Otto, "Jim" (James E.)
Football
b. Jan. 5, 1938, Wausau, WI
The only all-league center in the history of the American Football League, the 6-foot-2 Otto weighed only 205 pounds when he came out of the University of Miami, Florida, in 1960. He wasn't drafted by any NFL teams, so he joined the Oakland Raiders of the new AFL, went on a strength program to increase his weight by 50 pounds, and was Oakland's starting center for the next 15 seasons.
Wearing uniform number "00," Otto was an outstanding blocker who was also responsible for calling Oakland's line blocking schemes after sizing up the defensive alignment. He was the All-AFL center from 1960 through 1969. After the league merged with the NFL in 1970 and became the American Football Conference, he was the All-AFC center from 1970 through 1972.
Ott retired after the 1974 season. In his last eight years with Oakland, he played on seven division champions and one AFL champion team. He started 210 consecutive regular season games, a team record.