One Of A Kind

Some people are just larger than life....and Al Davis was absolutely one of those people.

During his storied NFL football career, Al Davis held the positions of assistant coach, head coach, GM, owner, and league commissioner of the AFL. If there was a more qualified individual in his field of endeavor, or one who was more passionate and dedicated to his company or team, I would certainly like to meet him or her.

I had two brief encounters with Al Davis. The first was pregame at the 1980 Super Bowl. I noticed him a distance milling around the field pregame. Whirling with constant motion and enthusiasm, his hands were clapping with such great intensity I felt like offering him a pair of receivers gloves to save the skin on his palms. Entering that game, I was sure my Philadelphia Eagles were going to win, but after witnessing Davis and his demeanor prior to the game, I wasn't so sure. Unfortunately for us, my premonition was correct.

Many years later my ex-Stars teammate Chuck Fusina and I were the guests of Dick Vermeil and Carl Peterson for a Kansas City Chiefs vs. Oakland Raiders game at Arrowhead Stadium. While taking a tour of the press box and suites, a moody and tempermental Al Davis passed us in the hallway while being wheeled to his private box in a wheelchair. Davis was barking at his handlers, the Chiefs staff, and pretty much anyone within earshot. You see Al Davis wanted it his way, and for him there was no other way.

He was also a man of courage and conviction. Most people don't know that although he was the AFL commissioner in the late 60's when the leagues merged, he was AGAINST the merger because he felt eventually the AFL would be a superior league. And when the struggling USFL took on the NFL with their anti-trust lawsuit in 1986, Al Davis actually testified FOR the USFL. Davis loved backing the underdog, and standing up for what he believed regardless of the circumstances. For him, it was as clear as black and white.....OK, we'll fudge a little bit here and say black and silver. Regardless of the color scheme, right was right and politics be damned in his eyes.

So Al Davis now resides with George Halas, Vince Lombardi, and the other icons who helped make the NFL the mega giant it is today. And Raider Nation has lost it's leader and face of the franchise.

Let's hope whomever steps up and replaces him can (just) win, baby. It's what Al Davis would have wanted.