Jim Plunkett

James William Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He achieved his greatest success during his final eight seasons with the Raiders franchise, whom he led to two Super Bowl wins.

He played college football for the Stanford Indians, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1970. He was selected first overall by the New England Patriots in the 1971 NFL draft. His tenure with the Patriots was productive, but after an injury-shortened 1975 season he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers, where he played in 1976 and 1977. Released from the 49ers after suffering further injuries, Plunkett signed with the Oakland Raiders in 1978.

Initially serving as a backup for the Raiders, Plunkett became the starting quarterback during the 1980 season and led them to win Super Bowl XV, where he was named MVP. In 1983, Plunkett again ascended from backup to starter to quarterback the relocated Los Angeles Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XVIII. He and Eli Manning are the only eligible quarterbacks with two Super Bowl wins as a starter not to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

Plunkett was born to Mexican-American parents with an Irish-German grandfather on his paternal side. Plunkett's father was a news vendor afflicted with progressive blindness, who had to support his blind wife along with their three children. Plunkett's parents were both born in New Mexico; his mother, whose maiden name was Carmen Blea, was born in Santa Fe and his father, William Gutierrez Plunkett, was born in Albuquerque. Carmen was also of Native American ancestry. His father William died of a heart attack in 1969.

The Plunketts moved to California during World War II. William Plunkett first worked in the Richmond shipyards. By this time, Jim's two older sisters, Genevieve (16 years older than Jim) and Mary Ann (5 years older than Jim) had been born; Jim was born in 1947, after the family had moved to Santa Clara. They later moved to San Jose where William ran a newsstand, and where they were able to find low-cost housing. The family lived in relative poverty, and received state financial aid. Jim and his sisters learned to work hard and do things for themselves as they grew up. They also helped Carmen with cooking and other household chores.

When Jim was growing up, the family's financial situation was a big problem for him. He did not like the area he lived in, often did not have money for dates, and avoided bringing friends to his house. He worked from an early age, cleaning up at a gas station while in elementary school, delivering newspapers, bagging groceries, and working in orchards. In his high school years, he worked during the summer.

Jim went to William C. Overfelt High School in the 9th and 10th grades and then transferred to and graduated from James Lick High School, both located in east San Jose, California. Plunkett showed his talent for tossing the football by winning a throwing contest at the age of 14 with a heave of over 60 yards. Once he arrived at the school, he played quarterback and defensive end for the football team. He competed in basketball, baseball, track, and wrestling – earning a California High School Individual Wrestling Championship. Plunkett is on the Hall of Fame wall at James Lick.

Upon entering Stanford University, Plunkett endured a rough season on the freshman team after being weakened by a thyroid operation. His performance originally caused head coach John Ralston to switch him to defensive end, but Plunkett was adamant in remaining at quarterback, throwing 500 to 1,000 passes every day to polish his arm. He earned the opportunity to start in 1968; in the season opener, he completed ten of thirteen passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns, and never relinquished the starting spot. Plunkett ushered in an era of wide-open passing, pro-style offenses in the Pac-8, a trend that has continued to the present.