Al Davis, the rebellious owner of the Oakland Raiders, impacted more than just the game of football. He impacted American life tremendously during his 48 years with Oakland.
Mr. Davis, who passed away Oct. 8, was instrumental in the fight to defeat racism in the National Football League.
For anyone to say that they don’t respect Mr. Davis would be a slap in the face to not only everyone involved with the NFL, but to every minority in the United States.
When it was unheard of for NFL franchises to hire Latino head coaches, Mr. Davis hired Tom Flores, who later went on to win two Super Bowls for the Silver and Black.
When it was unheard of for African-Americans to be hired as head coaches in the NFL, even though the majority of NFL players were African-American, Mr. Davis hired Art Shell in 1989, who went on to win Coach of the Year in 1990.
Racism wasn’t the only evil that Mr. Davis spent his life fighting.
Al Davis also hired Amy Trask in 1997 as CEO of the Raiders franchise, the first and only woman to hold a major position in an NFL franchise’s front office.
Clearly, one of Mr. Davis’ biggest aspirations during his life was to eliminate anything standing in the way of total equality in the NFL.
Mr. Davis’ fight to end inequality didn’t end with the people he hired either, and a lot of his biggest battles were fought behind closed doors.
When the owners voted on the latest collective bargaining agreement between them and the players’ union, the Oakland Raiders were the only franchise that didn’t vote yes, instead choosing to abstain.
“We had profound philosophical differences of a football and an economic nature,” Trask said after the vote.
It is clear that Mr. Davis, being the players owner that he was, thought that the players deserved more than what they got out of the deal.
He looked out for his players before he worried about profit margins, more so than any other owner in professional sports.
When the other owners in the NFL used the NFL Network to intimidate the players’ union with the thought of a lost season, Mr. Davis and the Oakland Raiders stood on the side of the players, because they believed, as they should, that the players are the only reason why the NFL is where it’s at today.
Mr. Davis should be remembered for the man he was and the actions he took throughout his life.
In a time when America was divided on so many issues, he helped unite the game of football in more ways then just the AFL-NFL merger.
Mr. Davis helped provide a model of equality that the American people could look up to.
There have been rumors of who is going to take over for Mr. Davis for the franchise, but I think there is only one man Trask should consider in her search: John Madden.
Mr. Davis, you will always be loved and admired.