John Vella, Raiders and USC legend, dies at 74

The Las Vegas Raiders lost one of their very own this week. John Vella, a legendary player for the Raiders and the USC Trojans, passed away at the age of 74 years old. The Las Vegas franchise issued a message of mourning on his passing on Wednesday evening on their Twitter page.

“The Raiders Family mourns the passing of John Vella, a standout on the dominant Raider offensive lines of the 1970s and a starter on Oakland’s Super Bowl XI Championship team. Vella originally joined the Raiders as a second-round draft selection in 1972 out of USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors as a tackle in 1971. A versatile performer and a ferocious competitor, Vella played both guard and tackle, seeing action in 84 games with 48 starts in eight seasons with the Silver and Black. He finished his career with Minnesota in 1980. The prayers of the entire Raider Nation are with the Vella family at this time,” the statement read.

After retiring, Vella decided to go in the sports memorabilia business that continued to do extremely well, even after he was sued by the NFL in 2003. There was an accusation that his merchandise sales were violating NFL trademarks. Vella noted that the league came after him, but Raiders owner Al Davis remained a supporter of his business.

The Las Vegas Raiders went 4-13 overall this year, ranking them fourth in the AFC West. They return Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers, but the Silver and Black decided to go out and get a legitimate quarterback this offseason. They made a deal for Geno Smith, former quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks.

Smith saw a career renaissance in Seattle under Pete Carroll, making back-to-back Pro Bowls under his watch. He broke out in 2022, completing 69.8% of his passes for 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns – setting career-highs in all three categories at the time. His numbers dipped a bit in 2023 while missing two games, but he still totaled 3,624 yards and 20 touchdowns.

After Carroll’s departure, Seattle brought in Mike MacDonald as head coach and Ryan Grubb in as offensive coordinator, which resulted in more of a pass-heavy attack. Smith once again had a career year, completing 70.4% of his passes for 4,320 yards and 21 touchdowns.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.