Rest In Peace, Mr. Al Davis

So of you may know, my chosen professional football team is the Oakland Raiders. (sure, I was a big fan of the 85 Bears and for a few years after) But the player that actually got me interested in football was a Raider. His name you may ask? Jack Tatum. He wrote a book that my local library was fortunate enough to carry called "They Call Me Assassin". Something about that book finally made football click in my head and I got it. I honestly can say without that book, I don't know if I would have ever gotten into football as much as I have. What does that have to do with Mr. Davis? Hang tough my reader, this will come soon enough.
One thing Jack (pardon me being familiar with Mr Tatum here) mentioned was how his team was owned by a man named Al Davis. It was very obvious, very quickly that Mr. Davis ran his team and made the decisions (according to Jack anyway). And the knowledge Mr. Davis had about football, his team and what he wanted that team to do. After I finished that book, I was lucky enough to find a book by Jack's coach, John Madden. Again, one very large figure in John's book (One Knee Equals Two Feet) was Mr. Davis. It was kind of hard to realize how one person could have so much involvement on a team and it still be good. If you follow professional football, you can see how bad an owner can be with Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. (Who, BTW, in my opinion, wants to be Mr. Davis so bad he can't stand it)
I learned about so many characters in those books. "Dr Death", "Snake" and "The Mad Stork" among others. And the great thing was, they were allowed to be themselves (and maybe a few other people) by the man who hired and paid them. He was as much a character as his players. Ever heard of an owner just moving his team after the league head office said he couldn't? Let me introduce you to the Los Angeles Raiders. And then when he decided to move the team back to the original town, do you think the head office would allow it? Oh no, but you can go buy an Oakland Raiders shirt online anytime. When a Heisman Trophy winning running back decided he wanted to play pro baseball instead of football, it was a big deal. So when this running back didn't show up for the team that originally drafted him (Tampa Bay), everybody thought his football career was over. Not Mr. Davis, who proceeded to draft the rights to Bo Jackson in the 5th round of the draft the following year. I remember hearing laughs and jokes about that decision, how it was a wasted draft pic. Once again, Mr. Davis proved "everybody" wrong again. Bo Jackson was a stud running back during his all to brief football career. Still holds a record for 2 runs of 90+ yards, which still hasn't been broken to this day. (I, like most people, think if Bo hadn't been injured, he and Barry Sanders would have been the great running backs of the late 80s and 90s) Another team had a quarterback who "couldn't win" after a stellar college career. They traded him off and Mr. Davis worked some of his magic again. Jim Plunkett ended up winning a Super Bowl for Mr. Davis. A "washed up" tight end who's hands weren't good enough to catch a ball anymore? Hello starting guard for 2 years. I think the last great Mr. Davis move was him trading a head coach (never heard of that one before) and getting 2 first round draft picks, 2 second round draft picks AND eight million dollars.
Of course, Mr. Davis' moves didn't sit well with the league office and his team was seemingly punished via obscure "penalties" (the so called "tuck game") and the changing of the rules of the game. One receiver was know for using a product called "stickum" to help him catch the ball. Stickum was eventually declared illegal in the NFL. The Raider DBs were know for being aggressive against opponents wide receivers and not letting them get off the line clean. Now the receivers can not be touched for the first 5 yards. Not to say that my team didn't deserve the bulk of the penalties that were called. Some calls were just... influenced. As when a certain other city's team refused to have the police protect the referees if they made the right call. So, the referees fearing for their life and health, let that other team pick up an incomplete pass and run it in for a touchdown.
Anyway, back to the point of all this. Mr. Davis passed away this morning, after a long illness. He was 82, had been in obvious poor health for many years. Even having to use a walker to get around. He made some... less than stellar choices in his later years of players, coaches (and firing of coaches) and direction for the team. And while some of these decisions might have confused those of us on the outside, one thing remained unchanging on the inside of the Raiders organization. Mr. Davis wanted to win and would do whatever he thought he needed to so his team could win. Back in 1971, Mr. Davis had Jack Tatum drafted in the first round to replace a retiring Dave Grayson. Jack eventually wrote a book about his life, experiences and outlook that was eventually bought by someone at the Clinton Library. One day around 1983 or 84, I happened to pick that book up. Without Mr. Davis' choices and decisions, I may not be the fan or person I am today. Quite the impact for someone who never had the honor of meeting Mr. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Davis, Rest in Peace.