Al Davis

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Allen "Al" Davis (born July 4, 1929, in Brockton, Massachusetts) is an American football executive, who currently serves as the principal owner (titled as "president of the general partner" or "managing general partner," depending on the source) of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Davis was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. However, he grew up in Brooklyn as part of a wealthy family, and to this day speaks with a marked Brooklyn accent. He spent most of his youth in the Flatbush neighborhood and attended Erasmus Hall High School. He attended Wittenberg University and Syracuse University, where he earned a degree in English. Upon graduation, he began his coaching career as the line coach at Adelphi College from 1950 to 1951. From there Davis served as the head coach of the U.S. Army team at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia from 1952 to 1953. His next coaching assignment was as the line coach and chief recruiter for The Citadel. From 1957 to 1959 Davis was an offensive end coach at the University of Southern California. In mid October of 1979 Al Davis' wife Carol had a stroke and went into a coma. Before Thanksgiving she awakened and Al Davis gave a color TV to every doctor, nurse and bedpan changer who cared for her while her stay in the hospital.

[edit] Coaching career

Davis' first coaching experience in professional football came as the offensive end coach of the Los Angeles Chargers from 1960 to 1962. In 1963, at the age of 33, and known then and now for his slicked-back hair, Brooklyn-tinged speech, dark glasses and ferocious competitiveness, Davis became the head coach and general manager of the AFL's Oakland Raiders. Prior to Davis' arrival, the Raiders had compiled a 9–33 record in their first three years of existence. Davis led the team to a 10–4 record in 1963 and was unanimously named the American Football League Coach of the Year.

Davis compiled a coaching record of 23–16–3 in three seasons as head coach in Oakland.

[edit] AFL Commissioner

In April 1966 he was named the American Football League Commissioner. He immediately commenced an aggressive campaign against the NFL and signed several of the NFL's top players to AFL contracts. Other AFL owners, Davis not included, held secret meetings with the NFL, and in July the AFL and NFL announced that they were merging. Because of the compensation AFL teams were required to pay the NFL, and because he believed the AFL would be the superior league if allowed to remain separate, Davis was against the merger. On July 25, 1966, Davis resigned as commissioner rather than remain as commissioner until the end of the AFL in 1970. He then bought a 10 percent stake in the Raiders and returned to his old club as one of three general partners, along with Wayne Valley and Ed McGah. He was also named head of football operations.

[edit] Raiders ownership

Once he rejoined the Raiders organization, Davis ruthlessly attempted to gain power within the club. In 1972, while managing general partner Valley was attending the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Davis drafted a revised partnership agreement that made him the new managing general partner, with near-absolute control over team operations. McGah signed the agreement. Since two of the team's three general partners had voted in favor of the agreement, it was binding under partnership law of the time. Valley sued to overturn the agreement once he returned to the country, but was unsuccessful. Valley sold his interest in 1976, and no other partners have had any role in running the club since. This was despite the fact that Davis did not acquire a majority interest in the Raiders until 2005, when he bought the shares held by McGah's family. He now owns approximately 67 percent of the interests in the partnership through his company, A.D. Football, Inc.

In addition to serving as owner, Davis effectively serves as his own general manager. He has run the Raiders' football operations since his return in 1966—longer than any football operations chief in the league. He is one of three NFL owners who have the title or powers of general manager, others being the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones and the Cincinnati Bengals' Mike Brown.

With Davis in control, the Raiders became one of the most successful teams in all of professional sports. From 1967 to 1985 the team won 13 division championships, one AFL championship (1967), three Super Bowls (XI, XV, and XVIII) and made 15 playoff appearances. Though the Raiders' fortunes have waned in recent years, having gone 24–72 from 2003 to 2008, they are one of two teams to play in the Super Bowl in four different decades, with the other being the Pittsburgh Steelers. Along with appearing in five Super Bowls, the Raiders have also played in their Conference/League Championship Game in every decade since their inception.

