The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders began play in the American Football League (AFL) in 1960 and joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger of 1970.

The Raiders were formed in 1960, taking a spot in the newly desinged AFL that had been vacated when the owners of the as-yet unnamed Minneapolis-Saint Paul franchise reneged on its agreement with the AFL and joined the NFL as the Minnesota Vikings. The city of Oakland took Minneapolis-Saint Paul's place in the league and inherited their inaugural draft selections, and the Raiders began play in the 1960 American Football League season. The team relocated to Los Angeles for thirteen seasons, 1982 to 1994. They returned to Oakland in 1995.

During their first three seasons, the Raiders struggled both on and off the field. In 1963, Al Davis was brought to the team as head coach and general manager, and from 1963 until 2002 the team had only seven losing seasons. As members of the AFL they won one league championship (1967), three division titles (1967, 1968, 1969), and appeared in one Super Bowl (II). Since joining the NFL when the leagues merged in 1970, the Raiders have won twelve division titles, three Super Bowls (XI, XV, XVIII), and one other conference title (winning the AFC before losing in Super Bowl XXXVII). Thirteen former players have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Dennis Allen (1951–1987) was a Melbourne based drug dealer who was reported to have murdered many victims. He was the oldest son of criminal matriarch Kath Pettingill. He died of heart disease in 1987 in prison custody awaiting trial for murder.

Allen, nicknamed Mr. Death or Mr. D, was believed to have been involved in up to 13 underworld murders, including the dismembering of a Hells Angels biker with a chainsaw. One victim who survived was guitarist Chris Stockley of The Dingoes, whom Allen shot in the stomach while attempting to gatecrash a party. Allen received a ten-year prison sentence for rape during the 1970s. It is also reported that he was a major drug dealer in the Richmond and South Yarra areas of Melbourne during the 1980s. New South Wales Police Detective-Sergeant Roger Rogerson was convicted of supplying heroin in a deal with Allen, but was acquitted following appeal.

Allen died in 1987 of heart failure; "pieces of his heart actually broke off after decades of heavy drug abuse". He was buried by Father Peter Norden, a Jesuit priest who buried three members of the Pettingill family during the 1980s.

Amy Trask (born 1961) is the current CEO of the Oakland Raiders, hired in 1997. Trask is currently the only female CEO in the NFL.

Trask grew up in the Brentwood district of Los Angeles and graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 1982 with a degree in political science and with a law degree from the USC Gould School of Law. She became a fan of the Oakland Raiders while attending Berkeley and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While attending law school, Trask interned for the Raiders; the team was based in Los Angeles at that time.

Usama Young (born May 8, 1985) is an American football free safety in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Kent State University.

Usama was born in the North East section of Washington D.C. to Dr. Khaula Muratdha and Leroi A. Young. Usama is the youngest son of their four boys. Usama Young attended Largo High School in Largo, Maryland and was a letterman in football, baseball, and track. He started to play football at the age of 8. As the youngest, Usama was given the opportunity to learn from his older brothers who pushed him to never cry, complain or make excuses. When Usama was 12 he was playing football in a local pee-wee football game. During the middle of the game a rabid dog ran onto the field and terrorized the young players, coaches and family members who were on the sidelines watching. To everyone's surprise the twelve year old Usama was able to tackle the dog, tie the dog up using the chains from the down markers and successfully restore order to the pee-wee football game.^{[citation needed]}

Terrelle Pryor (born June 20, 1989) is an American football quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2008−2010. Considered the most recruited high school football-basketball athlete in southwestern Pennsylvania since Tom Clements, Pryor was widely regarded as the nation's top football prospect of 2008, and was named "Junior of the Year" by Rivals.com. Pryor originally hoped to be a two-sport athlete as he was also one of the nation's most heralded high school basketball players, but later chose to focus on football.

At Jeannette High School, Pryor was clocked at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, and because of his athleticism and 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) frame, he drew comparisons to former Texas standout Vince Young. Pryor also lived up to his recruiting ranking as a basketball player by leading the Jeannette Jayhawks to win their first WPIAL Championship in over 20 years, and then on to win the Pennsylvania PIAA state basketball championship game as a senior. During his junior year, he led the Jayhawks to their first Pennsylvania PIAA Class "AA" state football championship game where they lost to the Warriors of Wilson Area High School. During the 2007 football season, Pryor and the Jayhawks repeated as champions of the WPIAL. In the Pennsylvania state semi-finals against Wilmington, Terrelle became the first player in Pennsylvania history to run for 4,000 yards and also throw for 4,000 yards. The following week, Pryor led the Jayhawks to their first-ever Pennsylvania state championship by defeating the Dunmore Bucks, 49-21. At the conclusion of the season, Pryor had quarterbacked the Jayhawks to a Pennsylvania state season record of 860 points. Pryor's high school accomplishments include being the two-time Pennsylvania Player of the Year, the offensive Player of the Year and the MVP of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.