Age: 26
4th season in pro football, 3rd with Raiders
College: Prairie View
Height: 6’1” Weight: 220
Prelude:
Daniels, who had been injury-prone in college, signed as a free agent with the AFL’s Dallas Texans in 1960 and was a reserve defensive back that first year. Released prior to the ’61 season, he was signed to Oakland’s taxi squad and activated for eight games, playing well (5.0 avg. gain on 31 carries for 154 yards and 13 catches for another 150) for the lackluster team. Daniels moved into the starting lineup in 1962 and rushed for 766 yards and gained 318 more yards on 24 pass receptions while the Raiders went 1-13.
1963 Season Summary
Appeared in all 14 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Rushing
Attempts – 215 [2]
Most attempts, game - 31 (for 122 yds.) at Kansas City 11/8
Yards – 1099 [1]
Most yards, game – 200 yards (on 27 carries) vs. NY Jets 10/20
Average gain – 5.1 [3]
TDs – 3 [13, tied with five others]
200-yard rushing games – 1
100-yard rushing games – 4
Pass Receiving
Receptions – 30
Most receptions, game – 7 (for 90 yds.) vs. San Diego 12/8
Yards – 685 [13]
Most yards, game – 172 (on 3 catches) vs. Buffalo 9/15
Average gain – 22.8 [1]
TDs – 5 [11, tied with four others]
100-yard receiving games – 2
Passing
Pass attempts – 1
Pass completions – 1
Passing yards – 10
TD passes – 0
Interceptions – 0
All-Purpose Yards – 1784 [2]
Scoring
TDs – 8 [10, tied with Jack Kemp & Keith Lincoln]
Points – 48 [17, tied with Jack Kemp & Keith Lincoln]
Awards & Honors:
AFL Player of the Year: Sporting News
1st team All-AFL: League, AP, NEA, NY Daily News, UPI
AFL All-Star Game
Raiders went 10-4, a dramatic improvement under new Head Coach Al Davis, and finished second in the AFL Western Division. In the league as a whole, they were second in total offense (4513 yards), points scored (363), and TDs (48).
Aftermath:
Daniels had over 800 yards rushing in each of the next three seasons (with a high of 884 in 1965) and continued to catch the ball well out of the backfield. He was an AFL All-Star after each of those years and received consensus first-team All-AFL recognition in 1966. A broken leg ended his 1967 season nine games (and 575 rushing yards) into it (thus costing him an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl), and the Raiders, deep in younger running backs, waived him prior to the ’68 season. He went unclaimed by the remaining AFL teams and signed with the NFL 49ers, where he sat on the bench for his final year. With 5101 yards in the AFL, Daniels ended up being that league’s all-time leading rusher.
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MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league itself).
[Updated 2/15/14]
