Lamonica’s son Brandon told The New York Times that his father died in his sleep. No cause of death has been revealed, but he was not in poor health, his son said.

While Lamonica played long before the modern pass-heavy version of the game, his big arm earned him the nickname “The Mad Bomber.” 

In 12 seasons with the Bills and Raiders, he finished with an impressive 66-16-6 record, throwing for 19,154 yards, 164 touchdowns and 138 interceptions. He also ran for 14 touchdowns.  

In the AFL, he won a pair of MVP awards with the Raiders in 1967 and ’69, and was the AFL championship game MVP in ’67.  

He won a pair of AFL titles with the Bills in ’64 and ’65, before winning with the Raiders in ’67, his first year with the team. 

After playing for the Fighting Irish, he was taken by the Bills in the 24th round of the 1963 AFL draft and the 12th round of the NFL draft that same year by the Packers.  

He opted to play for Buffalo, serving as a run-first player behind Bills QB Jack Kemp before being traded to Oakland in 1967.  

That year, the team went 13–1 and beat the Houston Oilers in the AFL championship before falling to the Packers in Super Bowl II.