Not making cut for Las Vegas among Tom Flores’ few regrets

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series acquainting fans with the Raiders’ illustrious 60-year history as the team moves to Las Vegas for the 2020 season.

Tom Flores said he was at the eye doctor when he learned he had again been named a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame this week. But if he finally hears his name called in Canton, Ohio, it’s an ear doctor he might have to see.

“I was getting calls from different people around the country, congratulating me on making the finals and being the only coach on the ballot, which is encouraging,” the former Raiders quarterback and coach said on “The Game Plan” podcast with Raiders broadcaster JT The Brick. “But I’ve been down this road before, so I’m a little reluctant to start celebrating.”

Flores has been nominated multiple times for Hall inclusion. If he gets the nod this time, here are five things that may come up when he tries on the yellow jacket:

1. He once played for the Packers. Not the NFL’s Green Bay Packers but the Salinas Packers of the Pacific Football Conference. One of Flores’ Salinas’ teammates was Reno native Don Manoukian. Like Flores, he was an original Oakland Raider but, unlike Flores, became a professional wrestler.

2. When Flores took over as Raiders quarterback early during the 1960 season he became the first Hispanic in professional football history to perform in such a capacity.

3. Flores and Mike Ditka each won a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Flores did it as player for the Chiefs (Super Bowl IV), as an assistant with the Raiders (Super Bowl XI) and as coach of the Raiders (Super Bowls XV and XVIII).

4. After the Raiders’ victory in Super Bowl XVIII, he was on the receiving end of a congratulatory phone call from President Ronald Reagan. He told him, among other things, that Moscow considered Raiders running back Marcus Allen a secret weapon that must be dismantled immediately and that a good defense can also be a pretty good offense.

5. One of Flores’ regrets about his association with the Raiders is that he didn’t get to move to Las Vegas with them after being let go as a radio broadcast analyst in 2018 after 21 years. “I thought it would have been fun doing a game in Vegas, to see this thing come to fruition,” he told the Palm Springs Desert Sun. “There is always excitement when you go somewhere new, and the Raiders being in Vegas will be exciting.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.