OT: Al Davis

[Eric15]

Al Davis was the man. I love that he's a Syracuse guy. I never appreciated how much of a pioneer he was. He stood up for his guys even if he meant losing revenue.

Civil rights and diversity​

Davis breached several civil rights and diversity barriers during his career with the Raiders. In 1963, the Raiders were scheduled to play a preseason game in Mobile, Alabama. In protest of Alabama's segregation laws, Davis refused to allow the game to be played there and demanded the game be moved to Oakland. He also refused to allow the players to travel to cities to play games where the black and white players would have to stay in separate hotels.[53]

Davis was the first NFL owner to hire an African American head coach, Art Shell, and a female chief executive, Amy Trask.[1] He also hired Tom Flores, the second Latino head coach in the league.[54]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Davis#cite_note-58

 

[florange44]

Al Davis was the man. I love that he's a Syracuse guy. I never appreciated how much of a pioneer he was. He stood up for his guys even if he meant losing revenue.

Civil rights and diversity​

Davis breached several civil rights and diversity barriers during his career with the Raiders. In 1963, the Raiders were scheduled to play a preseason game in Mobile, Alabama. In protest of Alabama's segregation laws, Davis refused to allow the game to be played there and demanded the game be moved to Oakland. He also refused to allow the players to travel to cities to play games where the black and white players would have to stay in separate hotels.[53]

Davis was the first NFL owner to hire an African American head coach, Art Shell, and a female chief executive, Amy Trask.[1] He also hired Tom Flores, the second Latino head coach in the league.[54]Al Davis - Wikipedia

The 30 for 30 on him was interesting. In the 2 min they talked about his time at cues, he basically said “I couldn’t get past JV but I kept hanging around, they didn’t want me.” Didn’t leave me with the impression that he enjoyed those years. FWIW.

 

[Stern]

This is from a 2011 article when Al Davis returned to Syracuse to meet with some old friends...

Davis said he chose for years after graduation to ignore the university. The school, he said, did little to help him in his early struggles, when he bounced from college to college as an assistant coach - slowly moving toward his watershed role as a savior of the old American Football League.


But Davis gradually became more active with his alma mater. He has financed new locker facilities for SU athletes, and he has been honored with the school's letter of distinction. He credits LaPorta with healing the wounds.

 

[elimunelson]

This is from a 2011 article when Al Davis returned to Syracuse to meet with some old friends...

Davis said he chose for years after graduation to ignore the university. The school, he said, did little to help him in his early struggles, when he bounced from college to college as an assistant coach - slowly moving toward his watershed role as a savior of the old American Football League.


But Davis gradually became more active with his alma mater. He has financed new locker facilities for SU athletes, and he has been honored with the school's letter of distinction. He credits LaPorta with healing the wounds.

Al was born in Brockton which always made me happy being from the area.

I think Al Davis operated under the guise of "i need to be habitually at odds with someone, something, etc". It fueled him. Syracuse was probably that instrument for a period of time. He was the NFL's middle finger.

Every owner in the NFL owes Al Davis alot for fighting the fight to move franchises and realize that the value from these stadium deals was a true unlock of money. He took the bullets but every owner since has been able to leverage this into the greatest of pay days. Doesn't take away from the fact he was vindictive, petty, ruthless, etc.

People are complicated. Al Davis was very complicated. With the sugar came the spice.

 

[orangetom]

Here's a cute Al Davis story. If you grew up in a small upstate New York town of mostly Italian heritage, you'll love it. The host grew up in such a town. The host tells the story so well and with such emotion.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

I wrote Al Davis a letter and Coach P called him on my behalf when I was a football student manager and looking to break into the NFL as a career move.

Some random night, I came home from practice and had a voicemail on my answering machine (dating myself) at my apartment on South Campus. It was a call from the Raiders front office telling me that they were unable to pay me, if I wanted to volunteer I could come out and hook on the organization. My roommates loved it!

At the time, I didn't have the courage to move across the country without a job with benefits. A long story short, I secured an internship with the Buffalo Bills and after that experience decided the best job in NFL was team owner. I left pro sports and never looked back. Respect everyone who sacrifices along the way in the NFL. It just was not for me.

Al Davis did put in effort to help me get started and it is something that I will always appreciate. That was the thing about him and his character which the 30 for 30 captured. He was a son of a gun to Rozelle, etc. but also had a heart of gold. I think that he did care about Syracuse University and the fact that the organization called me back confirmed it.

 

[Chip]

(dating myself) at my apartment on South Campus.

Don't feel bad. I was dating myself when I lived on South Campus too.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Don't feel bad. I was dating myself when I lived on South Campus too.