Raiders All-Time Top Five: Cornerbacks

Willie Brown was another outstanding player who reached new heights after Al Davis brought him to Oakland. The 6-1, 195-pound Brown was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Grambling by the Houston Oilers of the American Football League in 1963 but was cut during training camp. He signed with the Denver Broncos shortly after that and became a starter by midseason of his rookie year. Brown was an All-AFL selection in his last three seasons in the Mile High City before the Raiders acquired him in a trade before the 1967 season, and the rest is Silver and Black history. “Probably the greatest memory as a Raider is coming to the Raiders, meeting Al Davis in Denver,” Brown said. “I was playing with Denver and got traded to the Raiders. He took the time to come to Denver, fly-in, talk to me about joining the Raiders. That’s probably the greatest moment.” Brown stepped right into the starting lineup of the famed Eleven Angry Men defense as the Raiders won the 1967 AFL Championship by beating the Oilers, 40-7, as he made an interception, before losing to the Green Bay Packers, 33-14, in Super Bowl II to finish the season with an overall 14-2 record. Brown made All-AFL or All-Pro in each of seven straight seasons starting in 1967 and was an All-Star in 10 of the 16 pro seasons he played. Once again, we don’t know how many tackles he made in his career because those statistics were not kept by the NFL in those days, but he had 54 interceptions that he returned for 472 yards and two touchdowns, both with the Raiders in 1967 and 1968, and four fumble recoveries—all with the Silver and Black. Brown made nine picks with the Broncos in 1964 and seven in 1967 with the Raiders but made fewer as his career went along because in many cases quarterbacks simply stopped throwing his way. Brown was selected to the All-Time American Football League (1960-69) team, the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team, the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team and was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1984, his first year of eligibility. He also is a member of the Louisiana, Mississippi, and African-American Ethnic Sports Halls of Fame. In 1999, Brown was ranked No. 50 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Brown invented the bump-and-run pass defense, which was eventually outlawed because he and other cornerbacks became so adept at it. The signature play of Brown’s career was a 75-yard interception return against quarterback Fran Tarkenton at the age of 37 to put the finishing touches on the Raiders’ 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. “Old Man Willie, he’s going all the way,” chortled Bill King, the Raiders’ legendary play-by-play announcer as Brown ran down the right sideline at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, Calif. After he retired following the 1978 season, Brown was defensive backfield coach for the Raiders from 1979 to 1988, including victories in Super Bowl XV and XVIII, before becoming head coach at Long Beach State in 1991 until the school dropped football at the end of the season, and holding the head coaching job at Jordan High School in Los Angeles in 1994. Then he returned to the Raiders as Director of Staff Development, a position he held until his death in 2019 at the age of 78.

2. Mike Haynes, 1983-1989

Like Willie Brown, Haynes already was a star when he came to the Raiders in 1983, and once there he teamed with Lester Hayes to form one of the best cornerback combos in NFL history. Haynes was selected with the fifth overall pick of the 1976 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots out of Arizona State and showed right away that the choice was merited by being named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and United Press International Rookie of the Year, in addition to making the All-Pro team and playing in the Pro Bowl. He made eight pass interceptions as a rookie, but that was his career-high, as like Brown quarterbacks often didn’t try to throw the football his way because they were afraid it might soon be going back the other way. Haynes had a total of 46 interceptions in his career, including 18 with the Raiders, six for a whopping 220 yards, and a 97-yard touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in 1984. He also had 11 forced fumbles and recovered 11 in 177 career games between 1976 and 1989, scoring five touchdowns, two on punt returns of 89 and 62 yards. Haynes played out his option with the Patriots in 1983 and went to the Raiders in November for No. 1 and No. 2 draft choices, arriving just in time to play the last five games of the regular season. After that, Haynes played key roles in a 24-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers to open the 1983 playoffs, a 21-14 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the American Football Conference Championship Game, and a 38-9 rout of the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. The Raiders were 8-3 when Haynes arrived, including a 37-35 loss to the Redskins early in the season, but went 7-1 with him in the lineup. In the Super Bowl, Haynes and Hayes virtually shut down the Redskins outside passing game and Haynes had an interception and sack against quarterback Joe Theismann. “I could see the fear in Theismann’s face,” Raiders defensive end Howie Long said. Hayes and Haynes combined with safeties Mike Davis and Vann McElroy to give the Raiders a formidable secondary, which rivaled the Silver and Black’s famed “Soul Patrol” of Brown and Skip Thomas on the corners, with Jack Tatum and George Atkinson at safety, that played a big role as the Silver and Black won Super Bowl XI. Haynes was an All-Pro selection in 1977, 1978, 1982, 1984, and 1985, and an All-AFC pick eight times, in addition to playing in nine Pro Bowls. He was a 1984 Defensive Player of the Year, made the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, and was selected to the NFL 75-Year Anniversary Team in addition to the NFL 100-Year Anniversary All-Time Team. Haynes was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, was ranked No. 93 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999, and is No. 49 among the NFL Network’s Top 100 Greatest Players. Of course, he’s also on the Raiders All-Time Team.

