I grew up with the Oakland Raiders. Literally. We used to live in Hayward, California back in the mid Sixties, when the AFL was still a league of its own, competing for respect and a place in the sun. My Dad used to take me to Raider games on Sunday afternoons when they were still playing in Frank Youell Field, in Oakland. As I remember, the bleachers were very much like your typical High School football setting. Al Davis became the head coach and general manager of the Raiders in 1963. He transformed the team, both positively and negatively, during his reign.
I have cursed Al Davis more times than I care to recount...but this is not that time. His team provided me with so, so many thrills over the years.
Daryl Lamonica, "The Mad Bomber". Hewrit Dixon. "Big Ben" Davidson. (I met him when I was 10 years old...he was so tall and large that my jaw dropped. But he was a nice guy (The famous spear to the back of KC's Len Dawson notwithstanding)). Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, Pete Banaszak, Clem Daniels, Dan Connor, Willie Brown, Charlie Smith, Marve Hubbard....all names from a Black and Silver heyday that seems so far away.
Al Davis was hands on...infuriatingly so. After John Madden's reign as coach, it seemed like every subsequent coach had to keep one eye on the team, and two eyes on the team's owner. Davis' falling out with Mike Shanahan comes immediately to mind...and the fact that that little elf went on to Denver and inflicted so much damage to future Raider teams still sticks in my craw.
Al Davis, probably as much, if not more, than anyone else shepherded the nascent AFL into the Big Leagues, and made it a force that equalled the existing NFL. Over the years, his teams roster contained more quirky charaters than any other football team I can think of, and when they were good, they were the best.
Ken "The Snake" Stabler, "The Man from Mars" Otis Sistrunk, John Matuszak, George Atkinson, Jack Tatum "The Assassin", Fred Bilitnekoff, who used to throw up before every game because of nerves, and who made "stickum" popular. Freddy was never the fastest wide receiver in the league, but when it was 3rd and five, there was never, ever, a better receiver to throw to. He could catch anything that came within 4 feet of him.
Al will be missed, and Al won't be missed. He created the best team in Sports, and he is largely responsible for ruining it as well. He was a visionary at one time...but became calcified later in life.
I hope the next person who takes the reigns in Oakland brings a once menacing and exceptional team back to their former glory. I did enjoy the spanking they gave to the Jets a couple weeks ago...but it would be nice to see my old team punish like that week in and week out, and wind up in the Super Bowl once more.
Thanks for the memories, Al....now for Chapter Two.