Art Powell article, a good read

[Mickey]

For those of you interested in the history of pro football and who recall the Lamonica trade, you might find this article on Art Powell to be an interesting read.

Powell was one of the players the Bill's received in the Lamonica trade and though his career pretty much came to an end afterwards, he did play an

historical role in the history of pro football. In his last year with the Raiders, he had over a 1,000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns so the Bills were by no means idiots for

wanting him on their roster. In fact, he was one of the earliest and biggest stars in the AFL. The article below (scroll down to where it says "The curious case of Art Powell")

tells his story fairly well and points out the disconnect between his career and that of Fred Belitnikoff who he surpassed on just about every level. Powell married a white

woman which was pretty big news back then when teams still played in segregated stadiums. The author thinks that the Raiders' reputation for rule breaking

may have originated with Powell's interracial marriage rather than with the use of stickum which, he points out, was not illegal when the Raiders used it and

in fact, they didn't even hide the fact that they used it.

 

I warn you though, the author actually has some good things to say about Al Davis given his contributions regarding race relations and professional football. An interesting

comparison is made between the near veneration of George Preston Marshall, the owner of the Redskins and a lifelong opponent of integration and the

treatment Al Davis gets. Not saying I agree but the guy makes a few points. I always enjoy it when the Bills play the Raiders as the two teams played such a key

role in the history of the AFL.

 

The Curious Case of Art Powell

 

 

 

 

 

[Chandler#81]

Not all that good of a read.. A lot of bloviating blathering that fails to veil his racial accusation rant, IMO.

 

Anyway, yeah, we got him (Powell) and Tom Flores -their starting QB who threw all those TD passes for our back-up -though beloved-QB. Flores went down with injury soon after losing Kemp to a pre-season injury, which started a domino effect that ended with Ed Rutkowski @ QB.

 

At the time though, it looked like a block-buster trade where the Bills stole these guys.

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

Thanks for the link, Mickey. There is an interesting story there, though it is a shame it was obscured by that particular author's "style."

 

 

 

For those of you interested in the history of pro football and who recall the Lamonica trade, you might find this article on Art Powell to be an interesting read.

Powell was one of the players the Bill's received in the Lamonica trade and though his career pretty much came to an end afterwards, he did play an

historical role in the history of pro football. In his last year with the Raiders, he had over a 1,000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns so the Bills were by no means idiots for

wanting him on their roster. In fact, he was one of the earliest and biggest stars in the AFL. The article below (scroll down to where it says "The curious case of Art Powell")

tells his story fairly well and points out the disconnect between his career and that of Fred Belitnikoff who he surpassed on just about every level. Powell married a white

woman which was pretty big news back then when teams still played in segregated stadiums. The author thinks that the Raiders' reputation for rule breaking

may have originated with Powell's interracial marriage rather than with the use of stickum which, he points out, was not illegal when the Raiders used it and

in fact, they didn't even hide the fact that they used it.

 

I warn you though, the author actually has some good things to say about Al Davis given his contributions regarding race relations and professional football. An interesting

comparison is made between the near veneration of George Preston Marshall, the owner of the Redskins and a lifelong opponent of integration and the

treatment Al Davis gets. Not saying I agree but the guy makes a few points. I always enjoy it when the Bills play the Raiders as the two teams played such a key

role in the history of the AFL.

 

The Curious Case of Art Powell

 

Not all that good of a read.. A lot of bloviating blathering that fails to veil his racial accusation rant, IMO.

 

Anyway, yeah, we got him (Powell) and Tom Flores -their starting QB who threw all those TD passes for our back-up -though beloved-QB. Flores went down with injury soon after losing Kemp to a pre-season injury, which started a domino effect that ended with Ed Rutkowski @ QB.

 

At the time though, it looked like a block-buster trade where the Bills stole these guys.

 

 

Actually, Chandler, the all-injury year was 1968, whereas Powell and Flores arrived in March 1967.

 

The 1967 season is interesting in itself, because it was an excellent example of how quickly a veteran team can collapse even without injuries. Heck, the Bills even added an aging Keith Lincoln to a squad that had won the Eastern Division in 1966, so some people thought they would be back on top. But the rest of the team, Kemp especially, began showing their age. They lost a lot of bad luck games, and fell to 4-10.

 

I am betraying a bias bequeathed to me by my dearly departed father, but he always said that trading Lamonica was the killer because he was several years younger than Kemp and it would have been better for the team, if they had to move one of them, to dump #15. As a matter of fact, Flores even beat out Kemp for the starting job (though Jack came off the bench to win the opener against the Jets two days before my birth), which indicated that even Coach Collier knew Jack was nearing the end of the trail. But Kemp was a team leader, very popular with his teammates, and not sleeping with his colleagues' wives... so Daryle had to go.

