Before there was Mark Cuban, Jerry Jones and George Steinbrenner, there was Al Davis. Some could say, in recent years, the Raiders Owner had lost touch with reality. But, no one could disagree that Davis coached, talked, dreamed and lived the game of football. He was a free-lance scout, a college coach at 21, head coach of the Raiders at 33 and the Raiders' majority owner at 47.
From the mid-60's-early 90's, the Raiders were stunning. Davis signed "outlaw" players that other teams had thrown aside. That was so great about Davis; after everyone threw you aside, you knew you could always land with the Oakland Raiders because Davis would give you a chance to prove everyone wrong (or right).
John Madden, one of the winningest coaches in NFL history, went on to become the youngest head coach in the NFL, when Davis promoted him from Linebackers coach to Head coach, in 1969, at the age of 32.
But, all good things must come to an end. After their victory in Super Bowl XVIII (a 38-9 annihilation of the Washington Redskins), the Raiders went 18 years before finally making it back to the Super Bowl, which they did back in 2003, with a thumping by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 48-21. Ironically, the Buccaneers head coach at the time, Jon Gruden, was fired from the Raiders a year before. Over the 18-year drought, the Raiders failed to make the playoffs 10 times, lost two AFC title games and were bounced out of the postseason in the first three rounds.
Yes, it is sad to see such a football pioneer leave this Earth, but the man did his part by changing the NFL landscape, but it's time for the Raiders to move into a new direction and hopefully, hopefully, win a title or two.
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