NFL and Super Bowl
The National Football League (NFL) is the height of professional American football in the US. It was founded on September 17, 1920 as the American Professional Football Association. The league’s present label was adapted two years later in 1922. NFL started with eleven teams under its wings. Today the league houses a total of 32 teams some of which came from what used to be the American Football League (AFL) before the merger of the two leagues in 1970. In addition to greatly expanding the National Football League, the AFL-NFL merger also gave birth to Super Bowl, NFL’s annual championship game. Super Bowl is recognized as the second most watched annual sporting event in the world next to association football’s UEFA Champions League.
Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders is among the 32 franchises currently associated to NFL. The team originally belonged to AFL before the merger and is now part of NFL’s American Football Conference (AFC). Oakland Raiders was formed in 1960 and later changed its name to Los Angeles Raiders in 1982 before reverting back to its original label in 1995. Throughout the franchise’s history, Oakland Raiders has a total of five Super Bowl appearances (1967, 1976, 1980, 1983 and 2002), winning the championship title thrice (1976 (Super Bowl XI), 1980 (Super Bowl XV), 1983 (Super Bowl XVIII)).
MVP Winners
The Raiders’ three MVP winners are:
- 25 Fred Biletnikoff (Wide Receiver, Super Bowl XI)
- 16 Jim Plunkett (Quarterback, Super Bowl XV)
- 32 Marcus Allen (Running Back, Super Bowl XVIII)
Steven Heyer
Steven Heyer is a previous member of Oakland Raiders. He played for the team in the 2011 NFL season before signing with the New York Jets early this year. The 28-year old athlete grew up in Georgia where he attended Brookwood High School. His talent in the sport was recognized by numerous American football enthusiasts as early as high school and several division one colleges tried to recruit him in their team including Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio State, and Vanderbilt. Heyer decided to join Maryland Terrapins and he played left tackle for the team for over 50 games before he started his pro career in NFL with the Washington Redskins in 2007. Steven Heyer weighs 145 kg and measures 1.98 m tall.