Tom Flores was in his second season as Raiders coach, a calm, quiet presence after a decade of sideline histrionics from John Madden.

Jim Plunkett was perceived as a has-been, planted on the bench behind Dan Pastorini, the quarterback who arrived from the Houston Oilers in exchange for Ken Stabler.

Rod Martin, a former 12th-round draft pick from USC and undersized linebacker at 205 pounds, started 15 games the previous season but had lost his starting job to Jeff Barnes.

Yet these three men helped lead the 1980 Raiders to the most remarkable moment in franchise history 35 years ago — the raising of the Super Bowl XV trophy in the Louisiana Superdome.

There are other indelible moments in three championship seasons, such as Marcus Allen’s 74-yard reverse-field run against Washington to clinch Super Bowl XVIII, and Willie Brown’s 75-yard interception return for a touchdown in Super Bowl XI.

NFL Films made iconic images of both, with Allen “running with the night” as dramatized by “voice of God” narrator John Facenda and Brown’s play recalled by a near-hysterical “Old Man Willie” radio call from announcer Bill King.

But for sheer shock value, the Raiders’ patchwork combination of castoffs and past-their-prime veterans becoming the first wild-card team to win a Super Bowl is alone at the top.

Talk about contrasting styles — the loosest ship in the NFL put a 27-10 beating on the Philadelphia Eagles, a team run with discipline and military precision by coach Dick Vermeil.

“We peaked at the right time,” Flores said. “It’s something we didn’t talk about. You could just feel it in the air.”

Plunkett, then 32, completed 13 of 21 passes for 261 yards, two touchdowns and was the game’s Most Valuable Player. He took over in Game 5 of the season after Pastorini broke his leg, throwing five interceptions in a 31-17 loss.

From then on, the Raiders won nine of their last 11 regular-season games, finishing second on tiebreakers to the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West with an 11-5 record.

“It’s the season I am most proud of,” Plunkett said. “I had been struggling for 10 years and never been to playoff game. To be able to direct that team was a great way to finally get my due.”

Martin, who intercepted two passes in the regular season after earning the starting job in Week 6, set a Super Bowl record that still stands with three interceptions against Philadelphia quarterback Ron Jaworski.

He was the picture of jubilation on the cover of Sports Illustrated, with the headline, “Oh, What a Feeling!” Martin’s email address begins with the letters “sbxv3ints” and he intends to keep it that way “as long as I still have the record.”

Amid the backdrop of Super Bowl XV was Raiders owner Al Davis warring with the NFL and commissioner Pete Rozelle over his intention to move the franchise to Los Angeles.

Nationally, the big story was the release of 60 American citizens and diplomats from Iran after 444 days in captivity on Jan 20, 1981 — five days before the Super Bowl.

A giant yellow ribbon was wrapped around the Superdome as a symbol to welcome home the hostages.

In an infinitely lesser sense, it was the Eagles who were held captive by Vermeil while the Raiders were freed by Flores to explore the wonders of the French Quarter.

The degree to which the Raiders partied in New Orleans is hazy and depends on who is providing the recollections.

Martin said there were no curfews until later in the week. Flores believes Monday and Tuesday were free and clear, then curfews were enforced.

Plunkett said Flores’ plan was for his team to “get it out of our system” and conceded he and teammate Rich Martini couldn’t locate their car and took a cab back to the hotel on the Monday night leading in to Super Bowl week.

Several reports said Flores collected $15,000 in fines. Flores said fines started at $1,000, and that went for being five minutes late for practice or being late to the team hotel.

Most everyone was in agreement the Raiders weren’t shy about doing the town. After the first two nights, Flores remembers John Matuszak, the free-spirited defensive lineman who died of an accidental drug overdose in 1989, as being the only real offender.

“I asked him, ‘John, do you really think at 6-7, 315 pounds you wouldn’t be noticed on Bourbon Street?” Flores said. “He said, ‘Coach, I was out making sure everyone else was in.’ To keep from laughing, I just said, get out of here, go to your meeting.”

What was lost amid the stories of the Raiders’ revelry and the Eagles’ lack of same was that Flores and his staff had built a game plan to correct mistakes made in a 10-7 regular-season loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia.

Plunkett was sacked eight times that day.

“Sometimes if you win, you don’t make any changes,” Plunkett said. “But when you lose, you work to figure out what went wrong. We went into that game totally prepared for whatever was presented.”

Martin said that while he and his teammates enjoyed themselves, their lack of sleep was also due to the whir of film projectors in their hotel rooms as they studied Philadelphia tendencies based on the first game.

“That tick-tick-tick sound of the projector would keep us up,” Martin said. “And when it came time to practice, we were on point.”

Martin said the Raiders anticipated the Eagles staying away from the side of Matuszak and linebacker Ted Hendricks and going the other way. It was Martin’s job to deal with tight ends Keith Krepfle and John Spagnola, and on Philadelphia’s first possession, Martin correctly read a pass to Spagnola and intercepted it.

A Plunkett pass to Cliff Branch gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead. Later, Plunkett escaped trouble and found Kenny King open to his left.

The ball barely made it over the hands of Herm Edwards, and King streaked 80 yards for a touchdown — still the second-longest scoring pass in Super Bowl history.

The Raiders eventually built a 21-3 lead and were never seriously challenged. Martin added another interception to set up Chris Bahr’s field goal and a third, which sealed the game late in the fourth quarter.

It ended an amazing run that saw the Raiders beat Houston, quarterbacked by Stabler, 27-7 in the wild-card game, followed by a 14-12 win over Cleveland on an interception by Mike Davis in the end zone in freezing conditions. The Raiders beat San Diego on the road 34-27 for the AFC Championship, setting up their finest hour.

In the aftermath, the much anticipated handing of the trophy from Rozelle to Al Davis was gracious and professional, rather than contentious.

Plunkett, who won a Heisman Trophy at Stanford and was an NFL rookie of the year with the New England Patriots before being beaten into submission, traded to the 49ers and then released, had found his vindication.

“We weren’t dominant in any phase of the game for a lot of the season, but we got better as it progressed,” Plunkett said. “It seemed that each week someone stepped up and made the big play when it needed to be made. It was a very exciting time in my life, believe me.”

For more on the Raiders, visit the Inside the Oakland Raiders blog at ibabuzz.com/oaklandraiders. Follow Jerry McDonald on Twitter at twitter.com/Jerrymcd.