 

That Flores and Powell both turned out to be washed up only made the whole thing uglier as the Bills entered a Season of Suck that lasted until 1973.

 

My apologies for the history lesson. Occupational hazard.

[bowery4]

Wouldn't it be weird to see crazy Al and Ralph together? If you have seen any recent picts of Al he looks just plain bad, really bad (wish I could find that link, he looks sick and kind of evil). RW looks much better.

Art Powell was a great player but the DL trade was just plain bone headed

BTW anybody else think Fitz is a lot like Kemp, because I have been feeling that since he filled in for Trent after Jauron was fired.

[eball]

Wouldn't it be weird to see crazy Al and Ralph together? If you have seen any recent picts of Al he looks just plain bad, really bad (wish I could find that link, he looks sick and kind of evil). RW looks much better.

Art Powell was a great player but the DL trade was just plain bone headed

BTW anybody else think Fitz is a lot like Kemp, because I have been feeling that since he filled in for Trent after Jauron was fired.

Saying that Ralph "looks much better" than anyone at this point says a lot. Davis must have one foot in the grave, because Ralph looks terrible.

 

I hope Fitz can get similar results as Kemp.

[dwight in philly]

For those of you interested in the history of pro football and who recall the Lamonica trade, you might find this article on Art Powell to be an interesting read.

Powell was one of the players the Bill's received in the Lamonica trade and though his career pretty much came to an end afterwards, he did play an

historical role in the history of pro football. In his last year with the Raiders, he had over a 1,000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns so the Bills were by no means idiots for

wanting him on their roster. In fact, he was one of the earliest and biggest stars in the AFL. The article below (scroll down to where it says "The curious case of Art Powell")

tells his story fairly well and points out the disconnect between his career and that of Fred Belitnikoff who he surpassed on just about every level. Powell married a white

woman which was pretty big news back then when teams still played in segregated stadiums. The author thinks that the Raiders' reputation for rule breaking

may have originated with Powell's interracial marriage rather than with the use of stickum which, he points out, was not illegal when the Raiders used it and

in fact, they didn't even hide the fact that they used it.

 

I warn you though, the author actually has some good things to say about Al Davis given his contributions regarding race relations and professional football. An interesting

comparison is made between the near veneration of George Preston Marshall, the owner of the Redskins and a lifelong opponent of integration and the

treatment Al Davis gets. Not saying I agree but the guy makes a few points. I always enjoy it when the Bills play the Raiders as the two teams played such a key

role in the history of the AFL.

 

The Curious Case of Art Powell

thanks!, interesting read, i do not think many fans, including myself, did not think the trade would turn out out so horribly. it was the beginning of a typical bills downslide.lamonica turned into an AFL icon, the bills were just a season away from the first part of the harvey johnson "glory years".

Edited September 14, 2011 by dwight in philly

[Chandler#81]

Thanks for the link, Mickey. There is an interesting story there, though it is a shame it was obscured by that particular author's "style."

 

Actually, Chandler, the all-injury year was 1968, whereas Powell and Flores arrived in March 1967.

 

The 1967 season is interesting in itself, because it was an excellent example of how quickly a veteran team can collapse even without injuries. Heck, the Bills even added an aging Keith Lincoln to a squad that had won the Eastern Division in 1966, so some people thought they would be back on top. But the rest of the team, Kemp especially, began showing their age. They lost a lot of bad luck games, and fell to 4-10.

 

I am betraying a bias bequeathed to me by my dearly departed father, but he always said that trading Lamonica was the killer because he was several years younger than Kemp and it would have been better for the team, if they had to move one of them, to dump #15. As a matter of fact, Flores even beat out Kemp for the starting job (though Jack came off the bench to win the opener against the Jets two days before my birth), which indicated that even Coach Collier knew Jack was nearing the end of the trail. But Kemp was a team leader, very popular with his teammates, and not sleeping with his colleagues' wives... so Daryle had to go.

 

That Flores and Powell both turned out to be washed up only made the whole thing uglier as the Bills entered a Season of Suck that lasted until 1973.

 

My apologies for the history lesson. Occupational hazard.

 

 

yeah, got away from myself there, as '67 is pretty foggy..

 

I did know, '68 was the diaster year though. Nice history lesson! Didn't Flores return to the raiders to back up Lamonica for a season or two?

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

yeah, got away from myself there, as '67 is pretty foggy..

