1966 Oakland Raiders

The 1966 Oakland Raiders season began with the team trying to improve on their 8–5–1 record from 1965. The 1966 season was the seventh season in Oakland and in the American Football League. 1966 also saw the team move their home games from tiny Frank Youell Field to the new 53,000 seat Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

AFL owners, in their desire to compete with the NFL, hired Raider head coach Al Davis as commissioner of the league. And while Davis became a public advocate for all-out war against the NFL, the owners secretly negotiated a merger with the older league. When the merger was announced, a furious Davis resigned, less than six months after being hired. He returned to Oakland and became part owner and general manager, and remained angry towards other NFL owners for decades.