Oakland Raiders Lighters National Football

Jim Plunkett had an interesting career in the National Football League. One of the most interesting of any quarterback that would go on to be one of the more successful players in a franchise’s history.

Plunkett was a major success at Stanford University where he won the Heisman Trophy and then was drafted with the number one pick by the New England Patriots. He didn’t have outstanding success with the Patriots, and after things had grown more or less stale there he was shipped off to the San Francisco 49ers. His tenure with the 49ers was not any better and a couple of seasons later he found himself on his third NFL roster, that of the Oakland Raiders.

It is with the Raiders that Plunkett would blossom, thanks in huge portion to the a lot of great players the franchise surrounded him with on offense, including Cliff Branch, Todd Christensen, and Marcus Allen. Because of the outstanding deal he has meant to the team, Jim Plunkett will always be a special portion of Raiders history. Here is a look at five interesting facts with regards to Jim Plunkett.

#1 – The team victimized most by Jim Plunkett was the Kansas City Chiefs. The 13 touchdowns he threw versus them for the duration of his career are more than he threw versus any other team.

#2 – The introductory touchdown Jim Plunkett threw in his NFL career happened in a 20-6 victory over the Raiders in 1971 while he was playing for the Patriots. It came in the third quarter, went for 33 yards, and was caught by Ron Sellers.

#3 – During his career, no one caught more touchdown passes from Jim Plunket than the 20 hauled in by Raiders tight end Todd Christensen.

#4 – In his introductory season with the Raiders, he only threw one touchdown pass. It came in the fourth quarter of a 35-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders were trailing 28-0 at the time and it would be there only score of the game. It was a one yard pass to running back Derrick Jensen.

#5 – The most touchdowns Plunkett ever threw in one game was four, and he did it three times, once with each team he played with. He firstborn did it for the Patriots in a 1971 game versus the Buffalo Bills, he then did it for the 49ers in a 1977 game versus the Dallas Cowboys, and then he did it in 1983 for the Raiders in a game versus the Redskins.