Al Davis Dead: How Will Raiders Honor Fallen Leader?

The Oakland Raiders were Al Davis, and in turn, Al Davis was the Raiders.

While younger people think of the old man Al Davis who made life hell for all of his employees and people all across the NFL, we can't forget just how big of an impact me made on the NFL.

Davis was part of the AFL-NFL merger, and he had complete control of the Oakland Raiders since the 1970s, making him the longest tenured football operations chief.

So what can be done for a man that constantly fought to advance the sport of football and made the Raiders organization one of the most storied in all of pro football?

The easiest answer would be naming the stadium the Oakland Raiders play in after their late owner/GM/Czar. Instead of a terrible name like Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which makes it seem like a dual-purpose football/baseball stadium (whoops), they could name it after the man who built that place.

I can see it now: Al Davis Memorial Stadium. It has a nice ring to it.

The other way the Oakland Raiders could honor their beloved owner would be to make a deep run in the playoffs, because that’s all he wanted.

Just win, baby.

The sentiment echoed in the Bay Area for 50 years, and as long as the silver and black survives, so will the many mantras of Al Davis.

While it is never easy to lose the foundation of your organization, the Oakland Raiders have an opportunity to show the world that no matter how angry and mean Davis seemed at times, he was a great football mind and deserves more credit for how big the NFL has become.

Oakland won’t have the antics of Davis anymore, but they can still use his memory to keep their hopes up and fear in the hearts of their opponents.

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