Al Davis

Al Davis

The Oakland Raiders (1963 – 1966)

In 1963 at the age of 33 Al Davis became the head coach and general manager of the Oakland Raiders. Prior to the arrival of Al Davis The Raiders had only 9 wins but 33 losses in their first three years. In his first season at The Raiders Al Davis led the Raiders to a 10-4 season and was named AFL Coach of the Year. In his three years at the Oakland Raiders Al Davis compiled a total of 23 wins 16 losses and 3 ties.

AFL (American Football League) Commissioner

In April 1966 Al Davis became the AFL’s Commissioner. He immediately began competition between the AFL and the NFL (National Football League). He signed most of the best NFL players to AFL contracts. In 1970 there was a merger between the NFL and AFL which brought both leagues together in the NFL. Al Davis was strongly opposed to this as he believed that the AFL teams were far superior. Al Davis then resigned from the commissioner of the AFL and returned to the Oakland Raiders.

The Oakland Raiders (1970 – Present)

When Al Davis began his return to The Raiders he had to start out small as The Raiders were performing very well at the time. At first he became a general partner and head of football operations (along with 7 other co-owners). He remained at this position until 1972 when managing general partner Wayne Valley was attending the Olympics in Munich, Davis drafted a new partnership deal giving him near total control of team operations. Valley sued in an attempt to overturn the agreement but he failed. In 1976 Valley sold his interest and he was the last partner that was allowed to help in the running of the club.

Despite all this Al Davis didn’t have majority interest in The Raiders until 2005 when he bought the shares held by Ed McGah’s family. Al Davis now owns approximately 67 percent of interest and partnership in the organisation. As well as being owner Al Davis also serves the duties of a General Manager and is one of only three owners in the NFL to do so. He has been at this position since 1970.

His Success

Al Davis has made the Raiders one of the most successful teams in NFL history. From 1967 to 1985 Al Davis and The Raiders won 13 Division Championships, one AFL Championship, three Super Bowls and have made 15 play-off appearances. Also The Raiders are one of only two teams to appear in the Super Bowl in four different decades. As well as five Super Bowl appearances The Raiders have played in the Conference Championship game every season since their beginning. In 1992 Al Davis was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Recent Performances

Despite have a great history Al Davis and the Raiders haven’t been performing as well as hoped for between 2003 and 2007 the Raiders have only managed to win 19 out of 70 games. The Raiders recorded their worst season in their history recording only two wins and 14 losses in 2006 under Head Coach Art Shell who is a Hall of Fame Left Tackle for The Oakland Raiders.

The Future

At the age of 79 Raider owner Al Davis still is showing no signs of retirement. He said he wasn’t going to retire “until The Raiders win two more Super Bowls”. In the 2007 NFL Draft Al Davis used the first overall pick of the Draft so select JaMarcus Russell out of LSU College despite the obvious objections by Head Coach at the time Lane Kiffin.

Al Davis could see no further then the powerful arm of Quarter Back JaMarcus Russell and even called him “the future of the franchise”. Lane Kiffin wanted to draft Running Back Adrian Peterson (who went on to win 2007 rookie of the year and set three NFL records) in the first round and Quarter Back Trent Edwards in the second round.

JaMarcus Russell currently is not performing as well as Al Davis hoped for but he still insists that he was the best pick to make. He even said at a press conference that “Lane Kiffin didn’t want to draft JaMarcus Russell; he’s a good player, get over it”. Al Davis seems the only person to think this as everyone else thinks that JaMarcus Russell is a top NFL Quarterback while everyone else is beginning to doubt his talents.