On January 22, 1984, the NFC Champion Washington Redskins entered Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa as the defending Super Bowl champions, and finished the 1983 regular season with a league-best 14-2 record. The AFC Champion Raiders were competing in their second season in Los Angeles after moving down from Oakland in 1982, and posted a 12-4 regular season record. As the favored team, the Redskins' 38–9 blowout loss at the hands of the black-clad Raiders led to Super Bowl XVIII becoming known as "Black Sunday.” The Raiders shut down Redskins’ QB Joe Theismann and company and out-gained Washington’s offense in total yards 385 to 283. The outcome was never in doubt as Los Angeles built a 21-3 halftime lead, aided by touchdowns on Derrick Jensen's blocked punt recovery, and Jack Squirek's 5-yard interception return on a screen pass with seven seconds left in the first half. Raiders’ running back Marcus Allen, who became the third Heisman Trophy winner to be named the Super Bowl MVP, carried the ball 20 times for a then-record total of 191 rushing yards and two touchdowns including a then-record 74-yard scamper in the third quarter.
Presented here is 1983 L.A. Raiders Super Bowl XVIII World Championship ring that was presented to Tony Caldwell, a rookie linebacker on the club. The top of the 14K gold ring features three real diamond studded footballs, representing the franchise’s three Super Bowl wins. This is on top of an immaculate black onyx field. “LOS ANGELES RAIDERS WORLD CHAMPIONS” is on the top and bottom of the perimeter in high relief while both perimeter sides have five diamonds apiece. One shank features his name, position and uniform number “CALDWELL LINEBACKER 57” with the year “1983,” the term “POISE” and the Raiders logo. The other shank has "SUPERBOWL XVIII" at the top, followed by the final score, "Raiders 38, Redskins 9" carved between an etching of the Lombardi Trophy. Below that is "AFC Champions" with a large AFC logo, surrounded on one side by "Raiders 30" and, on the other, by "Seahawks 14," the final score of the 1983 AFC Championship game. Beneath that, the word "PRIDE" can be found in large, black lettering above the year, "1983.” The ring is sized 12 ¾ and weighs 48 grams. The Raiders' record-setting 38-9 win over the Redskins marked the largest margin of victory (29 points) in a Super Bowl at that time. Lastly, "14K" is stamped inside the ring's band.