Oakland Raiders Honoring Train Hero Before Thursday Night Football

The city employee who saved a man from an oncoming train this past weekend will be honored as a "hometown hero" prior to the Raiders' 'TNF' game ... the team announced on Tuesday.

The story is incredible -- right after Oakland beat the Detroit Lions on Sunday, a train station near the stadium was packed with Raider fans ... and one man lost his balance and fell onto the tracks.

BART supervisor John O'Connor saw what happened and pulled the man from the tracks and back to safety without hesitation ... saving him from the zooming train.

O'Connor spoke about the incident afterward ... admitting "I thought the train was going to cut him in half, honestly."

Now, the Silver and Black are honoring O'Connor for his heroic actions before the Raiders play against the L.A. Chargers on Thursday.

"The team will host him in front of Raider Nation as this week’s 'Hometown Hero,'" the Raiders said on Tuesday.

TMZ Sports spoke with Raiders star Darren Waller, who says O'Connor's reaction was "legendary" ... and the hero deserves the biggest standing ovation of the night on Thursday.