The Raiders fans will fondly recall the 1976 AFC Championship game. That day, the famed Steel Curtain defense of Pittsburgh was pierced time and again as the two-time defending Super Bowl champions were humbled at the Oakland Coliseum. The Raiders, beaten by the Steelers in the previous two conference championship games, knew they were heading in for a fight, and they were more than up for it. No one embodied that warrior spirit more than John Vella, the Raiders’ rugged second-round pick out of USC, who got into a confrontation with the Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert, also known as ‘Mad Man Jack.’

Lambert was going after Raiders running back Clarence Davis in the end zone after he scored a touchdown. However, Vella was not having it and jumped into action. “Lambert was kind of roughing up Clarence, so I grabbed him and threw him off. It might have been unusual to get into it with Lambert, but we were a team that wouldn’t back down from anyone,” Vella said in 2001. This fighting spirit is how many Raiders fans will remember Vella, after the news of his passing was announced on Wednesday.

The 1976 season was the highlight of Vella’s career. He started 14 games and held down the line during the Raiders’ Super Bowl XI run. In the championship game, he and his fellow linemen kept Ken Stabler clean, allowing just one sack against the fearsome Purple People Eaters of Minnesota. Behind their blocking, Clarence Davis ran wild for 137 yards in a dominant 32-14 victory. While he is remembered as a fearsome tackle for the Raiders, Vella’s journey could have been worlds apart.

Vella was a high school standout at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, CA, before eventually taking his talents to USC. While with the Trojans he starred on the football field, he also shone in baseball, helping the team win the College World Series in 1970. But despite his success on the baseball diamond, he chose the football field and earned All-American honors in 1971 with USC.

He was then picked by the Raiders in the 1972 draft as a number 43 overall pick and served his first two seasons as a backup on the team. Two years later, under legendary coach John Madden, Vella became their starting right tackle, and the rest is history. Vella was the linchpin of the rough-and-tumble, take-no-prisoners Raiders of the ’70s, a player who fit right into Madden’s hard-nosed vision for the team. He embodied the Raiders’ old-school ethos—gritty, relentless, unbreakable.

The games against the Steelers especially brought out the best in Vella. “I knew I was going to get in a fight that day,” Vella recalled in 2013 when reminiscing about a Raiders–Steelers game day in the ’70s. Yet for his fierce nature on the field, Vella was nicknamed the “Happy Fella.” This was due to his upbeat and cheerful demeanor and his connection with the fans. Following the news of his passing, a fan, while paying tribute to Vella, mentioned on X, “he was such a nice guy. He owned a sports store in Dublin, CA. I was in there one time, and he let me try on his Super Bowl ring.”  That is who Vella was. On the gridiron, it was a different story.

In the documentary, America’s Game: 1976 Oakland Raiders, Phil Villapiano referred to John Vella as “Happy Fella John Vella,” but warned, “Don’t upset Happy Fella, ‘cause he will tear your head off!” When his playing days ended in 1980 with a brief stint in Minnesota, he remained connected to the game and his former team. Even in retirement, he was a part of the Raider fabric.

He owned the Raider Locker Room in Castro Valley, California, in 1987, a store that specialized in selling Raiders gear and other collectibles, and the business expanded to three more locations in Fremont, Pleasant Hill, and Milpitas by 2001. But it led to problems for Vella.

In March 2003, NFL Properties, the league’s marketing division, filed a lawsuit against John Vella. The suit accused Vella’s stores of infringing on the Raiders’ trademarks by using the team’s name and logo without official permission. It specifically argued that the store name, “Raider Locker Room,” along with related imagery, suggested an official affiliation with the team and the NFL, which wasn’t the case.

Vella noted that while the league pursued the lawsuit, Raiders owner Al Davis remained a supporter of his business endeavors. The lawsuit was settled in April 2003. As part of the settlement, Vella agreed to change the name of his stores from “Raider Locker Room” to “John Vella’s Locker Room” and to stop using the Raiders’ name and logo without authorization. This agreement enabled Vella to continue his memorabilia business while complying with the NFL’s trademark regulations.

On X, the Raiders made a heartfelt post remembering Vella’s legacy: “The Raiders Family mourns the passing of John Vella, a standout on the dominant Raider offensive lines of the 1970s and a starter on Oakland’s Super Bowl XI Championship team…A versatile performer and a ferocious competitor, Vella played both guard and tackle, seeing action in 84 games with 48 starts in eight seasons with the Silver and Black. He finished his career with Minnesota in 1980. The prayers of the entire Raider Nation are with the Vella family at this time.” No cause of death was shared as of this moment.

Vella’s legacy as a no-nonsense player for the Raiders and his contributions to their Super Bowl-winning season are impossible to ignore.  Now, as the Raiders push forward in a new era—new city, new leadership, new faces, the fans remember their “Happy Fella.”

Sin City loses its ‘Happy Fella’

Vella played 84 games for the Raiders with 48 starts, but was hampered by injuries during his three final seasons with the team. It was his standout season in 1976 that catapulted him into the hearts of Raiders fans. He started 14 regular games at right tackle during the season and then started three playoff games protecting Pro Bowl quarterback Ken Stabler, allowing him to flourish.

He endeared himself to the Raider Nation as a guy who battled in the trenches against the NFL’s toughest defenses. But off the field, the fans knew a different side of him. Not every player stays connected with the community after their playing days, but Vella did, running John Vella’s Raider Locker Room for years, making sure fans could rep the Silver and Black with pride.

For many, Vella wasn’t just a former player. He was a familiar face, because how else would he be the ‘Nice Guy’ or the ‘Happy Fella’? On that note, another comment read: “Such a nice man. We went on a few of the away game trips he organized, always first class. RIP John.” It wasn’t just about selling Raiders gear; it was about keeping the Raider spirit alive. Whether it was arranging trips for fans or swapping stories about the glory days, Vella made sure the connection between players and fans never faded.

“Sad to hear. My wife and I had a great time on one of his ‘Locker Room Tour’ trips. Stayed with the team in Arizona—CWood’s rookie year.” To put it simply, the man knew how to bring people together. So Vella fully deserves the Raiders’ salute.

“Raider Nation Salute,” wrote another fan, keeping it short but full of meaning. Because in the end, that’s what Vella was—a Raider through and through. Rest easy, “Happy Fella.”