Jim Otto

Did You Know?

• Otto was the grandfather of dog musher Amanda Otto.
• He was the subject of The Jim Otto Suite, a series of three multimedia works by American contemporary artist Matthew Barney.
• After his career, Otto made a small fortune from Burger King franchises, liquor stores, a walnut orchard, and real estate in the Oakland area.

Early life and college

Otto was born on January 5, 1938, in Wausau, Wisconsin, to parents Lorenz and Loretta (Totsch) Otto, who held various jobs to support the family. As a boy, his family could not afford new shoes to keep his feet warm and dry in Wisconsin winters. He aspired to be a football player like Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, recalling Hirsch saying, "if you put your heart into it, you can do it. Brockmeyer called Otto a "terrific competitor" whose main contribution came on defense.

Otto, a team co-captain, saw the Lumberjacks finish 18–5–2 (or 21–3–1) during his high school career. He credited offensive line coach Tom Yelich with teaching the technique he used throughout college and professional football. After breaking his ankle one season, Otto taped it up and played through the season. He received offers from 48 colleges and, with Brockmeyer's help, chose the University of Miami, where he played varsity football from 1957 to 1959 under coach Andy Gustafson.

At Miami, he played both offensive center and linebacker, becoming the starting center as a junior at 193 pounds. As a senior, he played in the North-South Shrine game for the South college all-star team at center. He joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1972.

Professional career

No NFL team showed interest in the undersized center, who weighed only 205 pounds. Otto signed in 1960 as an undrafted free agent with the Oakland Raiders, the team that replaced a proposed Minneapolis AFL franchise that withdrew to join the NFL in 1961. He played for the Raiders for the entire ten-year existence of the AFL and five more years after the merger. In his rookie training camp, he weighed 217 pounds, but reached 240 by the end of his first year.

He built up to a playing weight of 255 pounds. After wearing jersey number 50 as a rookie, equipment manager Frank Hinek suggested Otto wear 00 for recognition, which Otto and AFL Commissioner Joe Foss approved. Over 15 seasons, Otto never missed a game due to injury and played in 210 consecutive games. He won one AFL/AFC championship in 1967 against the Houston Oilers, but lost five championship games (1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, and 1974) to the New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively, with all five teams winning the Super Bowl.

He played alongside Hall of Fame left guard Gene Upshaw from 1967 to 1974. In 1967, Oakland scored 468 points (33.4 points/game) to lead the AFL, but lost Super Bowl II to the Green Bay Packers. In 1968, Oakland scored 453 points (32.4 points/game) and beat the Chiefs 41–6 in the divisional round before losing to the Jets 27–23. In 1969, Oakland scored 377 points (26.9 points/game) and beat the Oilers 56–7 before losing to the Chiefs 17–7 in the AFL Championship Game.

In 1970, Oakland scored 300 points (21.4 points/game) and beat the Miami Dolphins 21–14 before losing to the Colts 27–17. The Raiders missed the playoffs in 1971 despite scoring 344 points (24.6 points/game), second highest in the NFL.

Legacy and honors

Jim Otto was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, the very first year he was eligible. The Sporting News placed him 78th on its 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2019, the NFL named him to its 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, one of just four centers to earn that honor. The Athletic ranked him the 97th greatest player ever in 2021.

Otto was an original Oakland Raider, playing every season the team spent in the American Football League from 1960 to 1969, and he stayed with the Raiders in the NFL from 1970 through 1974. He started 210 consecutive games and appeared in 308 total games for the franchise. He was one of only 20 players to suit up for the entire ten-year run of the AFL, and one of just three—along with George Blanda and Gino Cappelletti—to play in every one of his team's AFL contests.

The Sporting News named him its All-League center every year from 1960 to 1969. Over his 15 seasons, he earned an AFL All-Star or NFL Pro Bowl selection in 13 of them, including all ten AFL seasons and three of his five NFL campaigns. He was named All-NFL in 1970 and 1971, and second-team All-NFL in 1972. He played in 12 All-Star games and was an All-League pick for 12 straight years.

In 1966, the Associated Press voted Jon Morris first-team All-AFL at center and Otto second-team, but The Sporting News, Newspaper Enterprise Association, and United Press International all placed Otto on the first team and Morris on the second. Otto was chosen as the starting center on the AFL All-Time Team. He is one of only three players—along with Hall of Famers Johnny Robinson and Ron Mix—to make both the All-AFL first team and the combined AFL/NFL All-Decade Team for the 1960s.

The Raiders won seven division titles between 1967 and 1974, and captured the AFL championship in 1967, advancing to Super Bowl II. His offensive line teammates included Hall of Famers Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, and Bob Brown. Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, who worked as an offensive assistant with the 1966 Raiders, said Otto "had techniques others tried to emulate but couldn’t" and that he "played every down with intensity." Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Bell, a rival for the Kansas City Chiefs, called Otto the best center he ever faced.

Injuries and operations

Jim Otto’s body took an immense toll from his NFL years, with nearly 74 surgeries in total. His knees alone underwent 28 operations, nine of which happened while he was still playing, and he also had multiple joints replaced. Arthritis spread through his joints, and severe back and neck issues emerged. By his early forties, he was classified as permanently and totally disabled.

In 1980, the constant pain triggered his first bout of deep depression. In his book The Pain of Glory, Otto wrote about coming close to death during medical procedures, including surviving three life-threatening infections linked to his artificial joints. For six months, he had no right knee joint at all while waiting for an infection to clear before a new artificial knee could be put in. On August 1, 2007, his right leg was amputated.

Despite all this, Otto stated he had no regrets and would not change a thing. He spoke about his injuries and the concussion issue in a 2013 Frontline interview for "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis" and in the 1985 documentary "Disposable Heroes: The Other Side of Football."