Sports
Jim Otto, Hall of Fame Raiders center who never missed a game, dies at 86
Jim Otto, the Hall of Fame center who never missed a game during his 15 seasons with the Raiders in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at 86, the team announced Sunday night. No cause of death was given.
“The Raiders Family is in deep mourning following the passing of Jim Otto,” the Las Vegas Raiders said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). “The Original Raider. The personification of consistency, Jim’s influence on the American Football League and professional football as a whole cannot be overstated. His leadership and tenacity were a hallmark of the dominant Raider teams of the 1960s and 70s.”
Jim Otto poses with his bust after being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 2, 1980, in Canton, Ohio.
(Associated Press)
Otto was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, his first year of eligibility, with a speech by late Raiders owner Al Davis.
“For more than a decade he was the standard of excellence by which centers were judged in professional football,” Davis said of Otto during his speech. “He was the most honored offense lineman in the history of professional football. But statistics are just a measure of accomplishment, not really the measure of a man. If it is true that great men inspire in others the will to be great, that alone qualifies Jim to be a great man.”
On Sunday night, the Raiders tweeted a video of current owner Mark Davis lighting his father’s memorial torch at Allegiant Stadium in Otto’s honor.
An undrafted rookie out of the University of Miami in 1960, Otto was the first person to snap the ball for the Oakland Raiders, a first-year team in the new American Football League that competed with the NFL until the leagues merged in 1970. He was a 10-time All-AFL selection, making him the only center to earn that honor, and was named to 12 Pro Bowls before retiring after the 1974 season.
He is one of three players to have played in every game during the 10-season span of the AFL. The others are Gino Capelletti of the Boston Patriots and George Blanda of the Houston Oilers and Raiders.
Otto was nicknamed “Double 0,” after his jersey number 00 — a nod to the pronunciation of his last name, “Aught-oh”) — which he wore every season except his first, when he was issued No. 50.
He also earned the moniker “Mr. Raider” during a career in which he played 210 straight regular-season games and 223 straight games counting playoffs. He played through numerous ailments and medical conditions, having undergone nine knee surgeries during his career.
“There’s something inside of you that says, ‘I want to go out there and prove my worth,’ ” Otto told Bleacher Report in 2009. “Most of the time you’re going to get injuries. That’s the life you choose. Some people need a challenge in life and they play hockey or rugby. Football was the way I could prove myself.”
In a 2012 interview with PBS’ “Frontline,” Otto stated that he had been operated on 74 times in his lifetime. He had multiple joint replacements, as well as procedures to help deal with arthritis and debilitating neck and back issues. After two major infections, Otto had his right leg amputated above the knee in 2007.
Hall of Famer Jim Otto smiles before an NFL football game between the Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 24 in Las Vegas.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Otto also told “Frontline” he had suffered more than 20 concussions.
“I think that everything that has caused my body to be a problem has been from football, you know?” he said.
In 2002, Otto revealed he was battling advanced prostate cancer.
“A couple years ago, with readings like mine, you would have had six months to live,” Otto told The Times’ Sam Farmer at the time. “[But] we’ve got a way of fighting it, and we’re going to kick its butt.”
Four years later, after finishing his treatment at the UC Davis Cancer Center, Otto agreed to chair the center’s $35-million capital and endowment initiative.
“I would just love to see more people being saved and being cured from cancer,” Otto said at the time. “That’s why I’m doing this. You don’t want anyone else to have to go through the agony that comes along with a cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment. Especially kids. I’ve visited the children in the pediatric ward and, well, that eats your heart out. Something has to be done.”
Otto was born Jan. 5, 1938, in Wausau, Wis. His family lived in poverty, at one point having to move into a chicken coop for shelter. He played football at Wausau High School and was a center and linebacker at Miami before helping establish the Raiders as a force in the AFL and later the NFL. They won their division in seven of Otto’s final eight seasons, winning the AFL title following the 1967 season before losing to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II.
“Rip Jim Otto,” Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby tweeted Sunday night. “Absolute Legend & Incredible Person.”
In all eight of those seasons, Otto started every game alongside fellow future Hall of Fame offensive lineman Gene Upshaw.
“Jim Otto personified the aura and mystique of the Raiders,” Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in a statement. “… The Pro Football Hall of Fame will guard his legacy with the same diligence and tenacity that he guarded his teammates.”
Otto kept close ties with the Raiders organization following his retirement as a player. He played a key role in negotiating the team’s move back to Oakland from Los Angeles before the 1995 season (the Raiders moved to Las Vegas in 2020) and most recently was the club’s director of special projects.
In January, Otto visited the locker room following a win over the Denver Broncos in the final game of the season.
“The @Raiders lost a legend in HOF Jim Otto,” Rich Gannon, who was the Raiders quarterback from 1999-2004, wrote Monday on X. “I will never forget the first time I met him in the equipment room in Alameda. His stories were legendary but his kindness and humility is what I will remember the most. God Bless brother!”
He is survived by his wife, Sally, son Jim and daughter-in-law Leah, and 14 grandchildren — Alice, Sarah, Amy, Amanda, Josiah, Hannah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jennifer, Avery, Noah, Aiden, Roman and Ellie.
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Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo made NBA history on Tuesday night.
Adebayo scored 83 points, all while setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards. It is the second-highest scoring game for a player ever, only to Wilt Chamberlain’s famed 100-point game.
“An absolutely surreal night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the game.
Adebayo started with a 31-point first quarter. He was up to 43 at halftime, 62 by the end of the third quarter. And then came the fourth, when the milestones kept falling despite facing double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line.
