Raiders’ Cliff Branch inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame

LOS ANGELES — After years of falling short of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the late Cliff Branch has finally been granted his rightful place among the greatest to ever play the game.

Branch’s induction was announced on Thursday night in Los Angeles at the NFL Honors show.

Branch played wide receiver for the Raiders from 1972 to 1985 and amassed numbers in line with contemporaries of his era who have already been enshrined in Canton. He was the senior committee’s special nominee this year and achieved the necessary 80 percent support in a vote that took place last month.

Also inducted Thursday was defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who played his last four seasons, from 2009 to 2012, with the Raiders.

Seymour played eight seaons with the New England Patriots before joining the Raiders.

That his induction took this long was always a point of contention with the Raiders, especially for owner Mark Davis, who considered he and Branch as close as brothers. That the honor occurred three years after Branch’s death in 2019 made Thursday a bittersweet occasion.

“He’d be thrilled,” Davis said about Branch. “But I’ll tell you, and this wasn’t egotistical or anything, but Cliff knew he was a Hall of Famer.”

Davis gave thanks to longtime sports journalist Frank Cooney and sports executive Mike Ornstein for their persistent efforts to help get Branch into the Hall of Fame. He also singled out former NFL greats Joe Greene, Mel Blount, Ronnie Lott and Mike Ditka for their support for Branch over the years.

“And other people that played against Cliff that never gave up as well,” Davis said. “I always felt that if you were going to talk to people that were going to push for Cliff, and talk about his greatness, then you should talk about the people that had to cover him and game-plan for him. And those people came through and I’ve been thanking them. Without their push, I’m not sure he would have gotten it.”

In an era that featured less passing than today’s NFL, Branch finished his career with 501 catches for 8,685 yards (17.3 yards per catch) and 67 touchdowns. Branch, who played on all three Raiders Super Bowl championship teams, was especially good in the postseason, accumulating 73 receptions for 1,289 yards, an average of 17.7 yards per catch, and five touchdowns.

His ability to change the trajectory of games with the deep ball is what helped set him apart. Playing in an era in which defensive backs were allowed to mug wide receivers off the line of scrimmage and body them down the field, he averaged 17.3 yards per game during the regular season and 17.7 yards per game in the postseason.

“He was a game-changer,” Davis said. “He changed the game of football. He’s not just a great player. He was one of the greatest players. There are many players that deserve the Hall of Fame as much as Cliff does. But nobody deserves it more than Cliff does.”

Branch joined fellow Raiders offensive teammates Jim Otto, Fred Biletnikoff, Dave Casper, Ken Stabler, Art Shell and Gene Upshaw in the Hall of Fame.

“That’s seven guys from that offense that are in the Hall of Fame,” Davis said. “That says quite a bit about the team that was built. The greatness of the Raiders, that’s what that was based upon in those days.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.