Raiders radio broadcasts have featured three iconic voices

New Raiders radio play-by-play announcer Jason Horowitz is stepping into some illustrious shoes, as three of the Raiders’ last four broadcasters have had iconic runs.

Here are the announcers Horowitz is following.

Bill King: 1966 to 1992

The longtime voice of Bay Area Sports — with a brief stop in Los Angeles — King was hired as the Raiders’ play-by-play announcer in 1966 and was at the microphone for all three Super Bowl championships.

Almost as importantly, his description of some of the most famous players and plays in pro football history continues to live on, and will forever.

Such as his call of the infamous Holy Roller play in 1978, when the Raiders beat the Chargers on the final play of the game. Quarterback Kenny Stabler fumbled the ball forward, only for it to take several crazy bounces before ultimately ending up being recovered by tight end Dave Casper in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown.

King’s description is the stuff of legend:

“The Oakland Raiders have scored on the most zany, unbelievable, absolutely impossible dream of a play!” King said. “John Madden is on the field. He wants to know if it’s real. They said yes, get your big butt out of here! He does! There’s nothing real in the world anymore! The Raiders have won the football game! The Chargers … they don’t believe it. Fifty-two thousand people are stunned. This one will be relived forever!”

Greg Papa: 1997 to 2018

Longtime play-by-play announcer Joel Meyers took over from King in 1992, but with the Raiders firmly entrenched back in Oakland they hired Papa, who had previously done play-by-play for the Golden State Warriors and Oakland A’s, in 1997. Papa held the position until 2018.

Much like King, whose voice and creative calls became synonymous with the Raiders, so too did Papa. No call was more distinctive than his signature description of a Raiders touchdown, in which he yelled “Touchdown Rrrrrrraaaaiiiiiiddderrrrrrrrrrrs”

Papa was also on the microphone for the Raiders’ bitter playoff loss to the Patriots, which is commonly referred to as the “Tuck Rule” game.

There was never any guarantee that Papa would follow the Raiders to Las Vegas when they officially made the move to Southern Nevada in 2020. The Raiders parted ways with Papa in 2018.

Brent Musburger: 2018 to 2021

Musburger, the iconic national sports broadcaster and the face of CBS’s trailblazing ‘NFL Today’ pregame show in the 1970s, was hired to replace Papa in 2018 and essentially serve as the broadcasting bridge between the Raiders’ last two years in Oakland and their early years in Ls Vegas.

And that is exactly what Musburger ended up doing, providing an admirable and sometimes memorable veteran voice to a franchise ending one era while simultaneously beginning a new one.

Musburger was behind the microphone for the Raiders’ memorable late-season run last season in which they won their last four games to reach the playoffs for only the second time since 2001.

And keeping with the new Las Vegas tradition, his signature Raiders’ touchdown calls of “Jackpot Baby!!” immediately caught on.

The Raiders and the 83-year-old Musburger parted ways after the 2021 season.