He finished 20 of 43 from the field, 36 of 43 from the foul line, 7 for 22 from 3-point range.
After the game, he was seen in tears while he hugged his mother, Marilyn Blount, before leaving the floor after the game.
“Welp won’t have the highest career high in the house anymore,” Adebayo’s girlfriend, four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, wrote on social media, “but at least it gives me something to go after.”
MAGIC’S ANTHONY BLACK MAKES INCREDIBLE DUNK OVER FOUR DEFENDERS IN HISTORIC NBA GAME
Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat celebrates during the fourth quarter of the game against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on March 10, 2026, in Miami, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
The NBA’s previous best this season was 56, by Nikola Jokic for Denver against Minnesota on Christmas night. The last player to have 62 points through three quarters: one of Adebayo’s basketball heroes, Kobe Bryant, who had exactly that many through three quarters for the Los Angeles Lakers against Dallas on Dec. 20, 2005.
He wound up passing Bryant for single-game scoring as well. Bryant’s career-best was 81 — a game that was the second-best on the NBA scoring list for two decades.
Adebayo scored 31 points in the opening quarter against the Wizards, breaking the Heat record for points in any quarter — and tying the team record for points in a first half before the second quarter even started.
He finished the first half with 43 points, a team record for any half and two points better than his previous career high — for a full game, that is — of 41, set Jan. 23, 2021, against Brooklyn.
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Adebayo’s season high entering Tuesday was 32. He matched that with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat first-half scoring record.
Adebayo’s 43-point first half was the NBA’s second-best in at least the last 30 seasons — going back to the start of the digital play-by-play era that began in the 1996-97 season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into overtime and Jeremy Swayman stopped 14 shots on Tuesday night to earn the Boston Bruins their 13th straight victory at home, 2-1 over the Kings.
Mason Lohrei scored midway through the third period to break a scoreless tie. But the Kings tied it five minutes later when Drew Doughty’s shot from the blue line deflected off the heel of Bruins forward Elias Lindholm and into the net.
It was the seventh straight time the teams had gone to overtime in Boston.
In the overtime, Mark Kastelic blocked a shot in the defensive zone and made a long pass to David Pastrnak, who waited for McAvoy to come into the zone. The Bruins’ defenseman and U.S. Olympian, who went to the locker room at the end of the second period after taking a puck off his mouth, skated in on Darcy Kuemper and went to his backhand for the winner.
Kuemper stopped 21 shots for the Kings, who entered the night one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The victory kept Boston in possession of the East’s second wild-card spot.
Swayman tied his career high with his 25th win of the season. The Bruins haven’t lost at the TD Garden since before Christmas.
After the game, Kings forward and future Hall of Famer Anze Kopitar stayed on the ice to shake hands with the Bruins after what is expected to be his last game in Boston.
Sports
Jon Jones requests UFC release after Dana White says legend was ‘never’ considered him for White House card
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Mixed martial arts legend Jon Jones ended his retirement from UFC simply because he wanted a spot on the “Freedom 250” fight card at the White House in June.
But, when UFC CEO Dana White announced the card during UFC 326 this past weekend, Jones wasn’t among the fighters. As a result, he has requested a release from his UFC contract.
White was candid when asked about Jones following the UFC 326 card.
Jon Jones of the United States of America reacts after his TKO victory against Stipe Miocic of the United States of America in the UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16, 2024 in New York City. ((Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images))
“Never, ever, ever, which I told you guys a hundred thousands times, was Jon Jones ever even remotely in my mind to fight at the White House,” White explained, per CBS Sports. “Some guy with Meta Glasses filmed him talking about his hips – that his hips are so bad. And I don’t know if you guys saw that flag football game where he can barely run. Jon Jones retired because of his hips. He’s got arthritis in his hips. Apparently, doctors say he should have a hip replacement.”
White added that “the Jon Jones thing is bulls—,” saying that he texted the fighter’s lawyer saying he would never be on the White House card despite Jones saying he was in negotiations for it.
UFC ANNOUNCES CARD FOR WHITE HOUSE EVENT
The Meta Glasses incident White is referring to came from a viral video, where Jones, unaware he was being filmed, discussed issues with his hips to a fan.
On Monday, Jones composed a thorough response to White’s comments about him and the White House Card. He previously posted and deleted social media explanations, but Monday’s appeared to be his final statement on the matter.
UFC President Dana White speaks after UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center on Feb. 21, 2026. (Troy Taormina/Imagn Images)
“Yes, I have arthritis in my hip and it’s painful, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight,” Jones, who retired a heavyweight champion in 2025, said. “So let me get this straight, if I had accepted the lowball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine and I’d be on the White House card? That doesn’t make sense. I even received stem cell treatment last week to get ready for the White House card, and training camp was scheduled to start today. I was preparing to be ready.
“I understand business deals fall through sometimes, but going out publicly and saying things that aren’t true isn’t right. After everything I’ve given to the UFC, the years, the title defenses, the fights, hearing that I’m ‘done’ is disappointing. Especially when as recently as Friday UFC was calling me trying to get me on that White House card for a much lower number.”
Jones finished his statement by saying he “respectfully” asks to be released from his UFC contract.
Jon Jones enters the ring before facing Stipe Miocic in the UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City, New York. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“No more spins, no more games. Thank you to the real fans who know what’s up,” he wrote.
The UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
Jones is considered one of the best UFC fighters of all time, owning a 28-1-1 record, which includes his last bout with Stipe Miocic, knocking him out to take the heavyweight title belt. He is also a two-time light heavyweight champion.
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