Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis fought a four-year battle with the NFL to move his team to Los Angeles.

• In 1980, he attempted to relocate his team to Los Angeles but was blocked by a court injunction. In response, Davis filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL.
• In June 1982, a federal district court ruled in Al's favor, and the team officially moved to Los Angeles for the '82 season.
• However, the team's base of operations that year was still Oakland. So the coaches, players, and staff lived and practiced in the Bay Area while playing "home" games in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
• The move was complete by 1983.

Fifth-year coach Tom Flores, who had played quarterback for the Raiders for six years, was a beacon of calm on the sea of turmoil.

• The '83 Raiders won their first four games before losing to the Redskins in Washington 37-35 in perhaps the most exciting game of the regular season. Washington scored 17 points in the final 6:15, with QB Joe Theismann throwing a 33y pass for the winning score with 33 seconds left. Hardly anyone remembered that LA's star RB Marcus Allen didn't play in that game.
  Redskins G Mark May said afterward, "I wouldn't be surprised if we met them again in January."
• A victory over archrival Kansas City was followed by a loss at Seattle. The Seahawks would sweep the season series in Los Angeles two weeks later.
• Five victories in a row, including three within the AFC West, put LA in a strong position for a playoff berth.
• They finished 12-4, which tied the Dolphins for best record in the AFC.
• After enjoying a bye the first week of the playoffs, the Raiders blistered the Steelers 38-10, then found the third time a charm against the Seahawks, who had eliminated Miami. The 30-14 drubbing earned LA the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Several factors kept the Raiders from compiling a better record in line with their talent level.

• A quarterback controversy between Jim Plunkett and Marc Wilson plagued the team for three midseason games.
• The careless Raiders finished -12 in turnover differential thanks to 24 interceptions and 25 lost fumbles versus 37 takeaways.
• But everything meshed during the playoffs, and the Raiders came to Tampa as a dangerous underdog.
  TE Todd Christensen feels that the head coach never got the credit he deserved for the Raiders' success. "Tom Flores was a great fit for our team, where you had so many dominant personalities, so many guys who had TV and radio shows, guys who were high profile. A Mike Ditka-type would have been obnoxious and never worked. Flores had the ability to sublimate his ego. He was a calm guy on the sidelines and behind the scenes. Tom was a very bright man, but because of the way things shook out in the organization, he didn't get much publicity. He was underrated in terms of his knowledge of the game. Al Davis got most of the publicity. It may have been the impression, due to his manipulation of the press, that we tried to play football the way Al Davis wanted it played, but in truth the guys didn't give him a second thought. He was famous for his 2 A.M. calls to coaches, but he had nothing to do with game plans and on-the-field activities."

The Raiders offense led the AFC in points scored and ranked 3rd in the entire league.

• The offense was straight out of the 60s when Al Davis was the coach. They still allowed the quarterback to call his own plays.
• Up front was a huge offensive line. All five were 6'3" or more. They averaged 275lb per man. C Dave Dalby was the smallest at 250.
• The leading receivers were TE Todd Christensen with 92 catches, tops in the NFL and the most ever to that point in the NFL, and RB Marcus Allen with 68, which was 29 more than WR Cliff Branch.

• Starting with the Redskins game, they gave up 34 or more points in five of six contests. But they surrendered 14 or fewer points in three of the last four regular season games and the two playoff games.
• However, the Raiders led the AFC in points scored (442).
• The unit improved greatly when CB Mike Haynes joined the team in November after his contract was awarded to the Raiders in a settlement that gave his former team, the Patriots, a No. 1 draft choice in 1984 and a No. 2 pick in '85.
• Haynes joined Lester Hayes to form the best cornerback duo in the league. They covered the opponent's best receivers one-on-one, freeing safeties and linebackers to play what Flores called "attack football."
• The three-man front was anchored by NT Reggie Kinlaw, whom opponents consistently double-teamed, allowing the ends, Howie Long and Lyle Alzado, to rush the passer.
• OLB Ted Hendricks, who made the Pro Bowl for the seventh time, was nursing pulled stomach and groin muscles and would play sparingly.
  
  Raiders defensive front: L-R: Matt Millen, Lyle Alzado, Reggie Kinlaw,
  Vann McElroy, Ron Nelson, Howie Long
  255lb LB Matt Millen, who called the defensive signals, recalled: "That '83 defense was one of the best defenses the NFL has ever seen. Other teams tried to copy it, but you couldn't because there was too much talent there. And the whole thing was based on our corners. Nobody since then has been able to have two corners of that caliber."

Washington defended their NFC Championship thanks mainly to their offense, which led the league in points scored with 541.

• Like the Raiders, the Redskins packed beef in the offensive line. The five Hogs, as they proudly called themselves, averaged 274lbs and, like the Raiders' five, 6'4".
  Washington Hogs L-R: Mark Mary, Coach Joe Bugel, Jeff Bostic, George Starke,
  Russ Grimm, Joe Jacoby
• As in the previous year, the Skins generally ran a one-back offense with two tight ends. They used only four or five running plays and four or five passing plays in any game. But they ran them from numerous formations with men in motion. "We're pretty basic," said WR Art Monk. "We just have so many formations, it looks like we do more than we really do." Coach Gibbs said, "Everything we do on offense starts with RB John Riggins."
• Defensively the Redskins were first in the league against the run but last against the pass. Three members of their 1982 secondary were no longer with the team because of suspension (S Tony Peters), injury (CB Vernon Dean), and a contract holdout (CB Jeris White).
• But they led the league in time of possession (33:44 per game), touchdowns (63), and points (541). They also surpassed all clubs in turnover ratio: +43 (61 turnovers vs 18 giveaways).
• One suspect area of Washington's game was kicking. P Jeff Hayes averaged only 38.8y per kick. Mark Moseley's field goal percentage from 30y was 61.1. Included were four misses in the NFC Championship between 30 and 45y.

