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Phil Villapiano #41 (1971-79)
"When you play for the Raiders you play to win and you play tough. It's not something the coaches teach or talk about. It's just there, like in the air. It's an attitude - you are going to hit people and smash them if you are a Raider." |
In 1971, the Oakland Raiders began a drastic retooling of their defense. This was the only year between 1967 and 1978, that they failed to make the playoffs.
Winners of four straight western division championships, the nucleus of the teams from 1967 and 1970 was gone.
Defensive linemen Ben Davidson, Dan Birdwell and Ike Lassiter had left the team. Linebackers Gus Otto and Bill Laskey, as well as, defensive backs Rodger Bird and Dave Grayson were also gone.
The nucleus of the championship teams of the early and mid-1970's included;
linemen Tony Cline, Otis Sistrunk, and Art Thoms, as well as, linebackers Gerald Irons and Phil Villapiano, and defensive backs Jack Tatum, Nemiah Wilson and Alonzo "Skip" Thomas, all newcomers.
Starting as a rookie, Villapiano was one of two first year players to join the Raiders defense in 1971, Jack Tatum being the other. As strong side linebacker, Villapiano opened up somewhat unexpectedly. His predecessor, Ralph "Chip" Oliver had also been a rookie starter in 1968 from U.S.C.
The Raiders liked Oliver, but the 1960's slowly turned him into a hippie, and he began to dislike establishment indulgences like professional football. After the 1968 season, Oliver took his macrobiotic diet and drove off to a north woods commune. He had been living in his Volkswagen van for a time, parked in the Oakland Coliseum. When he drove away, he left football and the Raiders behind forever.
The Raiders drafted Phil Villapiano in 1971, partly because he reminded them of Chip Oliver. Oliver had been an instinctive player with quickness, agility, and hostility, traits that the Raiders desired in an outside linebacker.
Phil was not as refined in his pass defense as Oliver, but more than compensated for it with a love for contact, a trait that he seemed to have been born with.
Although the Raiders knew that putting Tatum and Villapiano in the lineup in 1971 would mean living with rookie mistakes, they were also building a defense for the future. One fact became clear when they played, that Tatum and Villapiano were the team's two best tacklers. Al Davis was willing to overlook their mistakes, knowing that they would be corrected with time.
In 1971, the Raiders finished second in the western division behind Kansas City, but Villapiano was named to the rookie all-pro team. In his third season, Villapiano was in the Pro Bowl, and the Raiders were back to winning their division.
Phil Villapiano had something special that made him Raider material, "linebacker's eyes," a term used by John Madden. It described the spark that gleamed at the very prospect of savage contact.
Super Bowl XI was the high point of Villapiano's career. The following year things would begin to change. Traveling to Pittsburgh to settle a score about Oakland's superiority, they played a game so fierce that Villapiano suffered a knee injury that took him out for the year. Pittsburgh had claimed that Oakland won the AFC Championship in 1976 because Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier were injured. Madden and the Raiders believed their victory had been tarnished by Pittsburgh's claim, and wouldn't be vindicated until they played again.
In the game that Villapiano injured his knee, the Raiders validated their Super Bowl victory by beating the Steelers 16-7. Their victory came with a price though. Along with Villapiano, Cliff Branch, Clarence Davis, Jack Tatum and John Vella were also injured.
Of the 1977 team, Phil Villapiano had come in with the nucleus of six years earlier. Villapiano's knee would never be the same. After two more years with the Raiders, he was traded to the Buffalo Bills.
It was time once again for the Raiders to rebuild their defense...
Phil Villapiano has been a long time friend of the Jersey Shore Raiders Booster Club. Through his help and support this booster club has become a reality. Phil is chairman of the New Jersey ALS/MDA Charities in New Jersey. The Jersey Shore Raiders Booster Club, in cooperation with Phil Villapiano, is honored to to work along with Phil in the annual "Field of Hope" charity event. This weekend long gala affair is an opportunity to raise money for the ALS/MDA Charities of New Jersey.
The Jersey Shore Raiders Booster Club would like to take this opportunity to thank Phil for his support of our booster club, and to pledge our support to the ALS/MDA Charities. |
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| Phil's Big Thrill |
| Former Raiders LB Phil Villapiano goes back to The Black Hole to watch a thrilling OT victory over the Jets. |
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