In 1992 Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a Team and League Administrator, and was presented by John Madden. Davis has been chosen by a record nine 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, Ted Hendricks, and Madden.

[edit] Trailblazing hiring

He hired the first Latino head coach in NFL history, Tom Flores, in 1979. In 1989, he hired the second African American head coach in league history, Art Shell. He has also placed a woman, Amy Trask, as president of the club, in a far higher position than any other NFL owner or executive has placed a woman

[edit] Legal battles

Davis has long been considered one of the most controversial owners in the NFL and has been involved in multiple lawsuits involving Los Angeles, Oakland, Irwindale and the NFL. In 1980 he attempted to move the Raiders to Los Angeles but was blocked by a court injunction. In response Davis filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL. In June 1982 a federal district court ruled in Davis' favor and the team officially relocated to Los Angeles for the 1982 NFL season. When the upstart United States Football League filed its antitrust suit in 1986, Davis was the only NFL owner who sided with the USFL.

In 1995 Davis moved the team back to Oakland. Davis then sued the NFL, claiming the league sabotaged the team's effort to build a stadium at Hollywood Park in Inglewood by not doing enough to help the team move from the antiquated Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to a new stadium complete with luxury suites. The NFL won a 9–3 verdict in 2001, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Hubbell ordered a new trial amid accusations that one juror was biased against the team and Davis, and that another juror committed misconduct. A state appeals court later overturned that decision. The case was thrown out July 2, 2007 when the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the verdict against the Raiders stood. This was the last of several lawsuits the Raiders had outstanding against the league and its stadium landlords.^[1]

In the mid 90's Davis sued the NFL on behalf of the Raiders, claiming the Raiders had exclusive rights to the LA market, even though the Raiders were in Oakland. Davis and the Raiders lost the lawsuit.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, NFL Films chose the feud between Davis and the NFL and Pete Rozelle as their number 1 greatest feud in NFL history on the NFL Network's Top Ten Feuds, citing almost a half century of animosity between Davis and the league. Some believe that the root of Davis' animosity towards the NFL and his former co-owners in the AFL was the surreptitious way they pushed the AFL-NFL merger behind his back.

[edit] Front office wizard

Al Davis was recognized in his AFL days as one of the seminal forces in keeping that league competitive, and it was through his inventive tactics that perhaps the Raiders were saved from an embarrassing relocation when he arrived in 1963. Nevertheless, today Davis is ridiculed by critics as having failed to evolve with the changing character of NFL players from the working-class, reserve clause period when he was a coach, to the present day of high stakes bid wars both for rookie prospects and free agents. Defensive End Ben Davidson characterized the Raiders during Davis's first season as a shoestring operation, and he himself moonlighted as a parking attendant.^[2] Since advancing from the position of offensive line coach for San Diego, he's built the Oakland/LA franchise into an NFL mainstay, yet today is regarded as one of the least impressive team operators in recent years.^[3]

[edit] Early moves

Davis introduced the Raiders' signature logo in 1963 in a unilateral move as head coach and general manager.^[4] In the 1960s as AFL Commissioner, Davis initiated a bidding war with the NFL over players.^[5] But it was his return to Oakland in 1967 that allowed him to reach his true calling. That season Davis made a number of roster moves, including landing Buffalo Bills quarterback Daryle Lamonica, a back-up for starter Jack Kemp on two AFL champion Bills teams. Another move at first thought to be desperate was the signing of former Houston Oilers QB George Blanda, who was already 39 but was still a very solid placekicker, and had played on the first AFL champion teams with Houston, as well as for the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Colts before that. Davis correctly identified Blanda as a mentor for Lamonica as well as a solid special teams man despite his advanced age. That year he also drafted guard Gene Upshaw, the cornerstone of the Oakland offensive line well into the 1980s. Lamonica propelled the Raiders to a 13-1 won-loss record in the 1967-68 season, and they coasted to the league championship with a 40-7 victory over Houston, although they were defeated easily by the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II. Oakland under Davis would go on to win the other two last AFL Western Division titles before the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.

