Al Davis
October 10th, 2011 at 3:37:42 PM
permalink
As you may all have heard by now, Al davis passed away alst weekend at age 82.
I have a lot of respect for the man, as he accomplished a great deal and especially as he built up the Oakland/LA Raiders into one of the best NFL franchises in the 70s and 80s. What's more, he displayed the motto "Commitment to Excellence" on the playing field.
Davis was a maverick. I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. In the 60s he was the Comissioner of the AFL, and he was pointedly excluded from the merger talks. Feeling betrayed, and rightly so, he resigned and bought a stake in the Raiders. He later took over the team and made it his own. He was one fo a few owners to also play the role of general manager of the team. And he succeeded for a long time at both posts, until changes in the game passed him by.
He earned a reputation as a contentious and combative individual due to the amny lawsuits he brought against the NFL. One, which seems fully justified, was so he could move his team from Oakland to LA. Later he sued the NFL under anti-trust laws, going so far as to back teh USFL when they sued the NFL for the same things. And of course he was sore over being ignored by both leagues on the AFL/NFL merger talks. His feud with Pete Rozelle, as a result, was legendary.
In the end, what may ahve stung him more was that people like Lamar Hunt, Tex Schram and Pete Rozelle were remembered for forging the NFL into its current state, while Davis was left out. He can claim he made the Raiders into his image and likeness, but not that he had much to do with the League. he did, of course, by making the AFL a power to be reckoned with. He aggresively pursued college players to sign with the AFL over the NFL, for example.
He will be missed.
I have a lot of respect for the man, as he accomplished a great deal and especially as he built up the Oakland/LA Raiders into one of the best NFL franchises in the 70s and 80s. What's more, he displayed the motto "Commitment to Excellence" on the playing field.
Davis was a maverick. I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. In the 60s he was the Comissioner of the AFL, and he was pointedly excluded from the merger talks. Feeling betrayed, and rightly so, he resigned and bought a stake in the Raiders. He later took over the team and made it his own. He was one fo a few owners to also play the role of general manager of the team. And he succeeded for a long time at both posts, until changes in the game passed him by.
He earned a reputation as a contentious and combative individual due to the amny lawsuits he brought against the NFL. One, which seems fully justified, was so he could move his team from Oakland to LA. Later he sued the NFL under anti-trust laws, going so far as to back teh USFL when they sued the NFL for the same things. And of course he was sore over being ignored by both leagues on the AFL/NFL merger talks. His feud with Pete Rozelle, as a result, was legendary.
In the end, what may ahve stung him more was that people like Lamar Hunt, Tex Schram and Pete Rozelle were remembered for forging the NFL into its current state, while Davis was left out. He can claim he made the Raiders into his image and likeness, but not that he had much to do with the League. he did, of course, by making the AFL a power to be reckoned with. He aggresively pursued college players to sign with the AFL over the NFL, for example.
He will be missed.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
