Al Davis: Raider Killer
Well, it looks like the Oakland Raiders will have another bad year. They have lost their first two games by a combined score of 55-6 and are still looking for their first touchdown. Their starting quarterback was injured and it seems the team is headed down the drain... again. This is becoming too repetitive for a team that once prided itself on victory. The old motto of "Just win, baby" is now "Just lose, baby." The team had to re-hire coach Art Shell to lead the ship. Shell had some success in the past though destroyed in the playoffs. The Raiders were once a truly feared football team. They were a perennial Superbowl team. Great players like Ken Stabler, Ted Hendricks, Dave Casper and yes, Art Shell, among many others, led the Raiders to greatness. But something has happened to this once great franchise. Stumbling has become the routine. Disastrous years have become the norm outside of some recent flashes of greatness. What the hell happened? Well, it appears the great owner, the Hall-of-Famer Al Davis, has overstayed his greatness. He was once always ahead of the curve. Now he is way behind it. Move after move has failed. Even good moves- like hiring Jon Gruden as head coach- turned into a disaster as Davis could not get along with Gruden and dumped a coach bringing the team back to greatness. But ego is a terrible thing to hold. A guy who was like gold in the football world has simply become too intrusive. Davis is nearly 80. It is time to sit back and be a fan, Al. Everyone goes through it eventually. Even formerly intrusive Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has calmed down a bit. In baseball, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, while giving his team an outrageous monetary advantage year after year, has finally backed off his former meddling ways. The Raiders simply cannot get an elite coach to come to Oakland. The reality is they simply do not want to do it. While some will praise Davis for being a good guy, it is followed up with a refusal to coach under him. Thus, second-tier coaches like Norv Turner, Joe Bugel, Bill Callahan, and a re-hire of Shell become the way. Again, Davis hit gold with Gruden but could not hold on to him. Big boys like Bill Parcells and Marty Schottenheimer publicly stated they would not coach for Davis. Mike Shanahan coached the team a million years ago but was let go in just over a year. The team was not doing well but Shanahan claimed they were in the middle of a total change and needed more time. On top of it there were financial disputes that turned real ugly. To this day Shanahan does not like Davis and his Broncos routinely whip Oakland. Al Davis will never sell the team. Fine. But it is time to look in the mirror and leave the team alone. It is time to hire a good coach and leave the guy alone. Davis coached the team way back in the 1960's. At this point it would be better to get him on the sidelines and coach instead of being the sniper from above. Back off, Al. You were an excellent football guy for years and deserving of the Hall-of-Fame. But it has passed you by the way it did former greats like Tom Landry and Chuck Knoll. The Raiders can "just win" if you "just back off." Robert Carberry is a writer from New York |
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