SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 32,473
- Like
- 62,634
TOM FLORES (born March 21, 1937) 6-1 202 quarterback
Tom “and Mike Ditka are the only two people in National Football League history to win a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach”. He was undrafted as a quarterback out of the College of the Pacific, (where he was a teammate of Rams’ all-timer Dick Bass). “He was cut by the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL in 1958, after which he spent the season with the Salinas Packers of the Pacific Football Conference.” In 1959 he tried out for the Redskins but didn’t make the cut. Still, he was good enough to become the Oakland Raiders’ first quarterback in 1960, “becoming the first-ever Hispanic starting quarterback in professional football”.
He remained their starter through 1966, throwing for 92 touchdowns vs. 83 interceptions. He then gave way to Daryle Lamonica and the great years of the Raiders really began. But Tom had seen the franchise though it’s early days when they had consecutive season of 2-12 and 1-13 records and the team had to be bailed out by Ralph Wilson of the Bills with a $400,000 loan to stay in business. Flores was traded to the Bills in the Lamonica trade, where he became Jack Kemp’s back-up. He was released by the Bills a year later but Hank Stram offered him a spot with the Kanas City Chiefs, which got Tom his only Super Bowl ring as a player. He retired in 1970 and was “the fifth leading passer in AFL history”.
He became a coach and was an assistant for the Bills and then the Raiders, with whom he got a second Super Bowl ring when they beat the Vikings for their first Super Bowl, (XI) championship. He succeeded John Madden as the Raiders’ head coach in 1979 and was their head coach when they won Super Bowls XV and XVIII over the Eagles and Redskins. He was later head coach and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks.
Tom “and Mike Ditka are the only two people in National Football League history to win a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach”. He was undrafted as a quarterback out of the College of the Pacific, (where he was a teammate of Rams’ all-timer Dick Bass). “He was cut by the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL in 1958, after which he spent the season with the Salinas Packers of the Pacific Football Conference.” In 1959 he tried out for the Redskins but didn’t make the cut. Still, he was good enough to become the Oakland Raiders’ first quarterback in 1960, “becoming the first-ever Hispanic starting quarterback in professional football”.
He remained their starter through 1966, throwing for 92 touchdowns vs. 83 interceptions. He then gave way to Daryle Lamonica and the great years of the Raiders really began. But Tom had seen the franchise though it’s early days when they had consecutive season of 2-12 and 1-13 records and the team had to be bailed out by Ralph Wilson of the Bills with a $400,000 loan to stay in business. Flores was traded to the Bills in the Lamonica trade, where he became Jack Kemp’s back-up. He was released by the Bills a year later but Hank Stram offered him a spot with the Kanas City Chiefs, which got Tom his only Super Bowl ring as a player. He retired in 1970 and was “the fifth leading passer in AFL history”.
He became a coach and was an assistant for the Bills and then the Raiders, with whom he got a second Super Bowl ring when they beat the Vikings for their first Super Bowl, (XI) championship. He succeeded John Madden as the Raiders’ head coach in 1979 and was their head coach when they won Super Bowls XV and XVIII over the Eagles and Redskins. He was later head coach and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks.