During the first years of the new league format Oakland was a dominant franchise, winning the AFC West Division every year except 1971, and was kept out of the Super Bowls between 1970 and 1975 only by phenomenal Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers teams. Indeed, during the nine-year span from 1967 through 1975, the Raiders were eliminated by the team that won the Super Bowl on seven occasions (Green Bay in Super Bowl II at the end of the 1967 season, Super Bowl III champion New York in the 1968 AFL Championship Game, Super Bowl IV champion Kansas City in the 1969 AFL Championship Game, Super Bowl V champion Baltimore in the 1970 AFC Championship, Super Bowl VIII champion Miami in the 1973 AFC Championship Game, and Super Bowl iX and X champion Pittsburgh in the 1974 and 1975 AFC Championship Games). Finally, in 1976, the Raiders won their first title in Super Bowl XI under Davis's homegrown head coach John Madden. Indeed, from 1970-1981 Oakland was able to reach the AFC Championship Game seven out of eleven years, and won two Super Bowls in that period. They also captured additional division titles during that period.

[edit] First rumblings, booting Stabler

In the 1980 offseason star QB Ken Stabler attempted to renegotiate his contract with the Raiders. A veteran gunslinging quarterback, Stabler had won the Raiders' only title until then and had been a mainstay since his 1968 signing with the team as a protegé of Lamonica. Davis angered much of the Raider community by dealing him to the Oilers, a trade many regarded as selfishly seeking revenge while strengthening the team's top AFC rival. The move paid off, with replacement veteran Jim Plunkett tying San Diego for the best AFC West record and winning the wild card spot for their first playoff appearance since 1977. The Raiders also became the third second-place team to play in the Super Bowl, joining the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs and the 1975 Dallas Cowboys, and they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV. Davis, a preseason goat in Oakland for the Stabler deal, was vindicated (the Raiders even defeated Stabler's Oilers in the wild-card round of the playoffs, 27-7). It seemed his status as the top front office strategist had been saved.

[edit] Feud with Allen

In the 1982 the Raiders drafted 1981 Heisman Trophy winner running back Marcus Allen from USC. Allen would go on to win that year's NFL Rookie of the Year award and lead the relocated LA Raiders to a victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. Davis had utilized another discarded longtime veteran along with Plunkett, former Denver Broncos linebacker Lyle Alzado to bolster the LA defense. Allen provided the Raiders with the most potent running game in the AFC in an era dominated by Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense for the San Francisco 49ers and Don Shula's air game for the Miami Dolphins under QB Dan Marino. Yet far from building a dynasty, the Allen LA Raiders would be outfoxed most of the decade by the more sophisticated passing offenses of Denver with John Elway and the Seattle Seahawks. After Allen's NFL MVP year in 1985 the Raiders would be absent from the playoffs until 1990 when they once again won the AFC West under Davis understudy Art Shell. That year the team advanced to the AFC Championship game only to be demolished by Buffalo 51-3. Allen had suffered since 1989 with leg injuries and was often relegated to back-up roles. The next year the Raiders were eliminated in the Wild Card round by the rival Kansas City Chiefs, and in 1992 failed to qualify for the playoffs with a 7-9 record. Allen was by now disgruntled by limited playing time under Davis. The owner in turn felt that the running back was turning the locker room against him, allegedly labeling Allen a cancer at one point.^[6]

After a prolonged battle including demands to be traded, Allen was finally allowed to leave after the 1992 season and sign with Kansas City. If the Stabler controversy had ended up bolstering Davis's reputation, the Allen saga would blow back at him immediately. During the 1993 year Allen had career numbers including 15 total touchdown scores^[7], and won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year honor. The disgruntled duo of him and former 49ers QB Joe Montana propelled the Chiefs to their first AFC West title since 1971 with an 11-5 record, and two humiliating victories against LA. All the more frustrating, the two victories provided the difference between them and the 10-6 Raiders who were able to win a wild card spot and advance to the divisional playoffs only to be dispatched by the powerhouse Bills. Kansas City was also defeated by Buffalo in the AFC finals. The Allen-Davis feud continued into the next season, only now with even more frustrating consequences for Davis. In 1994 the Chiefs and Raiders had identical 9-7 records, yet two Kansas City victories in the season series provided the tie-breaker allowing them to qualify for the playoffs essentially on Davis's back. Art Shell would follow Allen in 1995 to KC as an assistant coach to Marty Schottenheimer.

