Jim Otto

James Edwin Otto (born January 5, 1938 in Wausau, Wisconsin) is an American football center. He played first for Win Brockmeyer at Wausau High School then at the University of Miami (Florida). He also played linebacker.

After no National Football League team showed interest in the undersized center, Otto signed with the Oakland Raiders of the new American Football League. He was issued uniform #50 for the AFL's inaugural season, 1960, but switched to his familiar #00 the next season. This number was originally permitted for him by the AFL as a marketing gimmick since his jersey number 00 is a homonym pun of his name (aught-O). Jim Otto worked diligently to build his body up to his normal playing weight of 250 pounds.

For the next fifteen years Jim Otto became a fixture at center for the Raiders, never missing a single game due to injury — and there were many of them. Including pre-season, regular season and post-season games, Otto competed in 308 total games when, arguably, for the sake of his body, he should have retired far sooner.

To this day, Jim Otto embodies the toughness and determination the Raiders began to ferment in the mid-1960s, after Al Davis took control of the team and later hired John Madden as head coach.

Jim Otto was one of only 20 players to play for the entire ten-year existence of the American Football League. He was an All-Star in 12 of his 15 seasons and was named the starting center on the All-AFL team. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, the first year he was eligible. Since 1995, he has worked for the Raiders in the department of special projects and is active in the business world.

As a show of respect, he always calls Al Davis "Mr. Davis."

The Price

Nearly 40 surgeries. 28 knee operations (nine of them during his playing career alone.) Multiple joint replacements. Other joints riddled with arthritis. Debilitating back and neck problems. One time, Otto nearly died on the operating table. He also fought off three life-threatening bouts of infections due to his artificial joints, and during one six-month stretch, was without a proper right knee joint because he had to wait for the infection to clear up before another artificial one could be implanted. Today, Jim Otto is handicapped. And he says he wouldn't change a thing if given the opportunity to do it over again. It's detailed, proudly, in his book, "The Pain of Glory" (ISBN 1582610665,) published in 2000.

But, Jim Otto also knows tragedy that has nothing to do with football. In 1997, his daughter, Jennifer, a 39-year-old mother of four, died from a blood clot, and in 2002, Otto himself, was stricken with prostate cancer. It is currently in remission.

Jim was most recently in the news for criticizing current Cleveland Browns center LeCharles Bentley, who requested to wear the "00" in a tribute to Otto. Otto's response was that it was "ridiculous".

"To let him wear my number, that I built into a legacy, all it takes is one ounce of coke up his nose and that legacy is gone," Otto said. "I don’t know who he is. I played 15 years with the Raiders. He’s played, what, three or four years in New Orleans? What kind of legacy would he give double zero? I don’t think he should wear it, and I don’t think anyone in the NFL should wear it."

Bentley is an All-Pro center in the NFL with no history of drug use or any other legal issues during his NFL career.

See also

• List of American Football League players

External links

• Jim Otto profile @ NNDB
• Jim Otto's page at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Jim Otto cards
• Jim Otto profile at RaidersOnline