How often does Hall of Fame cornerback and Raiders ambassador Willie Brown hear the phrase “Old Man Willie?”

“Pretty often,” Brown said. “Like every time I’m out in public.”

Brown can thank the late Bill King for that. King was the Raiders peerless play-by-play broadcaster. The call was used in NFL Films highlights and will remain a big part of Raiders history.

“He looks and throws . . . intercepted by the Oakland Raiders Willie Brown at the 30, 40, 50 . . . he’s going all the way! . . . Old Man Willie! . . . Touchdown Raiders!”

That was 39 years ago, when Brown was 37. So in the public’s mind, Brown has been an old man for more than half of his life. Not that he minds, considering the magnitude of the moment on Jan. 9, 1977 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena against the Minnesota Vikings.

As King was immortalizing “Old Man Willie,” a fan base and organization was shedding the label of being the team that couldn’t win the big one with a 32-14 victory punctuated by Brown’s 75-yard interception return.

The Raiders had come up short in Super Bowl II to the Green Bay Packers. Lost to the eventual Super Bowl III champion New York Jets in the AFL championship game. Lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1969. To the Baltimore Colts in 1970. To the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1972, to Miami in 1973 and to Pittsburgh again in 1974 and 1975.

So when Brown was streaking down the sideline after jumping a pass route in front of wide receiver Sammy White from quarterback Fran Tarkenton, King’s voice was music to the ears of Raiders fans who would finally get the ultimate payoff.

In some ways, the real big one was dominating the Steelers 24-7 in Oakland in the AFC title game to reach the Super Bowl. The Vikings? They were merely in the Raiders way and never really in the game.

Brown’s touchdown _ the longest in Super Bowl history until James Harrison went 100 yards for the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII following the 2008 season _ put the Raiders up 32-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Let the celebration begin.

And it all came to Brown in his sleep the night before the game.

“I had told Gene Upshaw I had a dream about intercepting a pass in the Super Bowl,” Brown said. “I told him that Herb Adderley had intercepted one and gone 60 yards in my dream it was longer than his.”

Adderley intercepted a pass against the Raiders and Daryle Lamonica and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl II, a 33-14 win by Green Bay.

“Gene couldn’t believe it, but it kept going through my mind, that it’s got to come sooner or later,” Brown said. “Finally, Minnesota was in a hurry-up offense and I knew some of their tendencies from past games.”

And then?

“I told Ted Hendricks to stay inside and told Jack Tatum, `I’m going for the pass if he throws it. Cover my back,’ ” Brown said. “I set like I was going to drop back, but stepped up. Fran threw the pass right to me.”

It would make for a great story to say Brown was re-living all the Raiders past frustrations as he was making his way toward the end zone. In reality, Brown’s goals were pragmatic.

“There wasn’t anything crossing my mind other than scoring,” Brown said. “No. 1, I knew had to catch the ball first and then run with it. I knew nobody was around me because of where I was to the outside. Nobody could catch me because I had at least a four or five-yard lead on everybody.”

Brown knew White, the intended receiver, because both attended Grambling. When Brown would go back to the campus and work with college players, White was one of them.

The other image Brown can’t forget is of White taking a ferocious hit from Tatum, losing his helmet. Like Brown’s touchdown, the Tatum hit _ blatantly illegal under the current rules _ is an NFL Films staple.

“I thought surely he was going to be out of the game _ maybe forever,” Brown said. “I couldn’t believe he held on to the ball.”