In His Own Words: ex-Raider Fred Biletnikoff on Super Bowl II

In His Own Words: Wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff

“At that time we thought the media and stuff was pretty big. As we’ve seen it grow, it was small. But just to play in the Orange Bowl and the hype of being in that game was exciting.

“We had a lot of young guys on that team, so this was something new for us. And especially playing against the Packers —somebody with all those legends, besides the coach, you grew up watching. That’s what you saw when you looked across the field. You were playing against the cream of the crop, a legendary team. That’s kind of what went through your mind.

“You go into every game knowing you have a chance, but we knew it was going to be a tough, physical, defensive game. Offensively, we still felt we had good running backs, along with our passing game and offensive line. So we felt we had a chance.

“We didn’t have a lot of veteran guys, and so you have to be prepared mentally and physically to play against guys who were established veterans. We felt we could compete with them. But they had to feel pretty confident because of who they were.

“As the game went on, there were a few plays here or there — I was involved with an interception by Herb Adderley that he scored a touchdown on and we got beat on a couple of play-action passes. But you take away three or four plays, and we’re basically in the game.

“They played mistake free, but we gave them a game for a while. They didn’t run us out of the ballpark by any means. I was on Herb Adderley’s side all the time. He was fantastic.

“You talk about guys who have played through the years up until now and the one you’d want out there on the corner, and it would be Herb Adderley. He could play all the coverages. He had speed, he was physical, he had great quickness. Everything you would want in a defensive back, that’s what he had. The one thing I learned playing against somebody like Herb, it reminds you of the work you have to put it to compete at a high level.

“We knew we were going to back in that type of situation somewhere along the line. The thing you learn when you are playing against guys that are great players is that now you know what it takes to go all the way and win a Super Bowl, what type of career you have to have, what type of player you have to be to compete. If you’re not that cut-above guy or cut-above team, you’re not going to be able to compete.

“I’ve still got my Super Bowl uniform. I never washed it.”

As told to the Review-Journal’s Ron Kantowski.