SUPER BOWL XV, XVII CHAMP TOM FLORES  

Born March 21, 1937, Fresno, CA

Graduated From University of the Pacific in 1958

"Here you are walking down the sidelines with less then a minute to play and you know that you’re World Champions and that you and your team will be put down in history as one of the best of all times is a feeling that is hard to describe in words.  You never really want that feeling or moment to end but”…Super Bowl Coach Tom Flores

By Larry Garcia: Raiderdrive.com

The AFL was established in 1960 and the Oakland Raiders who was the last city to be awarded a franchise picked up Tom Flores a rookie out of Pacifica.  Tom Flores competed with another QB by the name of Babe Parilli. Tom Flores became the team's starting quarterback early in the season and led the league by completing 54.0 percent of his passes, throwing for 1,738 yards and 12 touchdowns.  

The Raiders had it rough; not being the 8^th member of the new AFL but the last to be awarded a franchise had very little talent to select from the remaining crop of players.  At that time the Raiders had no home in Oakland (coliseum) and played at Kezar Stadium and Candlestick Park in San Francisco Calif. and Frank Youell Field in Oakland Calif.

  Flores had his most productive season in 1966 by completing 49.3 percent of his attempts; he passed for 2,638 yards and 24 touchdowns in 14 games.

  In 1967 Tom Flores was traded to Buffalo by the Oakland Raiders, was then released to Kansas City and retired as a player in 1970.

  In 1979 Tom Flores took on the role as Coach for the Silver & Black Oakland Raiders and moved on with the team to L.A. in 1982. In nine seasons, Flores directed the Raiders to three first-place division finishes and Super Bowl victories after the 1980 and 1983 seasons.

First QB And On To Be Recognized As A Legend, Who Would Have Known?

 “I was the very first QuarterBack for the Raiders. During our first year we played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco back in 1960.  I’m an original Raider and spent the first seven years of my playing career with the Raiders. I got traded to buffalo and then ended up in Kansas City.  I came back to the Raiders, started coaching for them back in 1972 as an assistant, and became the Head Coach in 1979 after Coach Madden retired.  I have spent 23 years of my professional life with the Raiders,” said Tom Flores.

  RD: “Coach, back in 1972, what position did you start off coaching?”

  Tom Flores:  “When I first came back (to the Raiders) they had an opening. I had an interview with John Madden and became an Assistant Coach and coached the Wide Receivers, Tight Ends and Quarterbacks.  I mainly focused on the passing game for the team and from their on Madden retired. I went to Mr. Davis and put my name in the hat for the Head Coaching job.  After several interviews, I was finally hired as Head Coach for the Oakland Raiders.”

  RD: “Can you share with us some of your most memorable moments as a coach for the Oakland Raiders?”

  Tom Flores: “One of the first games I coached as a Head Coach was a memorable game because we played in the Hall of Fame game in 1979 and we went against the Dallas Cowboys coached by Tom Landry who’s always been one of the class acts of the NFL. 

  The most memorable time of any championship or big game was our Super Bowl after the 1980 season because we won it as a Wild Card.  We had many guys on that team who we had resurrected, Jim Plunkett being one of them plus it was my second year as a head coach and there were many obstacles we had to overcome.  We were able to do so with guys like Jim Plunkett, Bob Chandler, Burgess Owens, Cedrick Hartman, Kenny King, Cliff Branch who was always a factor, and with many veteran players who knew how to win like Upshaw, Hendricks, Shell.... and just so many players names I can throw out.  It was a tremendous feat winning as a Wild Card. Playing on the road, we were the first to do so, and it took many-many years for someone else to do it. 

  We had Rod Martin as a rookie, we had let him go and then brought him back.  We had guys who had one more year left in their bodies and they gave everything they had that year!  All the pieces of the puzzle fit and we were able to win the Super Bowl at the right time!”

  RD:  “In your estimation which is the best team you ever had over all?”

