Diablo Magazine, August 2002

Moving back to the East Bay isn’t big news- unless you’re legendary Raider’s tight end Dave Casper. “The ghost” is Alamo’s newest celebrity citizen – and will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 3.

Dave Casper

Known for the “supernatural” way he caught those Kenny Stabler passes in the 1970’s (not to mention sharing a surname with a cartoon apparition), Casper is just the 13th Raider to be immortalized in Canton, Ohio.”I was fortunate that some of the plays I made kept my name in front of the people,” says the former Notre Dame All-American. Plays like his 1977 game-winning touchdown dubbed “the holy roller” where he kicked a loose ball at the five-yard line and fell on it in the end zone.

These days, Casper plays in the financial arena – where he suits up as managing director of the Walnut Creek office for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. “The office opened up just when I was thinking of returning to the Bay Area from Minneapolis,” he says. Casper admits his silver and black celebrity status didn’t mean as much in Minnesota as it does in the East Bay.. “[Minnesotans] still remember that Raiders win over the Vikings in the Super Bowl,” he laughs.