 

I did know, '68 was the diaster year though. Nice history lesson! Didn't Flores return to the raiders to back up Lamonica for a season or two?

 

Flores bounced around after Buffalo. Don't think he went back to Oak, but he was a backup on the Chiefs team that won Super Bowl IV. By 1971 he was an assistant coach in BUF, then he joined the Raiders staff and eventually succeeded John Madden.

[CSBill]

For those of you interested in the history of pro football and who recall the Lamonica trade, you might find this article on Art Powell to be an interesting read.

Powell was one of the players the Bill's received in the Lamonica trade and though his career pretty much came to an end afterwards, he did play an

historical role in the history of pro football. In his last year with the Raiders, he had over a 1,000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns so the Bills were by no means idiots for

wanting him on their roster. In fact, he was one of the earliest and biggest stars in the AFL. The article below (scroll down to where it says "The curious case of Art Powell")

tells his story fairly well and points out the disconnect between his career and that of Fred Belitnikoff who he surpassed on just about every level. Powell married a white

woman which was pretty big news back then when teams still played in segregated stadiums. The author thinks that the Raiders' reputation for rule breaking

may have originated with Powell's interracial marriage rather than with the use of stickum which, he points out, was not illegal when the Raiders used it and

in fact, they didn't even hide the fact that they used it.

 

I warn you though, the author actually has some good things to say about Al Davis given his contributions regarding race relations and professional football. An interesting

comparison is made between the near veneration of George Preston Marshall, the owner of the Redskins and a lifelong opponent of integration and the

treatment Al Davis gets. Not saying I agree but the guy makes a few points. I always enjoy it when the Bills play the Raiders as the two teams played such a key

role in the history of the AFL.

 

The Curious Case of Art Powell

 

Thanks much, knowing the historical and cultural context of those events give better understanding.

[Bob in STL]

Flores bounced around after Buffalo. Don't think he went back to Oak, but he was a backup on the Chiefs team that won Super Bowl IV. By 1971 he was an assistant coach in BUF, then he joined the Raiders staff and eventually succeeded John Madden.

 

... and won a super bowl.

[taglientep]

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/Top-And-Bottom-of-the-NFL-Week-1---129740663.html

 

another great article

[bowery4]

for you e-ball

http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2011/01/19/this-fossil-runs-the-oakland-raiders/

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1106/nfl.owners/content.4.html

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

... and won a super bowl.

 

 

Indeed. He is the only man to have super bowl rings as player (IV), assistant (XI) and head coach (XV and XVIII).

[tennesseeboy]

Powell was on a downhill swing when he came to Buffalo as was Flores. Glenn Bass was a solid performer but the main part of the trade was LaMonica (the mad bomber) who took Oakland to the SuperBowl.

[Tcali]

Wouldn't it be weird to see crazy Al and Ralph together? If you have seen any recent picts of Al he looks just plain bad, really bad (wish I could find that link, he looks sick and kind of evil). RW looks much better.

Art Powell was a great player but the DL trade was just plain bone headed

BTW anybody else think Fitz is a lot like Kemp, because I have been feeling that since he filled in for Trent after Jauron was fired.

Interesting comparison Bowery......never thought of it before...similar arm strength(average)..both pretty good athletes --both smart...--Kemp a bit more accurate..

[EasternOHBillsFan]

This was the worst trade in Buffalo Bills history, and only the Ron McDole trade rivals it. It not only gave us two players that contributed little to the franchise, but it took AWAY a quarterback which could have been the cornerstone of our offense. I may not have been alive during this time, but what happened after precipitated a decade of utter futility.

[Ennjay]

This really isn't that well written and there are several problems with it. The author hasn't really done his homework. To name a few:

 

--Nobody has ever considered the Raiders' use of stickum cheating. They used it when it was legal, just like every other team in the league. It came into prominence well after the Raiders had PR'd their "rebel" reputation.

 

--The Silver and Black has nothing to do with Art Powell. The original Raider colors in 1960 were gold and black. (Al Davis was a Chargers assistant in those days.) Davis is colorblind. When he took over in Oakland he pushed through the color change because he saw it better.

 

--The problem with Al Davis is that he stuck with it too long and aged into the current Crazy Al. He was widely respected in the 60's, especially in the AFL. When the AFL decided to fight back after some NFL raids (including the Giants signing Pete Gogolak away from the Bills) the owners got rid of Commissioner Joe Foss and replaced him with Davis. A lot of people think the threat of Davis-led raids and salary escalation was a major factor in forcing the AFL-NFL merger.

 

That Mobile story is nice, but the better-known one is the threatened boycott of the AFL All-Star Game in New Orleans by black players.