{Raiders} {NFL}

By Jeremy Kahn

When you talk about great tight ends in the National Football League in the 1980s, people talk about Kellen Winslow of the San Diego Chargers and Randy Grossman of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

People seem to forget that the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders also had a pretty good tight end during the decade, and his name was Todd Christensen.

Sadly, Christensen who played for the Raiders from 1978-1988 died on Wednesday from complications during liver transplant surgery. He was 57.

Christensen, who played collegiately at BYU was a first-team member of the all Western Athletic Conference team in his senior year and then was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1978 NFL Draft.

After breaking his foot during training camp, and never playing a down for the team, he was released.

The Cowboys division rival, the New York Giants signed him, but he only played one game for the team.

Christensen eventually signed with the Raiders, where he was apart of two Super Bowl championships, as the Raiders defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 in Super Bowl XV and then in Super Bowl XVIII, the Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins 38-9.

On two different occasions, Christensen led the NFL in receptions, as he caught 92 passes in 1982 and 95 in 1986.