[edit] After Allen, Davis deals Gruden

The Marcus Allen affair has continued to be cited as the turning point at which the Raiders ceased to be a contender in the 1990s. After 1994 the Raiders returned to Oakland and failed to post a winning record until 2000. The Denver Broncos meanwhile reestablished themselves as the AFC West's premier franchise, winning Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998 under John Elway and coach Mike Shanahan, the head coach of the LA Raiders in the 1988-89 season. In 1998 Jon Gruden was hired as head coach of Oakland, leading them to their first AFC West division title in ten seasons in 2000 with a 12-4 record, only to be rebuffed in the AFC finals by the Baltimore Ravens, who would proceed to win that season's Super Bowl. In the offseason Davis succeeded in luring future Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice from the cross-bay 49ers, a move that now solidified the already deadly Oakland pass attack. Gruden guided the Raiders to another division title in 2001 and they were defeated in the Divisional Playoffs by the New England Patriots. In the offseason Davis made what is considered one of the most bizarre trades in NFL history, dealing his head coach Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a move that was unprecedented and as yet has not been repeated. His replacement Bill Callahan led Oakland to an 11-5 record and their third consecutive division championship. Callahan's Raiders then defeated the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans on the way to Super Bowl XXXVII. Coincidentally, Gruden had guided Tampa to its first Super Bowl berth, and a matchup otherwise not noteworthy was termed the "Gruden Bowl".^[8] Despite a superior 12-4 record, tied for best in the NFL with Green Bay and Philadelphia, the Buccaneers were four point underdogs, yet dominated and surprised the Raiders with a blowout 48-21 victory.

[edit] Personnel woes and personal issues

Davis's performance since 2003 has been heavily criticized, especially when in the offseason after that year the Raiders declined to re-sign wide receiver Tim Brown, a player nicknamed Mr. Raider and the last player to remain in the franchise since its return eight years before from LA. During his entire fifteen year career with the Raiders Brown had had a difficult relationship with Davis, perhaps the best example of the owner's personal problems with players since the Allen saga. In interviews Brown recounted a number of incidents in his personal history with Al Davis, although they cannot be independently confirmed, including:

• Being informed during his 1988 rookie camp, following a 1987 Heisman Trophy winning season at the University of Notre Dame, that Davis apparently does not like black players from ND. Such an assertion, if true, would be considered bizarre since Davis, as general manager, was responsible for picking Brown sixth overall in the season's draft.^[9]
• In 2000 Brown and two former teammates dined in an Atlanta restaurant simultaneously while Davis dined there, although the two parties did not exchange a word there. Although Brown did not call this a cold shouldered snub, he noted that he himself was incapable of bringing himself to speak to his boss. This was after a twelve year career including eight Pro Bowl selections exclusively with the LA/Oakland Raiders.^[10]
• In the same interview as above, Brown described the offseason process by which he decided to sign a new Raider contract rather than seek a new team on the open market. In his statements Brown apparently gave the rationale in his decision as being fear that his advanced age would deflate his negotiating power, and therefore he was only sure of a contract with Oakland. As an example he cited a perceived lack of enthusiasm from the Dallas Cowboys front office, where it had been rumored he was heading.^[11]
• Despite Browns relationship with Davis, he later deflected criticism of the owner as out-of-touch in a 2009 interview for the New Haven Register, stating that he believed Davis is still "quite lucid".^[12]

Following his release Tim Brown was signed to Gruden's Buccaneers for his last year, in the wake of which he retired. Davis's reaction was mum, and the Raiders organization did not call a press conference, as Brown invited reporters to a private one.^[13] Following Brown's departure, the Raiders posted 4-12 record during the 2003 season, and have achieved until 2009 a streak of six seasons with at least eleven losses, an NFL record. Rice was traded four games into the 2004 season to Seattle.

