Late Raiders great Cliff Branch races way to Pro Football Hall of Fame – Las Vegas Raiders Blog
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HENDERSON, Nev. — Cliff Branch had just finished the sixth grade when, at his father’s 4th of July company picnic in Houston, boys of all ages and sizes lined up for the day’s main event — a footrace.
The prize?
“They held up a box of Chinese checkers,” recalled the Branch’s sister, Elaine Anderson, who runs her brother’s estate. “He beat everybody. Older boys. Bigger boys, Everybody. And all the way home he was ranting and raving about the game of Chinese checkers.
“That’s when we understood he could run. This little bitty something. That’s when we knew he could run.”
And with Thursday’s announcement that Branch, the former Raiders deep-threat receiver who was all of 5-foot-11 inches (in lifts) and 170 pounds (with rocks in his pockets and soaking wet), was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a Senior Finalist to be inducted in August, Branch’s spirit kept right on running … to Canton, Ohio.
It comes two years, six months and one week after Branch died of natural causes while in Bullhead City, Arizona, at a memorabilia signing two days after his 71st birthday.
Raiders owner Mark Davis once served as Branch’s agent in contract negotiations with his father, the late Al Davis.
“He was my best friend,” Mark Davis told ESPN.com. “What a great journey we had together. We’ve been through everything together. I’m just so disappointed that his life was cut short. I love him with all my heart. I’m very happy for his family to get the recognition he deserves. Two days after he lost his home [in the Santa Rosa, California] fires, he was here in Las Vegas, helping the victims and families of the Oct. 1 shooting. That’s the kind of guy he was.
“There’s nobody more deserving. You watch videos and it’s mind-boggling how great of a player he was. What a game changer he was. How he changed how…
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Source : espn