  Flores:  “The 1980 team was the most memorable victory.  We had talent, there’s no question about that because when you’ve got guys like Raymond Chester, Branch, Upshaw, Shell, Dave Dalby, Hendricks and Rod Martin that’s a great group of guys but we weren’t a real good football team because we were just starting to put them all together.  We were just able to rise to the occasion and at the end of the season we were the best!  In 1983 we were the best, I think that was the greatest team!  Now you can argue that the 1976 team was as great one too, but those are probably two of the greatest teams in Raider History! “

   RD: “I can recall that 1983 team was the band of pirates that just kept getting stronger and stronger with each game and pretty much manhandled every opponent in the playoffs!”

Flores:  “Oh yeah, we had three playoff games including the Super Bowl and none of those games were even close!  At that point we were just as good as you can get.  Defensively we were playing outstanding and Offensively we were just rolling.  We ran right through teams 35-13, 28-10 and 38-9 in the Super Bowl you might want to check those scores but we were just blowing people out!”

RD: “Coach, how do you get a group of grown men to respect you as a coach, especially a team of bad boy misfits, and get them to play hard and buy into you and the organizations system?”

   Flores: “The one thing you have to have is the ability to lead and direct intelligently because the players aren’t fools.  They’re either going to buy what you’re telling them or not.  If you tell them and teach them properly with success, then they will follow you.  They want someone to lead them as well as wanting someone to discipline them.  The key is that you must be consistent and treat them like men.  We never made it a military type atmosphere, but they still had to be on time for meals, bed check, and meetings, practice hard and play hard!

RD:  “Coach, when things aren’t going good, you’re laying in bed at night and these issues or a defeat consumes you, does that take a lot of time away from your family and other things in life?”

Flores:  “More or less, coaching is so consuming and you spend every waking hour and even the hours when you’re sleeping your still in thought.  It’s a profession where you don’t leave it at the office. When you go home you take it with you and it’s a profession where you have a good number players then any other professional sport as a Head Coach.  You’ve got fifty some players, sixteen or seventeen coaches, water boys and all sorts of other personnel you’re responsible for and you’re the guy!  When you go home you take those problems with you. I know I did, and you even have to solve those problems while you’re at home. Even the off season isn’t an off season anymore because you have to deal with Free-Agency, Mini-Camps, Evaluation Camp, College Bowl Games…there is very little rest as Head Coach.

RD: “Captivating that Super Bowl and being hoisted onto your players shoulders with all eyes and cameras on you must be a fantastic experience and maybe your finest moment!”

Flores: “Well, it’s a great feeling and it’s hard to explain to put in words.  Here you are walking down the sidelines with less then a minute to play and you know that you’re NFL World Champions and that you and your team will be put down in history as one of the best of all times is a feeling that is hard to describe in words.  You never really want that feeling or moment to end but you know that when reality sets in that you have to get back and get and ready for next year.  So you really don’t have a lot of time, I remember when we won in Tampa after the 1983 season; I was still living in a hotel room back in Los Angeles. We (Raiders) had just moved down there the year before and I gave the coaches a month off because they were all away from their family and living in hotels.

  RD:  If I can recall, I remember Ron Jaworski had no respect for you guys as a championship team or a threat for that matter.  He talked a lot of trash about you Raiders back then and was very confident that they would be victorious and become Super Bowl Champs.

Ron Jaworski In Super Bowl XV ran for his life most of the game and at the end of defeat he knew they real.

 Flores: “Yes, I can remember some of that, and at the time I tried not to pay too much attention to all the talk they were doing. But the players couldn’t help but to salivate and we were just doing them a big favor by showing up at the game.  As a matter of fact at my first press conference for the Super Bowl I introduced myself as the coach of the Oakland Raiders, I got no reaction and the writers had no sense of humor anyway!   People asked me why I did that and I told then because nobody knew who I was, they all knew who Dick Vermal was.  It was Dick Vermal’s Eagles or Al Davis’s Raiders or the feud between Pete Roselle and Davis, but nothing about Tom Flores’ Raiders! (Laughing)

RD:  So now here you are, an Hispanic coach and that’s one of the things that Al Davis didn’t care about, he didn’t care whom or what ethnic or race you were, just as long as you produced wins.  But how did it feel being in that situation as a Hispanic and running the Silver & Black to two Super Bowls?”