3. Lester Hayes, 1977-1986

Unfortunately, Hayes is known almost for as much as his use to “Stickum” as he is for his brilliant play during his brilliant 10-year career, all with the Raiders. Hayes was introduced to Stickum, an adhesive substance used by players to improve their grip, in his rookie season by Hall of Fame wide receiver and fellow teammate Fred Biletnikoff. However, instead of just applying a small amount to his hands, he began to slather it all over his arms and even his uniform. After Hayes led the NFL with 13 receptions for 273 yards and a 62-yard touchdown in 1980, Stickum was outlawed by the NFL. His 13 picks were one off the NFL record set by the great Dick “Night Train” Lane of the Los Angeles Rams in 1952. Hayes made 25 interceptions for 486 yards and three touchdowns in his first four seasons, but only 14 more for 86 yards in his last 10, and critics claim it was because he couldn’t use Stickum anymore. Of course, it also could have been because quarterbacks didn’t throw his way as much because the outcome often was not good. Still, Hayes’ 39 career interceptions tied the Raiders record set by Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown. Hayes was a ballhawk, and he recovered seven fumbles in his career, including one for a 42-yard touchdown in his final season. The 6-2, 215-pound Hayes was selected by the Raiders in the fifth round (No. 126 overall) out of Texas A&M in the 1977 NFL Draft and proved to be a steal. With the Aggies, he played defensive end as a freshman and linebacker as a sophomore before moving to safety for his last two seasons and made the All-American team as a senior. The Raiders saw him as a cornerback and he proved them right. Hayes started two games as a rookie, moved into the starting lineup in his second season when he made four interceptions for 86 yards in returns. When Mike Haynes came to the Raiders in 1983, he and Hayes became one of the greatest cornerback duos in NFL history. Haynes and Hayes shut down big-play wide receivers Charlie Brown, who made three catches, and Art Monk, who had only one, as the Raiders routed the Washington Redskins, 38-9, in Super Bowl XVIII at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Fla. With his top receivers unable to get open, quarterback Joe Theismann was sacked six times. “Hayes and Haynes were the difference in the game,” Redskins General Manager Bobby Beathard said. Before that, Hayes intercepted a pass and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown in a 38-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs, and picked off a pass and ran 44 yards for a score in a 30-14 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the AFC Championship Game. And he didn’t need Stickum for either of those plays. Hayes, who starred on two Super Bowl champions for the Raiders, played in five Pro Bowls, was selected to the All-Pro Team six times, was NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1980, was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, and is a member of the Raiders All-Time Team. Perhaps only Stickum has kept him out of the Hall of Fame.

4. Terry McDaniel, 1988-1997

McDaniel became the latest outstanding Raiders cornerback after they drafted him with the ninth pick in the first round of the 1988 NFL Draft out of Tennessee, where he was an All-Southeast Conference selection and a second-team All-American as a senior, and finished his career with 146 total tackles (97 solos), 11 passes broken up, and six interceptions. That was only an inkling of what was to come with the Silver and Black.

