Raiders owner Al Davis passes away at age 82

[Betterthanmost]

OT: Al Davis has passed away!

I feel sad. I did quite like the guy.
http://www.raiders.com/

Yeah, people made fun of him, but he was close to building a heck of a team again.

 

[PatsSox363804]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

Really took that loss hard....

Kidding of course. Say what you want about Al but his impact on the game is unquestionable and he will be missed.

 

[Big-T]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

A true character in sports.

A sad loss to not only for the Raiders but to the NFL.

 

[patsfan06]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

Wow, sad. Unexpected too.

 

[Sivy]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

sad news

He was only in his 80s? I thought he was at least 105

 

[BelizePats]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

Dude had one hell of a life and always lived it his his terms.
Travel safe old boy!

 

[reflexblue]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

Wow, sad. Unexpected too.

Really?? Have you seen him lately? Al looked like the walking dead.

Anyways RIP AL

 

[Patspsycho]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

We should try to remember him as the pioneer that he was, in the 1960's and 70's when he was a big part of making the game what it is today.

Condolences to his family and all the Raiders fans.

 

[JaxPats]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

RIP Mr. Davis.

 

[FalconHeavy]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

Our beloved trading partner !

RIP Mr.Davis ... God Speed

 

[Jared]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

WTF happens to the Raiders now? Unlike other "family" owned teams, with Al you never heard of him having his kids or anyone else involved in the management at all. I mean heck, look at Bob and Jonathan here. If Bob has a heart attack, Jonathan can keep running the business side while BB runs the football side.

In Oakland, is there anyone left to run anything? My impression was Al was the boss of everything.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

This is probably in bad taste, but..

The Raiders will finally be a good team.

EDIT: But yes, R.I.P

 

[jmt57]

Al Davis has caught a lot of flack over the past few years, but he should be remembered in passing for his positive contributions. Perhaps most importantly was his idea to aggressively pursue some of the NFL's top players and sign them to contracts in the mid-60's; this may have been the biggest factor to the NFL wanting to merge with the AFL rather than compete with, and try to put them out of business.

 

[Gwedd]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

My condolences to his family and to the Raiders organization.

Say what you will, but as Pastpsycho said, he was a pioneer of this game. His shoes will be tough to fill and his loss to football is substantial.

RIP Mr. Davis. Football won't be quite the same.

 

[Deus Irae]

Best wishes to his friends and family during these sad times. May he rest in peace.

 

[Betterthanmost]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

This guy gave people a chance. He got burnt at times, but if you look at things historically, he gave a lot of black players a chance at a time where a team like the Redskin no minority in the team out of bigotry and backwards thinking.
He brought scouting in the NFL to a heighten level. Back in the 60s who the hell had heard of a College like Prairie View? Yes, those are the places Al went and got players and gave them a chance to play and boy they could play.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: OT: Al Davis has passed away!

Without Davis, the NFL would never be what it is today. He was the one who worked hard to give the AFL legitimacy that prompted the AFL/NFL merger (granted he was against the merger since he felt the AFL was going to overshadow the NFL). He was leader in racial integration in professional football too.

Yes, he became a joke late in life, but he was a visionary in his prime. RIP.

 

[thechris]

A true NFL icon. RIP

 

[PatriotsInGA]

The Raiders will never be the same.


RIP Al.

 

[Patjew]

He seemed to have a great run. RIP Mr. Davis.