Al Davis passed away this past week at the age of 81 . Grew up in Brooklyn, attended Erasmus High School(So did my dad and Barbara Streisand), coached in college, the pros, became the AFL Commissioner, then GM , CEO and owner of the Raiders. Won 3 Super Bowls(his teams played in 5) . Instrumental in bringing about the merger ! First owner to hire a Latino head coach, African -American head coach and female CEO. NFL " public enemy #1 ".
So professionally he was a stud...What about Al Davis the man?(Or doesn't that count anymore ?) I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the Sunday New York Times yesterday. Front page story on Al Davis . Front page Sports Section Al Davis. At least one(maybe 2) stories in the Sports Section as well. Did A Fu_in President die? The stories all portrayed a man bigger than life.
But in reality wasn't Davis noted to be sneaky, devious, unfair, dishonest, a cheater, an eavesdropper, a bully, arrogant, a backstabber, untrustworthy, selfish, hated, a self-promoter and disloyal all in one? Yes he produced winners. Yes he was successful and rich. Yes he was feared at times.
But at the end of the day was it all worth it? Not character traits I want to instill in my kids.
So let's call a "spade a spade". Al Davis should be remembered as a pioneer in Professional Football who was a nasty , old son of a gun! Your thoughts ?
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