NFL buffs like myself are probably familiar with Ted Hendricks, AKA, The Mad Stork, or "Kick 'em in the Head Ted"(a moniker with a contested origin). Hendricks is notably the first Guatemalan born, Guatemalan-American NFL player and Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee. He is 6 feet 7 inches tall, and was a fearsome linebacker drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the 2nd round of the 1969 NFL/AFL Draft. With Baltimore, he won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and earned 2 All Pro nods. He and the Colts won their first Super Bowl in 1970, where Hendricks was a mainstay of a stingy Colts defense.
Speaking of the Super Bowl, pro football's early Super Bowl era was chimeric and contentious. In 1974, Hendricks signed a futures deal to play the 1975 season with the Jacksonville Sharks of the World Football League. Baltimore traded Hendricks to the Green Bay Packers for the 1974 season, where Hendricks earned his 3rd All Pro. The World Football League went bankrupt, and Al Davis traded 2 first round picks to the Colts for the rights to Hendricks.
Hendricks was ubiquitously loved everywhere he played, the Raiders included, in fact, especially. The Raiders teams were full of personalities, and according to most, Hendricks was somewhat of a "police officer," wrangling in some of the wilder off the field and past curfew antics. Interestingly, on his Wikipedia page, it's claimed he didn't start many games during the 1975 season due to a feud between Al Davis and John Madden. In his HOF Induction speech, Hendricks attributed this to a groin injury, and he mentioned how he had to adjust to not playing after already having multiple AP nods under his belt. It's also claimed that in 1978, the Raiders coaches voted unanimously to release Hendricks, and that Davis again vetoed the vote and made them keep Hendricks.
I find this hard to believe given the accounts of how much respect his coaches and his fellow players have for Hendricks. I included the stories because the mystique and mythos of this era of Raiders football is legendary, and if anyone can corroborate one way or the other, I’d love to hear it. Maybe it had something to do with Madden’s 1978 departure, but it eluded my Google-fu.
Hendricks and the Raiders won Super Bowls in 1976, 1980, and 1983. Hendricks went out on top, retiring after the 1983 season. Hendricks was inducted into the HOF in 1990. His professional accolades include his 4 Super Bowl titles, 4 first team All-Pros and 5 second team All-Pros. He's a member of the 1970's All-Decade, 1980's All-Decade, 75th Anniversary All-Time, and 100th Anniversary All-Time teams. He had 26 interceptions, and is credited as the all-time leader in blocked kicks, with 25 blocked punts and kicks for goal in his career. Notably, he finished fifth in Heisman voting in his final year at the University of Miami.
The Other #83
Ben Davidson was drafted by the Giants in the 4th round of the 1961 NFL Draft, but traded to the Packers in the preseason. Davidson stood 6 foot 8, and tipped the scales at over 270 pounds. Early on, he was mainly a special teams player, as part of Vince Lombardi's first NFL Championship team that season. In 1962, he was traded to the Washington Football Team, where he played for 2 seasons. He failed to meet the team's strict weight guidelines and was waived in final cuts before the 1964 season.
Davidson signed with the Oakland Raiders of the AFL for 1964, where he flourished as a pass rusher. He recorded 62 (unofficial) sacks in his career with the Raiders. He earned AFL All-Pro first team honors in 1967, as the Raiders won the AFL title but lost to Lombardi's Packers in their second consecutive Super Bowl victory, and the final of Lombardi's 5 titles.
Davidson was known as a "cheap-shot artist," and an incident in 1970 in which he speared Chiefs QB Len Dawson after Dawson scrambled and slid, led to the creation of the "Davidson rule," which clarified and changed how personal foul penalties were assessed during and after a play, and also specifically made late hits illegal.
Davidson's AFL/NFL career finished after the 1971 season. He made many appearances in several film and TV roles, none very major, but all as the tall and physical imposing presence.
A Tale of Two #83s
Davidson and Hendricks' paths crossed twice. Hendricks' Colts and Davidson's Raiders played each other in the 1970 AFC Championship game(which the Colts won on their way to their first Super Bowl win) and in the 1971 regular season. I couldn't find any historical reference to the fact that both offenses had to contend with 2 towering behemoths of men, standing in the passing lanes, both wearing #83 for their respective teams, in my limited internet searching. Jersey number rules were standardized in 1973, after Davidson retired, and also after Hendricks had been in the league several years already(but before he joined the Raiders in 1975). So, until recently, this coincidence was more of a historical oddity. We may, however see more of them moving forward. It was just super intriguing to me that 2 different Raiders defenders, both standing over 6 feet, 6 inches tall, wore the same jersey number, and were named to All Pro teams.
A Reminder to check on your friends and to go to the doctor
I jumped down this rabbit hole after seeing a clip of an AFL-era Raiders game with someone wearing 83 on defense, and wondering to myself if Ted Hendricks had been on the Raiders that early, and learning that no, he hadn't. In researching this post, I came across some very triumphant achievements and also some of the sadder parts of life that we all have to contend with, and that we have to remember to support each other through.
With the Oakland Raiders, Ben Davidson became dear friends with a teammate, Tom Keating. They both loved motorcycles, and together they made multiple different trips. Two notable trips included a ride from California to the Panama Canal, and also a 4 month, 14,000 thousand mile round trip across the country while they were both with the Raiders.
They both lived long and fulfilling lives it seems, however, they both passed from prostate cancer in 2012, 2 months apart.
As I mentioned earlier, Ted Hendricks was often the life of the party. He was eccentric and fun-loving. He shared this joy for life with teammate John Matuszak. "Tooz" was the 1st overall pick of the 1973 NFL draft, but bounced around a lot and also had his share of hiccups with the early pro football landscape and the WFL. He eventually joined Hendricks and the Raiders in 1976, where he stayed for 7 seasons and helped them to 2 Super Bowl victories, missing out on the 3rd Raiders Super Bowl by one season. This was due to injury however, as he had spent the entire 1982 season on injured reserve.
Matuszak was also an actor, and is arguably most famous for his portrayal of Sloth in the Goonies. Matuszak was characterized as a party animal off the field, but quite honestly it seems like he was a product of his time. He unfortunately died due to an overdose in 1989. Professional sports as a whole, football included, seemed to be intertwined with drinking and partying off the field, and the sport had to have a reckoning as former players started to pay for it especially in the 1990's and 2000's.
If you've read this far, feel free to read the linked article for yourself. Draw what conclusions you may, but remember that these players are people too. In 2002, the Ted Hendricks award began being awarded to the best defensive end in college football. It's presented by the Ted Hendricks Foundation, a foundation with a website truly of the time period. Hendricks is a part of the Hall of Fame Players Association, and previously served as its Vice President. The Association works to assist players, former and present. It's somewhat unclear how active the HOFPA still is, but it seems like from 2002 on, Hendricks's story has had a peaceful ending to his story and transitioned to life after football successfully. Rest in peace to all those mentioned who have passed.
Hope this was as interesting and enjoyable to everyone else as it was to me!