after being born in Dallas, was selected in the 11th round (No. 123 overall) of the 1959 NFL Draft by the Eagles out of San Jose State and proved to be much better than that.

When he came to Oakland in 1963, Powell immediately hooked up with quarterback Tom Flores and the Raiders went from a team that was 1-13 the year before and posted at 10-4 record that included the Silver and Black’s first-ever two victories over the American Football Conference champion San Diego Chargers.

“Art had range, and he was more like today’s big wide receivers who could go deep,” Flores recalled. “He was just a great athlete. He had great body control, tremendous abilities to go up and catch the ball or reach down, and make all the necessary turns down the field, and he was just a great player.

“Art and I had a great 1963, ’64, ’65 and ’66 together, very productive. He caught a lot of my passes. The day I threw six touchdown passes (to beat the Houston Oilers, 52-49, in the 1963 finale), he caught four of them. That was quite a day for him. He was the start of the big receiver. In those days, most receivers were small and when we drafted (Fred) Biletnikoff, Art was there, and they complimented each other. Art was just unique in a time when receivers were not that big. There weren’t a lot of guys like him.”

However, in 1967 Davis traded Powell and Flores to the Buffalo Bills for quarterback Daryle Lamonica. Powell played that season with the Bills and one more with the Minnesota Vikings before retiring.

Powell caught 254 passes for 4,491 yards, a 17.7-yard average, and 50 touchdowns in four years with the Raiders, including 73 for 1,304 yards and 16 scores in 1963, when Davis turned the Raiders into a pro football power.

A six-time All-AFL selection and a member of the All-Time AFL Team (1960-69), Powell caught 479 passes for 8,046 yards and 81 touchdowns in his 10-year pro career.

In addition, Powell and Raiders teammates Clem Daniels, Bo Roberson, and Fred Williamson led a boycott of a scheduled 1963 preseason game in Mobile, Ala., because of segregated seating planned for Ladd Stadium. Coach Davis backed them up, and the game wasn’t played.

Also, Powell and Daniels were right before another threatened boycott because of segregated seating planned for the 1965 American Football League All-Star Game at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. Davis again stepped up and had the game moved to Jeppesen Stadium in Houston, the home field of the Oilers.

Powell passed away suddenly in 2015 at 78, less than a year after his brother, Charlie, who played defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers and the Raiders for two seasons, died at 82.

The Raiders' offseason workout schedule is as follows:

OTA Offseason workouts: May 22-23, May 25, May 31-June 2, June 12-15

Mandatory Minicamp: June 6-8

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