  Flores: “Well, we had Art Shell who was one of the first black coaches and we always knew the doors were open but I have to be honest with you I didn’t really think about it to much at the time.  Your to busy to even think about what color you are, the only time that I did realize it was when I looked at my driver’s license or when I looked in the mirror every once in a while.  The way I was brought up I promised my mother that I would always remember who I am as well as all my friends.  When it was finally all over and done with, I would travel to take some time out, that’s when I would notice the Latino’s all around the country, who they represent, the flag and what we stand for and you shared.”

RD:  “Now you’re off to Seattle, a divisional rival of the Raiders, was that difficult to handle for you as a coach and as an individual?”

  Flores: “For me Seattle was not a tough road because I was out of football for just a short awhile when it happened.  I took the year off because I was exhausted and really needed to get away.  After that year off I was offered the job with Seattle and it was the game of football that I loved to play as a coach just like John Madden.  I was with Seattle for two years and then Seattle’s owner wanted to make a change and asked me to coach.  That’s the real reason why I coached; I wasn’t really even planning on going back to coaching but the owner asked for help and I took the offer.”

  RD:  “I bet they offered you a handsome package that you couldn’t refuse?”

  Flores:  “No, not really, just renewed my contract, there wasn’t any package at all.  I wish there was though, there was supposed to be but it just never materialized.”

Enjoying Life, Live and Let Live

  What is Mr. Tom Flores (Super Champ) doing as of now?  He's with the Raider “Flag Station” doing game commentary and other things to keep him busy.  As he was once not just an ordinary head coach, he was a coach that took the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories and took his problems home with him.  Now Mr. Flores is a much less stressful individual.

  “We’ll Al Davis has me listed as a consultant," said Tom Flores. "Which means that I’m just a Raider fan. (Laughing)  As you know I’ve been a long time Raider and I really enjoy doing radio.  It gives me a chance to be close to the game that I still have a passion for today.  I give you my picks on Sunday’s, the victories, the agonies of defeat and get to go home and forget about it on Mondays'."

 "Right now at this point of my life I’m really enjoying myself.  It’s a lot more fun to do a game when they’re winning than when they’re losing.  When they lose you have to be very creative and when they fumble you have to make it sound exciting too" (laughing), said Flores.

FIRE IN THE ICEMAN

Mr. Flores has a book published that he has also been promoting called Fire In The IceMan.

Tom Flores:  “It’s a book that I’ve had out for about 7 years now.  It’s a good book and the perfect timing for this book would’ve been when I left the Raiders in Los Angeles California, the Bay Area and the central valley where I spent most of my early years.  The publishers wanted to wait because I went to Seattle and maybe get another market and that was a mistake.  He didn’t want to put the money into promoting it because of me going to Seattle.  People in my own town didn’t even know about the book or where to get it.  So I ended up buying out all the issues, it’s the first addition and I use it now for my foundation.  Everything that I make on this book goes to my “Tom Flores Youth Foundation” in California.

The book “Fire In The IceMan” supplements and enhances kids in their educational experience in the eleven kindergartens and 8^th grade schools in my district.  The funds for this book helps them out in science, fine arts and sports.  We’re trying to make schools in the area a little more enjoyable for some of the area’s that don’t have the finances anymore.”

The book is great, I (Larry Garcia) had the pleasuer of reading it. Fire in The IceMan has some great-great stories of Tom Flores as a youth growing up along with pictures of him and his family.  Did you know that Tom Flores started in the first grade at the age of 5 because there was no kindergarten at the school he attended and he only had three teachers in the whole school?  Tom Flores didn’t have it easy as a youth; many times he had to attend school without any shoes.  He’s in the book as a youth with his class pictures and no shoes.  The book also tells about Tom’s long road's journey to where he’s at now, from school, friends, family, hard times, Mom, Dad, college, football and coaching.

Raiderdrive would like thank to Mr. Flores for his interview, and looking forward to another sit-down

  Tom Flores: “It was my pleasure Larry, anytime!”

THE SUPER BOWL XV RECAP

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