Badasses

They were the NFL’s ultimate outlaws, black-clad iconoclasts who, with a peculiar mix of machismo and brotherhood, of postgrad degrees and firearms, merrily defied pro football corporatism. The Oakland Raiders of the 1970s were some of the most outrageous, beloved, and violent football teams ever to play the game. In this rollicking biography, Peter Richmond tells the story of Oakland’s wrecking crew of psychos, oddballs, and geniuses who won six division titles and a Super Bowl under the brilliant leadership of coach John Madden and owner Al Davis. Richmond goes inside the locker room and onto the field with Ken Stabler, Willie Brown, Fred Biletnikoff, George Atkinson, Phil Villapiano, and the rest of this band of brothers who made the Raiders legendary. Funny, raunchy, and inspiring, Badasses celebrates the ’70s Raiders as the last teams to play professional football the way it was meant to be played: down and very, very dirty.