From 1997 to 2018, Greg Papa spent 21 years with the Raiders and was considered one of Al Davis’s fiercest allies during his time in Silver & Black.
Papa’s was known for his legendary “Touchdown Raaaiders” call as the team’s play by play voice before a rift with owner Mark Davis led to his microphone being turned over to Brent Musberger in 2018.
It was a complex relationship Papa had with Davis in his final years with the team, and one of their notable differences involved the owner’s decision to allow Mike Shanahan to interview with the Raiders.
“I was extremely outspoken about how it could not happen, in my opinion,” Papa told The Mercury News in 2018. “I threatened to quit as the voice of the team and I would have no association with (Shanahan). The reason I was doing it was my love and respect for Al Davis. I felt it to be beyond my comprehension – it still is – that Mike Shanahan could interview to be the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Knowing how much Al Davis loathed him, it just couldn’t happen.”
“We never were able to mend fences, Mark Davis and I,” Papa said on his Bay Area radio show after his departure from the Raiders. “Whenever we were around each other, standing right next to each other many, many times, I reached out to him to say hi (and) he ignored me. I thought over time it would dissipate. I thought over time, especially with Jon Gruden coming back, it would really go away.”
Several years later, after taking over play-by-play duties with the 49ers, Papa talked about how nice it would have been to win a Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium in 2024 with the 49ers.
“I’ve been with the Niners for five seasons, and we’ve been to four NFL Championship games and won two of them,” Papa said in February of 2024.
“I do want to thank you all for welcoming me to the Red and Gold,” Papa continued. “I worked for that other team, [and] it would have been so nice to win a Super Bowl in their stadium, I got to say. That thought crossed my mind once or twice, but I was there a long time.”
But after a year-long battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Papa was declared cancer free in July and said his relationship with the Raiders has experienced a season of healing, as well.
Papa recently shared his thanks on the airwaves to those who supported him during a difficult year, and mentioned a few prominent current and former Raiders in his sound bites.
On Raiders owner Mark Davis…
“He offered me right away to come to Vegas and light Al’s torch whenever I was able. You know, ‘Once a Raider, always a Raider.’ So he welcomed me back in the family. He’d call me a lot. One time he was FaceTiming me before a Monday night game, but I had a lumbar puncture in my back, so I couldn’t quite answer the phone at the moment. He texted me just two nights ago. It’s amazing. Our parting there was not good, but this whole thing has brought me back in the Raider family to some degree and I feel the love from them.”
On Raider Nation Radio voice ‘JT the Brick’…
“JT’s constantly texting me, lifting me up, encouraging me, and talking to Raider Nation about me, giving them updates.”
On former Raiders GM Bruce Allen..
“[Bruce] sent me a beautiful text about six weeks ago, and I haven’t spoken to Bruce since he left and went to Washington. I’ve seen him but we haven’t gone back and forth like this.”
Papa said he also had a long text exchange with former Raiders executive Michael Lombardi.
Papa was recently laid off by the Bay Area’s KNBR Radio
While he remains the play-by-play voice of the Raiders, Papa was laid off by his KNBR radio station on August 6, 2026.
Papa had joined KNBR in June of 2019, shortly after leaving 95.7 The Game and being hired by the 49ers.
x: @raidersbeat
Anyone that watched the raider game and listened to his play-by-play call, and had any idea of what they were watching quickly realized that this guy had a hard time with seeing what was happening on the field. Some call it Homer -itis. For those that had no choice but to listen to the game you definitely didn’t get all the information and what you did get was subjective.
Could care less. There’s only a handful of play by play guys worth it but Papa was easily on one of the best radio guys. Mark hasn’t replaced him properly, then again Mark screws everything up
You either weren’t watching any of the games that he was calling or you don’t have a clue what you were watching. But I will give you that. It’s been getting harder and harder to find a good play-by-play guy since the days of Bill King. And back in those days, all of the play-by-play guys were top-notch. And most called multiple sports just as good. Without a lot of bias. Chick Hearn was probably the best NBA play-by-play guy in the history of the game. Listening to him call the game was better than watching the game.
I don’t think it’s a fair assessment of Papa’s work. He was, indirectly an employee of the team, just as all the guys on Raider Nation Radio are now. There is no greater kiss axx than the Brick. I listen to a lot of hometown announcers, having NBA, MLB packages, including NFL preseason games which are replayed on NFL+, all hometown broadcasts, and very hard to listen to at times with such a slanted view of the game. I live near the KC area, (unfortunately) their PBP guy, Mitch Holstice, is unbearable. I think it was another sad chapter, of many, in the Mark Davis reign when he let Papa walk for essentially being loyal to Mark’s father. Papa was right, what kind of guy is Shanahan that he would say all BS for years about Al, only to be willing to come back once he needed a job.
I found the Raiders play-by-play colors so biased and just bad at informing the listener as to who’s involved on any given play. Papa‘s last two or three years I found myself listening to the visitors feed. And I agree with you about bias, especially the Denver feed. With the exception of their color guy would always smooth out the complete and total bias by the play-by-play guy. The bottom line for me is I’m getting more information from the visiting feed than I was from papa. I’m listening to the game live and I’m watching the replay on NFL plus. So it’s fresh in my mind while I heard
Even Gannon is a Homer. I don’t mind listening to Kirk Morrison. He’s pretty steady in what he’s seeing and calling. Horror wits. Isn’t terrible. He’s better than Papa was but he’s still not very good.
Jt is as bad as it gets. On every level.