Fifty-six years ago this month, on October 25, 1970, Oakland Raiders backup quarterback and kicker George Blanda came off the bench at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and threw three touchdown passes in a 31-14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was 43 years old, the oldest player on the field that day. The afternoon started a five-game stretch in which Blanda produced four wins and one tie with late touchdown passes and field goals — a run that still defines his Hall of Fame career.
Same calendar date, different October: six years earlier, Jim Marshall had run the wrong way at Kezar Stadium. You can read that story in our Marshall feature. Blanda’s day was the opposite kind of memory.
Lamonica goes down, Blanda takes over
The Raiders came in at 2-2-1, a step down from the 12-1-1 season they had just finished. Daryle Lamonica started at quarterback. He threw a 37-yard touchdown to rookie tight end Raymond Chester in the first quarter, and George Blanda kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
Lamonica then left with a back injury. Blanda, already the team’s placekicker, moved under center. Early in the second quarter, Pittsburgh’s Preston Pearson ran in from 2 yards to tie the game at 7-7. From there, Blanda ran the show.
Three touchdowns and a field goal
Blanda hit Warren Wells for 44 yards and a touchdown. He added a 27-yard field goal. Then he found Chester again, this time from 19 yards, and Oakland led 24-7 at the half. In the third quarter Terry Bradshaw threw a 12-yard touchdown to Dennis Hughes to cut it to 24-14, but Blanda answered with another strike to Chester, this one from 43 yards, for the final 31-14 margin.
Chester finished with five catches for 107 yards and three touchdowns — one from Lamonica and two from Blanda. Wells had two catches for 67 yards and the long score. Hewritt Dixon ran 19 times for 106 yards. Blanda himself was 7 of 12 for 148 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, plus the field goal and all four extra points. Bradshaw threw four interceptions.
| Quarter | Scoring play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Raymond Chester 37-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) | OAK 7–0 |
| 2nd | Preston Pearson 2-yard run (Gene Mingo kick) | 7–7 |
| 2nd | Warren Wells 44-yard pass from George Blanda (Blanda kick) | OAK 14–7 |
| 2nd | George Blanda 27-yard field goal | OAK 17–7 |
| 2nd | Raymond Chester 19-yard pass from George Blanda (Blanda kick) | OAK 24–7 |
| 3rd | Dennis Hughes 12-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Mingo kick) | OAK 24–14 |
| 3rd | Raymond Chester 43-yard pass from George Blanda (Blanda kick) | OAK 31–14 |
| George Blanda on Oct. 25, 1970 | Total |
|---|---|
| Completions–attempts | 7–12 |
| Passing yards | 148 |
| Touchdown passes | 3 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Field goals | 1 (27 yards; 1 of 3 on the day) |
| Extra points | 4 |
| Rushes–yards | 1–0 |
What came next: four more weeks
The Steelers game was only the start. Over the next four weeks, Blanda kept bailing Oakland out:
Nov. 1 at Kansas City: a 48-yard field goal with three seconds left tied the Chiefs 17-17 and put the Raiders alone atop the AFC West on percentage points.
Nov. 8 vs. Cleveland: Lamonica left again, this time with a shoulder injury. Blanda threw a 14-yard touchdown to Wells to tie the game with 1:36 left, then kicked a 52-yard field goal with three seconds remaining for a 23-20 win.
Nov. 15 at Denver: another late-game entry, and a touchdown pass to Fred Biletnikoff with 2:28 left for a 24-19 win.
Nov. 22 vs. San Diego: Lamonica stayed healthy all day, but Blanda still kicked a 16-yard field goal in the final seconds for a 20-17 win.
Four wins and one tie in five weeks, at age 43, as a backup who also kicked. The Raiders finished 8-4-2 and reached the AFC Championship Game. Baltimore won that one 27-17, and Blanda accounted for all 17 of Oakland’s points with two touchdown passes and a field goal. He was named the 1970 Male Athlete of the Year.
A 26-season career
Blanda’s path to that October afternoon had already been long. He spent 10 seasons with the Chicago Bears, seven with the Houston Oilers — including two AFL titles — and nine with Oakland as the full-time kicker and emergency quarterback. He played 26 professional seasons, still the most in league history, threw 236 touchdown passes and scored 2,002 points. He was a month shy of his 49th birthday when he retired before the 1976 season. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted him in 1981.
Watch: the 1970 run
The first clip is a look at the 1970 Raiders and Blanda’s stretch of late wins. The second is Bill King’s radio calls of the comebacks.
For more October history on WhyNFL, read October 25, 1964: Jim Marshall’s wrong-way run, October 27, 2002: Emmitt Smith passes Payton and October 24, 1971: Chuck Hughes. For today’s team, see the Raiders team page and the Steelers team page.
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