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.

Jack Del Rio (born April 4, 1963) is an American football coach, a former player, and is currently defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. Del Rio played both football and baseball for the University of Southern California Trojans, and then spent eleven years playing linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He retired from playing in 1996 and went into coaching, serving in a variety of positions for several different NFL teams. In 2003 he was named head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, a position he held until November 29, 2011.

Del Rio was born in Castro Valley, California. He attended and played both baseball and football for Hayward High School in Hayward, California. He and former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu were teammates in both sports while there.

Del Rio was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball team out of high school in 1981, but he opted instead to attend college. He enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he played both baseball and football for the USC Trojans. In football he was an All-American linebacker and was voted Most Valuable Player of the 1985 Rose Bowl. During his senior year he earned consensus All-America honors as a senior and was runner-up for the Lombardi Award. In baseball he batted .340 while playing catcher on a team that also included future Major League Baseball players Mark McGwire and Randy Johnson.

William Scott Musgrave (born November 11, 1967 in Grand Junction, Colorado) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is currently the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.

A standout athlete at Grand Junction High School, Musgrave was named the Colorado High School Athlete of the Year in 1985. Musgrave started four years for the University of Oregon, and was captain for three. Musgrave led the Ducks to back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in school history. In 1990, as a Senior, Musgrave was named team MVP, 1990 first-team all-conference quarterback, GTE Academic All-American of the Year, and earned a Scholar-Athlete Award by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. Musgrave was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2000. Musgrave is the team's career leader for passing yardage (8343).

Drafted in the fourth round by the Dallas Cowboys, Musgrave was released in camp, but played with the San Francisco 49ers in 1991 and 1993 under head coach George Seifert and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan. Musgrave went with Shanahan to Denver, where he played in 1995-96, and was released in preseason 1997.

Darren McFadden (born August 27, 1987) is an American football running back who currently plays for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Arkansas from 2005 to 2007. McFadden was drafted fourth overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 2008 NFL Draft.

McFadden graduated from Oak Grove High School in North Little Rock, Arkansas. A widely touted recruit, he chose to attend the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he would become a two-time member of the Associated Press All-America team as a tailback for the Razorbacks in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, he became the first sophomore to win the Doak Walker Award, the award honoring the nation's top collegiate running back. He joined Ricky Williams as only the second two-time winner after taking home the award again in 2007. McFadden also won the 2007 Walter Camp Award as the nation's best player and was also the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy two years in a row in 2006 and 2007.