1968 "AFL" Oakland Raiders Autographed by Team Football Hall of Famers - Blanda, Brown, Otto, Shell & Upshaw Start Price USD 11,700.00 Current Price USD 11,700.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, November 19, 2008 End Time Saturday, November 29, 2008 Location Kenner, LA See more about '1968 "AFL" Oakland Raiders Autographed by Team Football' Description Forty-four of the 50 players from the AFL 1968 Oakland Raiders season autographed this football.  Of those 44, five are in the Football Hall of Fame!  It has been in our family since the late 60's.  It sat in our dad’s office for 40 years on top of his bookcases perched on a wood base, encased in a plexi-glass dome and away from little hands.  Several of the Raiders worked with my dad in transportation sales off-season from 1968 through the 1970’s.  George Blanda (Quarterback and Kicker) personally gave this ball to him.  (For those of you who might see this auction and know my dad, he is now 80 years old and mother is keeping him going.)    As you can see from the photos, the face of the ball reads:    Spalding AFL Logo (Eagle) American Football League Pete Rozelle, football commissioner   We wondered why Pete Rozelle's name was on this 1968 AFL ball.  Our research found that in 1966 the AFL agreed to merge with the NFL but did not officially merge until 1970.  Pete Rozelle was the commissioner of the NFL from January 1960 through 1989.  Before the merge, the AFL used only Spalding balls and the NFL used Wilson.  In 1967, the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs met for Super Bowl I.  They actually used different balls on the offense as a compromise measure.  NFL balls featuring “The Duke,” as its moniker, were manufactured by the Wilson Sporting Goods Company and used from the 1930s until 1969.  The AFL used the Spalding J5-V football, which had a more tapered shape.  Pete Rozelle’s name was engraved on those 1967 Spalding balls.  We assume that Spalding must have started engraving Pete Rozelle’s name on all of their Spalding balls after the announcement of the merger in 1966.   (See, http://www.jacksonville.com/superbowl/history/football.shtml for a photograph of the type of balls used in Super Bowl I.)    Below, are the names of the players that autographed the football, their jersey numbers, college attended, season, position and Hall of Famers.  We also named the six men that did not sign the ball.     Jersey No. First Name Last Name College Seasons Played for the Raiders Position Hall of Fame 16 George Blanda Kentucky 1967-1975 QB-K 1981 24 Willie Brown Grambling 1967-1978 DB 1984 00, 50 Jim Otto Miami 1960-1974 C 1980 78 Art Shell Maryland St. 1968-1981 TE 1989 63 Gene Upshaw Texas A&M 1967-1981 G 1987 43 George Atkinson Morris Brown 1968-1977 DB   40 Pete Banaszak Miami 1966-1978 RB   50 Duane Benson Hamline 1967-1971 LB   21 Roger Bird Kentucky 1966-1968 DB   53 Dan Birdwell Houston 1962-1969 DT   48 Bill Budness Boston Univ. 1964-1970 LB   33 Bill Cannon LSU 1964-1969 TE   55, 60 Dan Conners Miami 1964-1974 LB   83 Ben Davidson Washington 1964-1971 DE   19 Cotton Davidson Baylor 1962-66 & 1968-69 QB-K   10 Eldridge Dickey Tennessee 1968-1971 WR   35 Hewritt Dixon Florida A&M 1966-1970 RB   71 Al Dotson Grambling 1968-1970 DT   11 Mike Eischeid Upper Iowa 1966-1971 K   86 Bill Fairband Colorado St. 1967-1968 LB   45 Dave Grayson Oregon St. 1965-1970 DB   30 Roger Hagberg Minnesota 1965-1969 RB   70 Jim Harvey Ole Miss 1966-1971 G   65 Wayne Hawkins Pacific 1960-1970 G   52 Jerry Hopkins Texas A&M 1968 LB   74 Tom Keating Michigan 1966-67 & 1969-72 DT   88 Dave Kocourek Wisconsin 1967-1968 TE   62 Bob Kruse Wayne State 1967-1968 G   3 Daryle Lamonica Notre Dame 1967-1974 QB-K   77 Issac (Ike) Lassiter St. Augustine 1965-1969 DE   89 Bill Miller Miami 1963, 1966-1968 WR   85 Carleton Oats Florida A&M 1965-1972 DT   61 Dave Ogas San Diego St. 1968 LB   56 Chip Oliver USC 1968-1969 LB   34, 45 Gus Otto Missouri 1965-1972 LB   20 Warren Powers Nebraska 1963-1968 DB   37 Preston Ridlehuber Georgia 1968 RB   41 John Roderick SMU 1968 WR   54 Karl Rubke USC 1968 DE   71, 79 Harry Schuh Memphis 1965-1970 TE   23 Charlie H. Smith Utah 1968-1974 RB   76 Bob Svihus USC 1965-1970 TE   81 Warren Wells Texas So. 1967-1970 WR   29 Howie Williams Howard 1964-1969 DB   THESE PLAYERS WERE ON THE TEAM BUT DID NOT AUTOGRAPH THIS BALL 14, 25 Fred Biletnikoff FSU 1965-1978 WR 1988 82 John Eason Florida A&M 1968 TE   47 Kent McCloughan Nebraska 1965-1970 DB   49 Dave Morrison SW Texas St. 1968 DB   22 Larry Todd ASU 1965-1970 RB   26, 48 Nemiah Wilson Grambling 1968-1974 DB     Later this week we will be posting our dad’s autographed 1972 LA Rams team football on E-Bay.  Harry Schuh played for the Oakland Raiders and LA Rams.  Therefore, his autograph is on both balls.    If interested in the Rams football, please check it out at:  www.stores.ebay.com/Turbos-Garage-Sale-Outlet.  If you have any questions, comments (or corrections), please feel free to e-mail me at turbosgaragesale@gmail.com.   Good luck and happy bidding! Turbo   Place a Bid!