Pete Banaszak, Raiders back in the Holy Roller, dies at 82

Pete Banaszak, the Oakland Raiders running back who scored two touchdowns in the franchise's first Super Bowl victory and set a team record with 16 rushing scores in 1975, has died at 82.

The Las Vegas Raiders announced the death on Oct. 24. Banaszak spent his entire 13-year career with Oakland after being taken in the fifth round of the 1966 AFL Draft out of Miami, the team said, and he played 173 regular-season games before retiring after the 1978 season.

His career totals were 3,772 rushing yards on 964 carries, a 3.9-yard average, and 47 rushing touchdowns, along with 121 receptions for 1,022 yards and five more scores. Fox News Digital credited him with 52 touchdowns in all and six more in the playoffs, and reported that he started just 36 of his 173 NFL games.

A record set without a start

Banaszak's best season came in 1975, his 10th with the franchise, when he shared the NFL lead with 16 rushing touchdowns and ran for a career-high 672 yards on 187 carries in 14 games. He started none of them.

He shared that lead with Buffalo's O.J. Simpson.

Marv Hubbard and Mark van Eeghen split time at fullback that season, and Banaszak spelled them and the halfbacks while taking the short-yardage and goal-line carries. He still led the team in rushing yards and touchdowns, and he won the Gorman Award, the Raiders' honor for pride and spirit.

The 16 rushing touchdowns remain the Raiders' single-season record, the team said in announcing his death. His 3,772 career rushing yards rank eighth in franchise history and his 47 rushing touchdowns second, behind Marcus Allen, according to Pro Football Rumors.

He appeared in at least 10 games in every one of his Raiders seasons and played 192 combined regular-season and postseason games. He started every game in a season only once, in 1971.

Two scores in Super Bowl XI

Banaszak scored twice in the Raiders' 32-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 9, 1977, on runs of one and two yards. It was the first time the franchise won the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and the title came the season after he shared the league lead in rushing touchdowns.

The Raiders Family mourns the passing of Pete Banaszak, whose toughness, competitive spirit, and dedication embodied a legendary era of Raiders football and made him a cherished member of the Silver and Black.

The statement described Banaszak as a key contributor on the Super Bowl XI team and said he was a Wisconsin native who was deeply proud of his Polish heritage. He was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

Oakland took him 59th overall in the 1966 AFL Draft. He played four seasons in the American Football League before the 1970 merger and stayed with the club afterward, Pro Football Rumors reported.

Banaszak was born May 21, 1944, in Crivitz, Wisconsin, and attended Crivitz High School, where he competed in football, basketball and track and field, Newsweek reported. He ran for 1,107 yards at Miami and was voted the Hurricanes' most valuable player as a senior. He scored nine rushing touchdowns there and 12 in all.

Injuries limited him through his Miami years, from 1963 to 1965, Pro Football Journal reported. He led the Hurricanes in rushing as a sophomore with 461 yards on 97 carries and 18 receptions, then lost ground as a junior to weight problems and leg injuries. As a senior he carried 111 times for 473 yards, including a 46-yard run, and caught eight passes.

Seconds left against San Diego

In Week 2 of the 1978 season, with the Raiders trailing the San Diego Chargers 20-14 and seconds left, quarterback Ken Stabler fumbled while appearing to be sacked, Fox News Digital reported. Banaszak dove at the loose ball and batted it forward, giving tight end Dave Casper the chance to recover it in the end zone. The extra point secured a 21-20 win.

The Raiders' statement credited Banaszak with a central role in the play, which Fox News Digital described as one of the most famous in NFL history. It came in what turned out to be his final season.

He made his last appearance for the Raiders in 1978, his 13th season with the club, and retired after that campaign.

Banaszak, known as Rooster

Banaszak was known as the Rooster. Pro Football Journal, quoting a 1978 United Press International account, described his role as taking the handoff in short-yardage situations and driving straight ahead. Reminded of the specialty that year, Banaszak said he did not know whether he should be proud or embarrassed.

I don't think I've been blessed with as much ability as some of the guys who've been with us, but I'm not going to downgrade my own ability either because I've seen some guys come in who are great athletes and I've seen them go, too.

Ken Stabler called him the best short-yardage runner he had ever seen, according to Pro Football Journal. Banaszak told UPI that he felt the pressure of those plays but accepted it, and that the Raiders' power offense did not need breakaway backs.

Fox News Digital described Banaszak as primarily a reserve who made the most of his opportunities, and Pro Football Rumors called him one of the team's most impactful players of that era.

Banaszak left football after 1978 and went to work for Crowley Maritime, living in Jacksonville, Florida, the New York Post reported.

In the early 2000s, Banaszak co-hosted The Fifth Quarter, the postgame radio show of the Jacksonville Jaguars, according to Newsweek. He was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.

Pro Football Journal described Banaszak's longevity and his willingness to take any role as a classic example of the unselfish, durable players who helped define the Raiders of the 1960s and 1970s.

What the statement did not say

The Raiders did not give a cause of death or say where Banaszak died. Pro Football Journal reported only that he died in October 2026.

The team's statement extended condolences to his wife, Sue, his daughters, Rebecca and Amy, and his grandsons, Luke, Austin and Connor.