- John Vella
NFL player
DateOfBirth=birth date and age|1950|04|21
Birthplace=Cleveland, Ohio
Position=Offensive Tackle
College=Southern California
DraftedYear=1972
DraftedRound=2 / Pick 43
Stats=y
DatabaseFootball=VELLAJOH01
years=1972-1979
1980
teams=Oakland Raiders Minnesota Vikings John Vella (born
April 21 ,1950 inCleveland, Ohio ) is a formeroffensive tackle who played for theOakland Raiders of theNational Football League between 1972 and 1979.Professional career
His final year in the league, 1980, was spent with the
Minnesota Vikings . Vella was part of theSuper Bowl XI championship team.College career
Vella played
college football at theUniversity of Southern California and wasAll-America in 1971.High school career
He prepped at Notre Dame High School in
Sherman Oaks, California .Business
In
1987 , Vella started his business, originally called "John Vella's Raider Locker Room", with one store inCastro Valley, California . At the time, the Raiders played inLos Angeles . The idea was for a retail store that sold only Raiders gear, novelties and collectibles, and catered to the die-hard fan that he remembered from his playing days. He quickly realized he had found a niche, and when the Raiders returned to Oakland in 1995, his business boomed.However, in
2001 , the Raiders opened their own official team merchandise store, called "The Raider Image". InFebruary 2003 , the team filed a lawsuit against Vella's business for claimingtrademark infringement and the selling of unlicensed merchandise. The Raiders also took legal action against Vella to prevent him using the team's name and itslogo image on his stores and advertising. Both parties settled and Vella renamed his store to Vella's Locker Room.Today, the business has expanded to five locations including branches in the
San Francisco Bay Area cities of Fremont, Pleasant Hill, Milpitas and Oakland.External links
* [http://www.usclegends.org/john-vella.php John Vella's Profile at USC Legends]
* [http://www.vellaslockerroom.com John Vella's Locker Room store]
* [http://www.vellaslockerroom.com/lawsuit.htm April 2003 press release regarding the lawsuit over the name of his store]
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