{"id":508766,"date":"2026-10-26T21:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T21:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/508766\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T21:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T21:22:08","slug":"raiders-pete-banaszak-dies-running-back-scored-twice-in-super-bowl-xi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/508766\/","title":{"rendered":"Raiders&#8217; Pete Banaszak dies; running back scored twice in Super Bowl XI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pete Banaszak, the hard-nosed running back who helped the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/tag\/las-vegas-raiders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Oakland Raiders<\/a> win their first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/tag\/super-bowl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Super Bowl<\/a> and carved out a lasting place in franchise history, died at 82, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raiders.com\/news\/raiders-mourn-the-passing-of-pete-banaszak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">team announced Saturday, Oct. 24<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Banaszak spent all 13 seasons of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/category\/nfl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">NFL<\/a> career with Oakland, becoming a symbol of the toughness and determination that defined the Raiders during one of the most successful eras in their history. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Selected in the fifth round of the 1966 AFL draft, Banaszak played in 173 regular-season games, often making his greatest impact in the moments when the team needed him most.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph tbl-more\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/kasey-redfern-cause-of-death-lions-falcons-wofford\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Former NFL punter, 35, dies following cancer battle<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Banaszak\u2019s defining performance came in Super Bowl XI on January 9, 1977, when he scored two rushing touchdowns in Oakland\u2019s 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. The win delivered the franchise its first Super Bowl championship after years of postseason disappointment and established Banaszak as a key contributor to one of the Raiders\u2019 landmark victories.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born in Wisconsin, Banaszak attended the Born in Wisconsin, Banaszak attended the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/tag\/miami-hurricanes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">University of Miami<\/a>, where he played for the Hurricanes and distinguished himself as a senior, earning team most valuable player honors. Oakland drafted him in 1966, beginning a professional career that would remain synonymous with the Raiders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph tbl-more\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/cowboys-cornell-green-cause-of-death-nfl-utah-state\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cowboys\u2019 5-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champion dies<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1978, Banaszak became part of football lore when his attempt to advance a loose ball helped complete the infamous \u201cHoly Roller\u201d play against the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/tag\/los-angeles-chargers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">San Diego Chargers<\/a>. The controversial game-winning touchdown prompted the league to change its rules governing offensive fumbles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Banaszak retired after the 1978 season with 3,772 rushing yards and 52 total touchdowns. He was inducted into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umsportshalloffame.com\/pete-banaszak.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame<\/a> in 1983 and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polishsportshof.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame<\/a> in 1990. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Banaszak is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/former-raiders-rb-pete-banaszak-who-won-super-bowl-xi-with-oakland-dies-at-82\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">survived by<\/a> his wife, Sue; daughters Rebecca and Amy; and grandsons Luke, Austin and Connor<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Enjoy free coverage of the top news &amp; trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter<\/a> \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pete Banaszak, the hard-nosed running back who helped the Oakland Raiders win their first Super Bowl and carved&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[6424,13613,752,143,145,144,11730],"class_list":["post-508766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-miami-hurricanes","tag-nfl","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-super-bowl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}