The day the Raiders sprung into being and squatted in Oakland, Bay Area football fans were in for a treat.
They just didn’t know it yet.
The 49ers, the first major league professional sports franchise ever in the Bay Area, had as their starting quarterback a local lad and Stanford product John Brodie. Poised for his fourth NFL season, Brodie was a known, if underwhelming, quantity.
The Raiders would cast their quarterbacking fates to a Fresno native, Tom Flores.
Brodie and Flores. Not bad. Brodie would eventually take the 49ers to three consecutive postseason appearances, earning an MVP award along the way. Flores would be voted to the Pro Bowl and win a Super Bowl (as a coach, but hey).
Fifty-nine years later, the Bay Area is similarly blessed with a pair of capable field generals. Jimmy Garoppolo has guided the 49ers to a 9-0 start to the season (though some remain unenamored). The Raiders’ Derek Carr is growing into his expectations. To wit, the game-winning touchdown he shot-gunned to Hunter Renfrow on Sunday.
CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the video on a mobile device
In between, well, it’s been a series of ups and downs. Brodie and Daryle (the Mad Bomber) Lamonica did the Bay Area proud in the late 1960s and early ’70s. In fact, they squared off in the teams’ first ever regular season NFL meeting in 1970 (won by the 49ers in a driving rain at the Coliseum).
Bay Area quarterbacks were not always on such solid footing. In fact, it took almost a decade before the region could boast of the dynamic duo Joe Montana and Jim Plunkett (if you considered the Raiders and Plunkett local, as many did during the Raiders’ SoCal soiree).
In the early 1990s, the Raiders had no answer for Steve Young. But come the new century, we were treated to Jeff Garcia ( four-time Pro Bowl selection) and Rich Gannon (the 2000 MVP).
Carr arrived in 2014, Garoppolo in 2017.
The advice to Bay Area football devotees: Enjoy the show the final two months and change. Because one of these franchises is bound for the land of $1.95 prime rib dinners, and it’s not coming back.
SEASON PASS DIGITAL OFFER
If you have not already, we strongly encourage you to sign up for a digital subscription, which gives you access to all content on the Mercury News and East Bay Times websites. With your support, we can continue bringing these stories — and much more — to your screens. Here’s where to sign up for the season pass: Mercury News, East Bay Times.
