Public Letter to Al Davis

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Dear Mr. Davis,

I am writing you on behalf of the Oakland Raider faithful fan base. I am writing to express our frustration and discontent with what our once proud franchise has evolved into. I would like to tell you that we, as fans, appreciate what you have done for the National Football League and for our beloved Oakland Raiders.

For years in the '70s and '80s you put a quality product on the football field and made us all fall in love with what became the Raider Mystique. That mystique seemingly reemerged at the onset of the new millennium, only to disappear and never be seen again following a disappointing Super Bowl loss.

The three-year run left us all hopeful that the three AFC West Championships you brought our team was a strong indication that you still had it. It almost made us forget about the '90s and our commitment to mediocrity.

Now we are on the tail end of seven years of misery. Seven years of making excuses for you, and defending your rationale. Seven years of watching you make mistakes and refusing to accept responsibility for the mess you have created. The greatest leaders of our time, have demonstrated the ability to recognize mistakes they have made and have had the intestinal fortitude to make a change.

There is a fine line between steadfast commitment to principal and ignorance.

It is time to make a change. No decent coach, or general manager wants to work for you. No decent player, regardless of what you are willing to pay them wants to come to Oakland and play. They will however, show up and collect their paycheck.

Richard Seymour hasn't played hard since the opening night in San Diego. JaMarcus Russell is the laughing stock of the NFL and yet you sit up in the booth in the dark shadows and watch us flounder. Why? To prove a point?

Darren McFadden is constantly hurt and never used properly. When are you going to start drafting football players instead of the fastest guy at the combine or the idiot that can throw the ball the farthest?

You would think that drafting Todd Marinovich or signing Jeff George would have made you wise in your selection of a signal caller. Rich Gannon, and the West Coast Offense was the farthest we have ever drifted from your philosophy and look where it got us. You responded by running the best coach we have had since Tom Flores out of town.

We love you like a father, and it hurts to write this but it is time for someone to say it to you. Please hire a GM and bring back John Gruden or hire Bill Cowher. Relinquish control of the organization to a young innovative mind, and sit back and enjoy our success.

Respectfully,

The Oakland Raider Nation

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