Re: RIP Al Davis (merged discussions)
When you think of the Oakland Raiders, there is an aura, a mystique about them and that is entirely due to Al Davis. How many teams outside of the Cowboys (and obviously the Ravens as we are fans of them) can you get as strong an image of as soon as you think of that team?
When you say Raiders, you know who they are. You know who the silver and black are. You know what "Just win, baby" means. (For this reason, I'm happy we have "Play Like a Raven" because we know this team is building an image the same way Al Davis built the Raiders image and once Ray's gone, I hope that mystique stays around with the players because I don't expect it to necessarily come from upstairs). You might not like who they are, but you can't ever say you don't know who them.
We can say he wasn't nearly as effective in his later years as owner and GM, but when you think of a single owner who really wanted to win and made no bones about it, you'll think of Al Davis (Jerry Jones, too).
Steve Jobs died a few days ago and I'd go so far as to say that in terms of football, Al Davis was in the same vein. He had vision, he had ideas, he went against the grain, stood out apart from the crowd, went against it, and was successful doing it.
We can argue about whether that was always good thing, but he was willing to put himself out there and be unpopular and be criticized for who he was and what he believed in with the Raiders, the AFL, the NFL.
I say RIP Al Davis and I think fans of every other team in the league would want their team's owner to have some Al Davis in them. (I think Bisch's total committment to winning and building the Ravens into a great organization are a reflection of that same spirit that made Al Davis into a great owner)
Re: RIP Al Davis (merged discussions)
Al Davis had as much to do with shaping the modern day NFL as any one. From being the AFL commissioner and contributing heavily to the eventual merger to being the first hire a hispanic coach (Tom Flores), African American coach (Art Shell) and female team CEO (Amy Trask) Al was a trailblazer.
Many fans particularly younger ones may only know Davis as the kooky owner that we have all come to know over the past 20yrs or so. If you read about what the man accomplished in his lifetime, what he believed in and how applied those principles to his life and business, its hard to not have a ton of respect for him. He was a guy who right or wrong left it all hanging out there for everyone to see. He will be missed.
RIP Al
Re: RIP Al Davis (merged discussions)
Re: RIP Al Davis (merged discussions)
It's a shame, but I remember the last big press conference he did he had a band aid on his face and he had this skeleton thing going on with his hands as he was pointing them at the camera. You could kind of tell that he was on his way out. He didn't look well.
Re: Ot - al davis dead @ 82
There's a weird little half-reported story on Yahoo about how new owner Steve Bisciotti wanted to learn from Al but apparently never did get to talk to him in-depth, or in any case the story abruptly ends and doesn't go there.