“They told me about how Mike Haynes had just set a new (salary) standard for cornerbacks,” said McDaniel, who was moved from wide receiver to cornerback after his sophomore season, and it changed the direction of his career. “It was a discussion, but I think their mind was made up. … You hear so much about the Raiders. People think, ‘The Raiders are coming, hide the women and children.’” Even though he missed most of his rookie year because of a broken leg sustained in the second game of the season, he showed Raider Nation what it was missing the next season, when he made 68 overall tackles, three interceptions that he returned for 21 yards, ran 42 yards for a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the season opener and added a sack. That was only the beginning, as in his 10 seasons with the Silver and Black, he had 491 tackles and three sacks made 34 picks (second in franchise history) for 624 yards in returns and five touchdowns (a franchise record), including a 67-yarder in 1992, and added five forced fumbles and seven that he recovered, including two that he returned for touchdowns. His five touchdowns are a Raiders record for defenders and his interceptions rank third in franchise history. McDaniel made the Pro Bowl five consecutive years from 1992-1996 and made All-Pro every season from 1992-1995. His best season probably was 1994, when he made 61 total tackles, added a career-high seven intercepted passes that he returned for 103 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to making three fumble recoveries that he took back for 48 yards and another score. The highlight was a pass from the great John Elway of the Denver Broncos that McDaniel picked off and returned 15 yards for a touchdown in a 48-16 victory at Mile High Stadium. Later that season, he intercepted three passes by quarterback Drew Bledsoe of the New England Patriots, returning them for 44 yards and a 14-yard touchdown, plus another that set up the game-winning TD in a 21-17 Raiders victory. After playing 143 games for the Raiders, McDaniel was released after missing three games because of a knee injury after the 1996 season and signed with the Seattle Seahawks, wherein his final NFL season he intercepted one pass and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown. These days, the 56-year-old McDaniel is a Sunday school teacher for Truth in God Ministry in Knoxville, Tenn., and every year he holds a free football camp for youngsters in his childhood hometown of Saginaw, Mich., where he grew up on the poor side of town. For the first camp in 1995, he brought in fellow NFL players Lionel Washington, Tim Brown, Mark Ingram, Darren Hoskins, and James Trapp. “I just wanted the kids there to have an opportunity to meet a professional athlete,” McDaniel said. “I remember growing up in Saginaw. Pro athletes always seemed untouchable. I wanted to give the kids a chance to talk and interact with NFL players.” He was inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 but is another Raider who some believe belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame but has yet to get there.

5. Nnamdi Asomugha, 2003-2010

Asomugha played safety at the University of California in Berkeley, right next to Oakland, but the Raiders moved him to cornerback after they drafted him in the first round (No. 31) in the 2003 NFL Draft, and he didn’t disappoint. The 6-2, 210-pound Asomugha played well coming off the bench in his first two seasons, even though he did not make an interception, collected a total of 83 tackles, three passes defended, a fumble recovery, and a sack. He moved into the starting lineup in 2005 and made 60 tackles, including two for losses, and had 14 passes defended but still didn’t have a pass interception. However, the next season Asomugha picked off a career-high eight passes and returned them for 59 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown return against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also had 50 tackles including 48 solos and three for losses, 19 passes defended, a sack, a forced fumble, and one touchdown. Everyone took notice, as Asomugha was named All-Pro for the first time, including by Sports Illustrated and The Associated Press, was selected to the Pro Bowl, was chosen the Raiders’ Most Valuable Player, and received the franchise’s Commitment to Excellence Award. He was selected a team captain in 2007, but never again had more than three interceptions in a season because quarterbacks simply did not test him. For example, only 31 passes were thrown in Asomugha’s direction in 2007 and he allowed only 10 completions, and an NFL scout told Pro Football Weekly that he was thrown at “less than any defender in the last 10 seasons.” Still, Asomugha was named All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl again, as he would be for his last three seasons with the Silver and Black. “Asomugha is the best (cornerback) I’ve seen in a while throughout this league,” Coach Gary Kubiak of the Houston Texans said. “He’s big, he’s fast (and) they put him out there on an island the whole game. He’s an exceptional player.” The Raiders signed Asomugha to a complex three-year deal in 2009 that made him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history, with $28.5 million fully guaranteed in the first two seasons. However, Asomugha played out his option after two years and his Raiders career was over after eight seasons when he signed a five-year, $60-million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. During those eight years with the Silver and Black, he played 122 games, made 311 tackles including 18 for losses, had 11 interceptions that he returned for 69 yards and a touchdown, had two sacks, forced two fumbles, and recovered one. Asomugha was a four-time All-Pro with the Raiders, was selected to four Pro Bowls, was named Byron “Whizzer” White NFL Man of the Year in 2009, and was chosen as one of the Greatest Oakland Raiders by the Oakland Tribune. Asomugha played two seasons with the Eagles and one more with the San Francisco 49ers, who waived him midway through the season. Later that year, he signed a one-day contract so he could retire as a member of the Silver and Black. In 2016, Pro Football Focus named Asomugha the best Oakland Raiders player of the previous 10 years and he was selected to the NFL All-Decade Team for the 2000s. After retiring from the NFL, Asomugha went into acting and in 2017 he received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Carl King in the film Crown Heights. He has appeared in numerous other movies and television shows.