Jim Plunkett

Jim Plunkett was drafted to be the savior of the New England Patriots. Instead, he eventually led the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories.

Plunkett helped resurrect football at Stanford University and was expected to do the same with the Patriots in the National Football League. He led Stanford to its first Rose Bowl victory in 30 years and finished his career as the NCAA all-time total offense leader. The 1970 Heisman Trophy winner was selected by the Patriots with the first pick in the 1971 draft and responded by winning rookie-of-the-year honors, but that was the high point of his career in New England.

Injuries, poor protection, and disagreements with former Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks resulted in a trade that sent Plunkett back to California in 1976.

After two years with the San Francisco 49ers, Plunkett was released. The Oakland Raiders, a team famous for finding stars among players no one else wanted, signed him. And when Dan Pastorini injured his leg in 1980, Plunkett got another chance. This time he fulfilled his promise.

The Raiders became the first wild-card team to win the Super Bowl. Plunkett, who was NFL comeback player of the year, threw a Super Bowl record 80-yard touchdown pass and earned most-valuable-player honors in a 27-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.

Three years later Plunkett again helped guide the Raiders to the Super Bowl and engineered a 38-9 victory over the favored Washington Redskins. Plunkett's Super Bowl quarterback rating of 122.8 remains second only to that of Joe Montana.