I’ve read several books about the 1970s Oakland Raiders, Ken Stabler, John Madden, Al Davis, John Matuszak, etc. Characters and criminals. Those Raider teams were loaded with both. On the field, it was rarely routine. In a single decade, the Raiders played many games with names. Immaculate Reception, Ghost to the Post, Sea of Hands, Holy Roller. Off the field, it was never routine. It might be why Madden only coached 10 seasons. Those 10 seasons probably felt like 20. There are so many great Raiders stories from that era. This is one of my favorites.

The Oakland Raiders of the 1970s were a different sort of football team. They fielded very good, if not great, football teams but they were a little bit different. Al Davis put those teams together in his image and little else really needs to be said. The Raiders of that era were renegades and you could tell that from the company that they kept. Off the field as well as on. Many of the Raiders were friendly with Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and the rest of the Black Panthers. Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels could be found on bar stools next to Ken Stabler, John Matuszak, and Phil Villapiano. You might even find Barger on the sideline of a Raiders football game. It wasn't always beers and fun with the Oakland Raiders and the Hell's Angels. They nearly went to war.

Most NFL teams of the 1970s still held training camp at small colleges. They stayed in the dorms. For at least a month, they lived a decent distance from the rest of civilization. The Oakland Raiders were, of course, a bit different. They were housed at the El Rancho Tropicana Hotel in Santa Rosa, CA. It wasn't a lovely place. They practiced on nearby fields. As soon as they were free of the daily practices and meetings the rowdy Raiders would scatter to the bars that dotted the area. The Bamboo Room was usually the first and most frequent stop on the rounds. The players would fly to the bars as soon as they could and then fly back to the Tropicana to make their 11pm curfew. One night, linebacker Phil Villapiano didn't make it back for that curfew. There were many hell-raisers on those Raiders teams but they were all pretty good at meeting the few rules that the team had. It was unusual for any of the Raiders to miss curfew. Villapiano was drinking off a particularly rough day of practice on this night that he missed curfew. He was being switched to inside linebacker. He had also suffered a pulled muscle. It wasn’t a great day. It was about to become a worse night. When he finally ventured outside the Bamboo Room he found some gentlemen leaning against his car. He didn't take too kindly to their actions. They didn't take too kindly to his reaction. Villapiano was hit in the head with a hammer before he discovered that he was in a fight with some of the Hell's Angels. The fighting ceased when Villapiano was able to relay that he was friends with Sonny Barger. He believes that association probably saved his life. By the time the tardy linebacker had finally made his way back to the Tropicana his teammates were gathered in the courtyard. After hearing the tale, the Oakland Raiders wanted to go to war with the Hell's Angels. The coaches and Villapiano were able to calm the rest of the team before a Bay Area War could erupt. It all ended well. About a week after the incident, the Raiders were practicing when the air was filled with the roar of several Harley motorcycles. The noise and interruption didn't please John Madden too much but the Oakland Raiders and the Hell's Angels had made their peace.