Dave Casper: Pro Football Hall of Fame Tight End

Dave Casper Career Highlights

Dave Casper Links • Hall of Fame • Raiders.com "Whatever Happened To..." HOF Class of '02 • George Allen • Dave Casper • Jim Kelly • Dan Hampton • John Stallworth More NFL Legends • Dan Marino • Walter Payton

Nicknamed "The Ghost" by his teammates, Hall of Fame tight end Dave Casper earned his first starting assignment with the Raiders in 1976. He burst onto the NFL scene with an impressive 53 catches for 691 yards and 10 touchdowns, while spring boarded himself into the limelight as one of the game's best tight ends.

He caught 378 passes and scored 52 touchdowns during his career, which began with the Raiders in Oakland in 1974 and included stints with the Oilers and Vikings before concluding with the Raiders in Los Angeles in 1984. He was selected to play in five Pro Bowls, and was named All-Pro and All-AFC four consecutive years.

Casper was also involved in "The Holy Roller", one NFL history's strangest plays. The Raiders were trailing San Diego with 10 seconds remaining. Quarterback Ken Stabler fumbled the ball forward 13 yards before running back Pete Banaszak swatted it toward the end zone. The ball glanced off Casper's foot at the five yard line and he chased it into the the end zone, falling on it for the game-winning touchdown.

A new rule was spawned by the play, making it illegal to advance the ball in such a manner.

Career Highlights
1970s All-Decade Team
Super Bowl Silver Anniversary Team
All-Pro: 1976 (AP, PFWA, NEA, PW), 1977 (AP, PFWA, NEA, PW), 1978 (AP, PFWA, NEA, PW), 1979 (AP, PW)
All-Pro Second Team: 1979 (NEA)
All-AFC: 1976 (AP, UPI, SN, PW), 1977 (UPI, SN, PW), 1978 (UPI, SN, PW), 1979 (PW)
Pro Bowls: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002

Championship Teams
1976 AFC Champions - Oakland Raiders

Super Bowl Teams
Super Bowl XI - Oakland Raiders 32, Minnesota Vikings 14

NFL Statistics

Year	Team	Games	Rec	Yards	Yds/Rec	TD
1974	Raiders	14	4	26	6.5	3
1975	Raiders	14	5	71	14.2	1
1976	Raiders	13	53	691	13.0	10
1977	Raiders	14	48	584	12.2	6
1978	Raiders	16	62	852	13.7	9
1979	Raiders	15	57	771	13.5	3
1980	Raiders	6	22	270	12.3	1
1980	Oilers	10	34	526	15.5	3
1981	Oilers	16	33	572	17.3	8
1982	Oilers	9	36	573	15.9	6
1983	Vikings	10	13	172	13.2	0
1983	Oilers	3	7	79	11.3	0
1984	Raiders	7	4	29	7.2	2
TOTAL		147	378	5216	13.8	52