Marv Hubbard obit

Former Raiders running back Marv Hubbard dies at age 68

 

 He was not the list.

The Oakland Raiders are mourning the death of former running back Marv Hubbard.

Marv Hubbard was a member of the heyday Raiders.

The rough-and-tumble Hubbard was part of the heyday Raiders. He played for the team from 1969 to '75 and was one of the many colorful characters on those special Oakland teams.

The Raiders announced Hubbard's death on their website. He played 90 games with the Raiders, including 58 starts, and had 4,394 career yards with Oakland and 22 touchdown runs. He did not play in 1976 before joining the Detroit Lions in 1977.

Hubbard was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 1968 Common Draft, but released in preseason cuts due to an initial inability to adjust to the professional game. He met the same fate with the Denver Broncos before signing with the Hartford Knights of the Atlantic Coast Football League. Despite not being the team's full-time running back, he still led the league in rushing yards, just ahead of his tandem partner, journeyman Mel Meeks. After Hubbard's success with the Knights, the Raiders exercised a reserve clause in his previous contract and signed him to their active roster.

Hubbard was quick for his size, and powerfully built. Famous for his aggressive style, he was a fan favorite of the John Madden-led Oakland Raiders in the early to mid 1970s. "Marv Hubbard was one of the toughest players we ever had," Madden told the Contra Costa Times. "There are people that will have contact and people that won't have contact, but only a few that will have it and really enjoy it. Marv was one of those guys who truly enjoyed the collision. He would look for it."

Hubbard averaged 4.82 yards per carry during his professional career, which ranks third all time for an NFL fullback (behind only Pro Football Hall of Fame fullbacks Jim Brown and Joe Perry) and is tied for 13th for all-time top yards per carry for any player in NFL history. His career yards per carry average was higher than many of the games legendary running backs, including: Walter Payton, O. J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Emmitt Smith, and Marshall Faulk.

Hubbard was a standout for the Raiders from 1971-1974 and part of 1975, and gave Oakland's fearsome air attack a balanced running threat. He helped lead the Raiders team to four consecutive AFC Western Division titles from 1972-1975 and three consecutive AFC Conference Championship Finals from 1973-1975.[7] Hubbard led the Raiders in rushing four straight seasons from 1971-1974, and averaged over 1,000 total yards from scrimmage In each. He gained 1,100 yards rushing during the 1972 season, becoming the Raiders then all-time single season rushing leader. He rushed for a total of 4,544 rushing yards, 3,755 of which came during his four full-time years from 1971-1974. Hubbard was named to the NFL's AFC Pro Bowl Team in 1971, 1972, and 1973.

Hubbard scored 24 touchdowns (23 rushing, 1 passing) during his career, six of which were against his favorite opponent, the formidable Kansas City Chiefs. Hubbard was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated on December 17, 1973 after the Raiders won a pivotal game over the division rival Chiefs. Marv kept an enlarged graphic of that magazine cover in his office throughout his post-football career. He was also an effective pass receiver coming out of the backfield, and caught 85 passes for 624 total yards, averaged 7.4 yards per reception. According to John Madden, he also used Hubbard on kick-off and punt return teams where "Marv turned from a fullback into a linebacker"

Marv was a country musician and songwriter for a brief period after football, and released the single "Fullbacks Ain't Supposed to Cry" in 1978. He also released the tracks "Legend in His Own Mind/Country Boogie" in 2009. He went on to become a computer programmer, working for some of the insurance companies in Hartford, Connecticut.

Hubbard loved to golf and frequently donated his time and autographed memorabilia to charity celebrity tournaments. In 1975, Hubbard and Sal Bando, a third baseman for the Oakland Athletics, won the American Airlines Golf Classic, which featured pro football and baseball stars as partners, in Palm Springs, California.

On September 27, 2003, Hubbard was involved in a car accident in Castro Valley, California, in which the driver of the other car was killed. In 2004, Hubbard pleaded no contest to misdemeanor DUI. The driver who died had been making an illegal turn in a "blind spot" on an isolated section of road.

Hubbard, who started at Colgate, would have turned 69 on Thursday.