Al Davis

Allen "Al" Davis, the man who is synonymous with the Oakland Raiders franchise of the National Football League and its earlier American Football League incarnation, was born on the Fourth of July, 1929 into a Jewish family in Brockton, Massachusetts. Raised in Brooklyn and educated at the borough's Erasmus High School, he played football at Syracuse University, but was cut from the varsity team. After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in English from Syracuse in 1950, he began his football career as a line coach at Adelphi College from 1950 to 1951. He became head coach of the U.S. Army team at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia from 1952 to 1953, then served as line coach at The Citadel. In 1957, he moved on to the University of Southern California, where he served as line coach for two years. With the placing of an American Football League franchise in Los Angeles, Davis was able to move into pro ball. He served as the offensive end coach of the AFL's Los Angeles Chargers from 1960 to 1962, and then was named head coach and general manager of the AFL's struggling Oakland Raiders at the age of 33. Davis took a team that was 9-33 in th first three years of its existence and whipped them into shape in one season. In 1963, his first year as a pro head coach, he was voted the AFL Coach of the Year after his Raiders went 10-4. His success in his four season as head coach led to him being named AFL Commissioner in April 1966. His reign was short-lived. Although the AFL had always contended with the NFL in the signing of college players and Canadian Football League Players, Davis launched an aggressive campaign to recruit top NFL's top players, thus driving up the salaries of football players in both leagues. Due to the rising costs of salaries, AFL owners met with NFL owners and agreed to a merger after the 1970 season. Davis opposed the merger and quit as AFL Commissioner, returning to Oakland as managing general partner of the Raiders. The glory days of Al Davis were about to commence. For a generation, the Oakland (and later Los Angeles) Raiders became one of the top teams in pro football, winning 13 divisional championships, one AFL title (1967), and three Super Bowls from 1967 through 1985. The Raiders in 1985 were one of the most famous, and storied franchises in all American sports, up there with the Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Celtics, and Canadiens. Beginning in 1980, Al Davis played David against the Goliath that was NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle (under whom the merger of the AFL and NFL was effected). Davis wanted to move his Raiders to Los Angeles after the city of Oakland refused to expand the Oakland Colesium, but his plans were blocked by the League. Davis filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL, and his franchise became the Los Angeles Raiders for the 1982 NFL season after a federal district court ruled in Davis' favor. The following season, Los Angeles Raiders won Superbowl XVIII in 1984. It was the high-water mark of Al Davis' career. The team has won only one conference championship in the last 22 seasons, the back-in-Oakland (having returned in 1995 after the city agreed to expand the Colesium) losing Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002 to the Buccaneers. Davis seemed to be consumed by lawsuits against the NFL and municipalities. Other than his three Super Bowl victories, the great Al Davis will be remembered for being a pioneer in for providing opportunity to minority players, coaches and executives when pro football was still dominated by racist owners hostile to African Americans. Int he AFL, Davis scouted and drafted African American players from the traditionally black colleges ignored by the NFL. He was the first owner to hire a Hispanic-American head coach (Tom Flores) and an African American head coach (Art Shell). His selection of Amy Trask to be CEO of the Raiders made him the first (and lamentably, so-far the only) NFL owner to put a woman in charge of an NFL team. Al Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a Team and League Administrator in 1992.