NFL Newspaper Cartoon Drawings Raiders Ken Stabler, Al Davis by Lee Susman

Lee Susman, an award-winning cartoonist whose drawings graced the Oakland Tribune sports pages for more than 35 years. The Emeryville resident was 94 when he died. Susman’s cartoons depicting local college and pro football teams, baseball teams and basketball teams appeared in the Tribune from 1946 until his retirement in 1983.

Susman was inducted into the PCL Hall of Fame in 2008. “Cartooning was just something I loved to do, and I was lucky enough to make a decent living at it,” Susman told former Tribune columnist Dave Newhouse for a 2007 article. “And it’s nice to be recognized; an ego trip.” Leland “Lee” Stanford Susman was born in San Francisco on July 27, 1917. Susman was a self-described “sports nut,” who began working for an advertising agency in 1937.

In 1939, Susman won a competition to draw a comic strip for the San Francisco Call-Bulletin newspaper. After spending five years in the Navy during World War II, the Tribune hired Susman as a sports cartoonist. That year, he created “The Lil’ Acorn,” the Oaks’ mascot.

Presented is a very creative original cartoon created by Lee Susman for the Oakland Tribune.  The black and white circus style art features the Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis as the sideshow leader with a child wanting to see “the Snake” (Ken Stabler).  The art measures 11″ x 12.5″ on Uni-Shade paper board with editorial notes still visible in pencil.

NFL Newspaper Cartoon Drawings Raiders Ken Stabler