Al Davis: July 4, 1929 - October 8, 2011

[Smasher_Sloan]

How many owners benefitted from his actions against the NFL. Think about where the NFL was in 1978 and where it is now.

And how was his selfishness responsible for growing the league?

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

A true visionary and pioneer of professional football. RIP

And the textbook definition of "creep."

 

[jr/shotglass]

How many owners benefitted from his actions against the NFL. Think about where the NFL was in 1978 and where it is now.

And how was his selfishness responsible for growing the league?

The fact that he took on the NFL old school was significant in leading the league into its current status.

And don't think that his bidding wars didn't hasten the AFL-NFL merger. It would have happened eventually anyway. It happened quicker because of Al Davis.

His lack of tact doesn't make him any less a visionary.

 

[playthrough]

The NFL got a little less interesting today. Anyone hung up on Davis' demeanor or weirdness or anything else is missing the point. MLB became a lot less interesting when Steinbrenner faded away.

 

[User 1019]

Absolutely, playthrough. An absolute legend. The game is definitely less interesting today.

 

[Mark2010]

Maybe the best example ever of a guy who stayed too long and tarnished his legacy. Up through about 1990, though, what a legacy it was.

Agreed. Felt in recent years that the Raiders would never return to their previous level of success until Al was no longer running things. In his prime, however, he was certainly unique.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

An excellent first-person tribute by Jim Plunkett:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AuNctyE48AatVLzeHQfCH2o5nYcB?slug=ys-plunkett_remembering_al_davis_100811

 

[CarltonBanks]

My father used to collect those Hall of Fame postcards the Hall of Fame produces, signed by all the Hall of Famers. He never was a football or baseball card kind of guy, but since he grew up near Canton it was something he just did.
All enshrinees sign a bunch of these postcards for the Hall of Fame to sell in its gift shop. Al Davis, throughout his life, was a notorious non-signing prick. The guy just hated to sign autographs. So when his Hall of Fame postcard came out I was wondering how he was going to handle it.
On the card he was wearing a black jacket. He signed the cards in black Sharpie right on his black jacket so you could not see it. My pops didn't pay the money for one, by the way. But this goes to show what a wonderful person Al Davis was.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

How many owners benefitted from his actions against the NFL. Think about where the NFL was in 1978 and where it is now.

And how was his selfishness responsible for growing the league?

<b>The fact that he took on the NFL old school was significant in leading the league into its current status.</b>

And don't think that his bidding wars didn't hasten the AFL-NFL merger. It would have happened eventually anyway. It happened quicker because of Al Davis.

His lack of tact doesn't make him any less a visionary.

How?

And what Al Davis bidding wars hastened the merger? It was inevitable anyway, and the Namath signing was the tipping point.

 

[93Devil]

RIP

I'm glad the Raiders have a decent team with a star player when he watched them for the last time.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

The first time I saw him up close was at the NFL Owners meetings in 2003 or 2004. He looked like he wouldn't live another week.

 

[imjustagirl]

The NFL got a little less interesting today. Anyone hung up on Davis' demeanor or weirdness or anything else is missing the point. MLB became a lot less interesting when Steinbrenner faded away.

Impossible.

 

[Birdscribe]

As influential as Al Davis was in the history of the NFL; and as big an unmitigated prick as he was, this is not open for debate, here is the only thing I like about the Raidhus.

 

[Greenhorn]

The autumn wind is a pirate blustering in from sea......
The Autumn wind is a Raider
Pillaging just for fun
He'll knock you 'round and upside down
And laugh when he's conquered and won.

 

[DanOregon]

Didn't realize Steve Sabol wrote that - someone else did the music.

 

[Greenhorn]

Didn't realize Steve Sabol wrote that - someone else did the music.

Yeah, Dan. I think it was Sam Spence who did the music.

 

[EStreetJoe]

A friend of mine on Facebook just joked:

Al told God that he had a great offer from Purgatory and that if God wants him in heaven he better sweeten the deal.

 

[hondo]

Like it or not, the son of a ***** did things his way: Good, bad, or indifferent.

But make no mistake: he was a son of a *****.

 

[sportsnut]

So who will coach, err, own the Raiders now?

There's a very interesting question to be explored about just how much of the Raiders he still owned -- he has had to sell off parts in recent years -- and who will own it in the future. He has always said his share will go to his son, but his son has not been involved in running the team and would be much better off selling.

Could put the Raiders back in play for L.A., or a shared Bay Area stadium with 49ers, possibilities that probably wouldn't be on the table if Al and his litigious ways were still around ...

That is the question that I have about who would run the organization and will this give AEG the leverage that they wanted and will they now by the Raiders and move them down to Farmers Field.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Before they get to any of that, they're going to have to find a way to get through a season that until now had held some promise. I honestly don't know how they would even figure out the procedure of signing a player to replace someone who is injured, restructuring contracts to massage the cap, etc. That's how tightly Al controlled the operation. I guess it falls to Hue Jackson now.

On the other hand, the defensive coordinator actually gets to coordinate the defense, so that will be new.