• Included was the thrilling two-point victory over the Raiders.
• After losing to the Packers in another one-point high-scoring thriller, Joe Gibbs's club won the remainder of their regular season games.
• That gave them a 14-2 record and a two-game edge over the Cowboys for the NFC East title.
• After a much-needed bye week, Washington destroyed the Los Angeles Rams 51-7 to reach the NFC Championship Game.
• The Skins held a 21-0 lead heading into Q4 in the NFC title game against San Francisco only to have the 49ers rally behind three Joe Montana TD passes to tie the game. But aided by two controversial interference penalties, QB Joe Theismann drove the Redskins close enough for Mark Moseley to boot a 24y FG with 40 seconds left.
• Washington came to the Super Bowl with a 36-6 mark in their last 42 games.

After the teams arrived in Tampa a week before the game, the biggest mystery man was Redskins RB John Riggins, who was notorious for his aversion to the media.

• On photo day, he stood stolidly in the end zone in his uniform and cowboy boots.
• Would he condescend to speak to reporters the next day? He came up the backstairs of the hotel, marched through a kitchen, entered through a stage, and popped out of a curtain. "What, no applause?" he said. He wore an olive flight suit with a white scarf around his thick neck.
• "Last year the Redskins marched through Miami," said Riggins. "This year we fly over L.A. Bombs will be hot and heavy in the first half allowing our troops to position themselves and carry us to victory."
• Asked what he was thinking the day before in the end zone, he replied, "I was standing there looking for a soft place to land. If Lyle Alzado is going to knock my block off, I hope he's a gentleman and hands it back. Those Raiders. They're such bruisers."
• However, reporters noticed that Riggins was drained and noticeably hoarse. He confessed that he was "quite exhausted ... for some reason or another." Asked why, he pointed to the sandy terrain at his home stadium. "I can't help but think that playing on that RFK beach had something to do with it. Either that or I'm getting old." Later in the week, a Redskin official admitted that Riggins had been battling the flu. NT Dave Butz also said he had the flu earlier in the week.
• Theismann talked about the difference in facing the Raiders compared to other teams. "Most teams don't challenge us one-on-one. But the Los Angeles Raiders do. That's the difference between them and the rest of the NFL. They're tough guys. Lyle Alzado's got a nasty image. I expect them to be tough. I'm going to find an alley here in Tampa and get beat up every night ... because Sunday I'd be surprised if I don't get my head handed to me."
  The Redskins were not happy with their accommodations in Tampa. They stayed at an airport Holiday Inn while the Raiders were at the Hilton, supposedly because Washington owner Jack Kent Cooke didn't want to impose on his friend Barron Hilton a second time. The rooms were cramped and dingy, and the small lobby made it difficult to exit the hotel without being bothered by drunken fans and autograph seekers.
  The practice facilities were even worse. While the Raiders practiced at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers headquarters, the Redskins prepared for the game at the University of South Florida, a school that had no football team and limited resources. During practice on Thursday, four men were caught taking photographs from a nearby building. That day's film was confiscated by NFL security officials. C Jeff Bostic spoke for many Redskins when he said, "I'm convinced Al Davis had us spied on."
  

• Coach Flores fined seven players for sleeping in, including QB Jim Plunkett. Their body clocks still on Pacific time, each donated $1,000 to the fine fund for missing the 8 AM meeting.
  Reports circulated that the fines were never paid.
  
• Asked about the cute Washington nicknames - the Hogs (O line) and the Smurfs AKA the Fun Bunch (receivers), no nonsense Matt Millen said, "A nickname never won a football game. Those nicknames are not very professional."
• Millen on the Redskins' star RB: "I'm one of Riggins' fans. He'd make a tremendous Raider. Last game I thought I had a real good hit on him. I had him lined up, and he got a real good hit on me. He broke my face mask."
• All Pro CB Lester Hayes had an interesting take on the Redskins offense. "The man we fear most is not John Riggins, Joe Theismann, or Charlie Brown but Gibbs."
• A reporter asked Marcus Allen if he approached the game as a contest between him and Riggins. "Nah. It's going to be built up, but I'm not thinking about it."
• Jim Plunkett, rescued from the scrap heap by the Raiders in 1979, was asked how he felt when Flores benched him midway through the season. "Here we go again," said Plunkett. His replacement was Marc Wilson, whom Al Davis had drafted in 1980 to be his franchise quarterback. But when Wilson suffered a broken shoulder in his third start, Plunkett took over for the rest of the season. "I've had my ups and downs, like a lot of other people," said Jim. "I've learned to live with a lot of things. I know what happens today may change tomorrow. I was benched unfairly. They wouldn't have benched Ken Stabler. But they did bench me. I was down. It hurt."

CBS televised the big game, which would draw an estimated 77.62 million viewers. A 30-second commercial cost $368,000.

• Pat Summerall did the play-by-play with John Madden supplying the commentary.
• Jack Buck and Hank Stram handled the CBS radio broadcast.

Barry Manilow sang the National Anthem, and former Los Angeles Ram great Elroy Hirsch performed the opening coin toss.

Al Davis

Tom Flores

Jim Plunkett

Marc Wilson

Todd Christensen

Mike Haynes

Lester Hayes

Joe Gibbs and Joe Theismann

Art Monk

John Riggins

Jeff Hayes

Mark Moseley

Marcus Allen

Barry Manilow