Thread: Are we the new Raiders

To be the Raiders, you need a crappy owner like Al Davis 1st

"Slade" wrote:

To be the Raiders, you need a crappy owner like Al Davis 1st

Al Davis has done more for the NFL than any other living human being, well, maybe not any other, but I can't think of someone who has done more for the league than him at this moment.

"Prophet" wrote:

"Slade" wrote:

To be the Raiders, you need a crappy owner like Al Davis 1st

Al Davis has done more for the NFL than any other living human being, well, maybe not any other, but I can't think of someone who has done more for the league than him at this moment.

Hmmm...firing John Gruden, overpaying for has beens, keeping James Jett as long as he did as a starter. Al Davis was a great owner & tapered off in the early 90's. Granted, he will spend money to get some guys, but he is too controlling over his coaches. Why do you think they settled on Shell? No coach in the league was interested. Not even Mike Martz. Heck, I would have taken Sherman before Shell. Gruden made the team good when they went to the SB, not Davis. I rank Al Davis up there with Jerry Jones in Dallas. Sure, they will spend the $$$, but their decisions are not always benefiting the team, but themselves

"Slade" wrote:

"Prophet" wrote:

"Slade" wrote:

To be the Raiders, you need a crappy owner like Al Davis 1st

Al Davis has done more for the NFL than any other living human being, well, maybe not any other, but I can't think of someone who has done more for the league than him at this moment.

Hmmm...firing John Gruden, overpaying for has beens, keeping James Jett as long as he did as a starter. Al Davis was a great owner & tapered off in the early 90's. Granted, he will spend money to get some guys, but he is too controlling over his coaches. Why do you think they settled on Shell? No coach in the league was interested. Not even Mike Martz. Heck, I would have taken Sherman before Shell. Gruden made the team good when they went to the SB, not Davis. I rank Al Davis up there with Jerry Jones in Dallas. Sure, they will spend the $$$, but their decisions are not always benefiting the team, but themselves

Maybe a little NFL history is in order (I bolded a small part of his career, the man has done a lot for the league).
Sure, he has made some boneheaded decisions, but there are few people alive or dead that can rival what he has done in and for the NFL.

Al Davis
The Man Behind the Shield
http://www.raiders.com/history/davis.jsp

Raiders owner Al Davis was inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 1, 1992. He went from assistant coach of the Los Angeles, then San Diego Chargers, to head coach and general manager of the Raiders, to Commissioner of the American Football League and to principal owner and chief executive officer of the Raiders, transforming a failing franchise into pro football’s winningest team.

Mr. Davis was the offensive end coach of the Los Angeles Chargers from 1960-62, before being named Raiders head coach/general manager at age 33. In first season in Oakland, team went 10-4 in 1963 with Davis being named Coach of the Year by AP, UPI, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News and his fellow coaches. The nine-win turnaround in one season remains the greatest such accomplishment in pro football history. Mr. Davis became the first sports figure ever honored by the Chamber of Commerce as Oakland’s Young Man of the Year.

In 1966, Mr. Davis became Commissioner of the AFL at 36 and was acclaimed nationally as the driving force who brought on the historic merger between the NFL and AFL. He played a vital role in the development of the game as a participant in the prestigious NFL Competition Committee and the NFL Owners Executive Committee.

Has been chosen by a record eight Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees to present them at the Canton, Ohio ceremony: Lance Alworth, Jim Otto, George Blanda, Willie Brown, Gene Upshaw, Fred Biletnikoff, Art Shell and Ted Hendricks.

Mr. Davis became the first recipient of the NFL Players Association's Retired Players Award of Excellence "for his contributions to the men who played the game" in 1991.

As a member of the Executive Committee of the NFL Management Council, Mr. Davis was a major factor in achieving a collective bargaining agreement with the players.


His innovative technical football articles published in the leading coaching magazines gained him wide acclaim. He went into the U.S. Army, being assigned as head football coach at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. There he molded a national power service team and capped one season by defeating Maryland, national collegiate football champions, in a squad game. Mr. Davis was on the staff of the Baltimore Colts in 1954, at age 24, concentrating on player personnel. During 1955-56, he served as line coach and chief recruiter at The Citadel. He then spent three years at the USC as line coach and in 1959, and was also defensive coordinator.

He attended Wittenberg College and Syracuse, earning a degree in English while playing football, basketball and baseball in 1950 and was named line coach at Adelphi College in New York

"Slade" wrote:

"Prophet" wrote:

"Slade" wrote:

To be the Raiders, you need a crappy owner like Al Davis 1st

Al Davis has done more for the NFL than any other living human being, well, maybe not any other, but I can't think of someone who has done more for the league than him at this moment.

Hmmm...firing John Gruden, overpaying for has beens, keeping James Jett as long as he did as a starter. Al Davis was a great owner & tapered off in the early 90's. Granted, he will spend money to get some guys, but he is too controlling over his coaches. Why do you think they settled on Shell? No coach in the league was interested. Not even Mike Martz. Heck, I would have taken Sherman before Shell. Gruden made the team good when they went to the SB, not Davis. I rank Al Davis up there with Jerry Jones in Dallas. Sure, they will spend the $$$, but their decisions are not always benefiting the team, but themselves

BTW he did not fire Gruden he traded him for CASH $$$$.

Yeah Al Davis has definetely been great for the NFL as well as a great owner. But it just seems these days hes to controlling and its making his team worse. Hes gotta let the Coach and GM do the work around there.