Since then Davis's position as general manager has opened him up to extensive criticism for the poor talent on the Raiders' roster. Since 2004 the franchise has only had a token one player selection to the Pro Bowl each season, three times punter Shane Lechler, and twice defensive end Derrick Burgess, with cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha being selected in 2009.

[edit] Recent coaching hires

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[edit] Jon Gruden

Following a series of losing seasons, Al Davis hired Jon Gruden as head coach. The Raiders would later succeed by going as far as the AFC Championship game using the West Coast offense featuring a short passing game different and more efficient than Davis' preferred vertical passing game offense, which features longer and higher risk passes. At the end of the 2001 season, which ended on a loss to the New England Patriots amid a controversial call now known as the tuck rule, Al Davis "traded" Jon Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Raiders have not been nearly as successful since Gruden left.

[edit] Bill Callahan

A year later, former Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden would lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers past the Bill Callahan-coached Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. Super Bowl XXXVII Score:

• Oakland Raiders 21 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48
  • The Raiders were 4 point favorites.

The next season, the Raiders fell to 4–12, and Callahan was fired.

[edit] Norv Turner

During the offseason, Davis hired Norv Turner to the front office of the Oakland Raiders. In his two seasons, the Raiders would go 5–11, and then 4–12. Turner was later fired after the 2005-06 season.

[edit] Art Shell

In 2006, the Raiders wound up bringing back Art Shell, whom Davis fired in 1994, in hopes that a Hall of Fame player could instill discipline amongst his players. The team did not respond and ended up finishing the 2006 season with a franchise-worst 2–14 record. Shell was fired at the end of the season.

[edit] Lane Kiffin

Davis hired Lane Kiffin in January 2007. Kiffin, protege to offensive mastermind Norm Chow, had previously coordinated the offensive juggernaut at USC. The offense, particularly the running game, improved significantly under Kiffin, and although the team only managed a 4–12 record, Davis's young defensive draftees, in addition to rookie quarterback JaMarcus Russell, gave Raider fans something to look forward to for the future.

In 2008, Davis used the money he acquired from the minority stake to bring in DeAngelo Hall, Gibril Wilson, and Kwame Harris. Davis believed that he had given Kiffin the players he needed to succeed, despite their ongoing disagreements and Davis's attempts to fire Kiffin. Davis made a weekly threat to fire Kiffin from the start of the 2008–09 season. On 30 September 2008, various news sources reported that Davis finally dismissed his head coach. He later announced he had fired Kiffin due to actions "detrimental to the team", and he made Offensive Line coach Tom Cable the Raiders' interim head coach. At the televised news conference announcing the firing, Davis characterized Kiffin as a "liar" and a "disgrace" to the Raider organization.^[14]

[edit] Tom Cable

Tom Cable was the Raiders interim coach as a result of former coach Lane Kiffin's firing. Cable finished off the 2008 season with a record of 5–8. On February 4, 2009 Tom Cable was officially introduced as the permanent head coach of the Raiders.

[edit] Raiders Ownership

In 2007, Davis sold a minority stake in the Raiders for $150 million^[15] and said that he would not retire until he wins two more Super Bowls or dies.^[16]

Al Davis's wife and son Mark are his direct heirs. Mark Davis has been seen around the Raiders facilities in recent years and is thought to be interested in running the team.

[edit] See also

• American Football League players, coaches, and contributors

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Mark Ribowsky, Slick: The Silver and Black Life of Al Davis (biography) - Sept 1991
• Glenn Dickey, Just Win, Baby: Al Davis and His Raiders (biography) - Sept 1991
• Ira Simmons, Black Knight: Al Davis and His Raiders (biography) - Oct 1990

[edit] External links

• Al Davis biography at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• ESPN Classic bio
• TFDS*
• Raiders coach under fire