Al Davis Is a Fraud...The Proof Is In The Pudding.

I Love the Raiders, always will. But I've become a huge Al Davis hater. I believe he is a fraud, and never was a great football mind. When it comes to suing people, the NFL, or whoever. When it comes to conniving his way into full ownership of a team. And when it comes to drafting players solely upon speed and  measurable, then Al Davis is your man. But when it come to building a good team, and running a successful franchise by himself, then he's a amateur at best. Here's my reasons why Al Davis is a fraud.

First off, Al Davis has done some great things for professional football, there's no denying that. He has been a major part in the success of Raiders teams past, & was a great fearless owner. But that time is long gone, and some people haven't gotten the props they deserved for being as equally reasonable for the Raiders past success. It wasn't all Al Davis. He had help, but will never admit it.

Take Ron Wolf, he was in charge of Raider personnel for decades. Wolf helped Al Davis build those great teams, however it was Al Davis that always took the limelight for that success. In the 70's & 80's the Raiders were a powerhouse and constant contender year after year while under Al Davis and Ron Wolf's watch. Most Raiders fans know that Ron Wolf was a huge part in our success. The proof is in the pudding, just look at the stats.

The Raiders only had 4 losing seasons during Ron Wolf's era. That was from 1963-1975, and again from 1978-1990. Ron Wolf was the man that brought in the Hall of fame players and great Raiders players we know today. After Ron Wolf had departed, the Al Davis' GM'd  Raiders had only 1 season of double digit wins, (1993  Raiders went 10-6). And that season would be the lone play-off appearance for the Al Davis run Raiders during the 90's until GM Bruce Allen & Head Coach Jon Gruden came on board of the Silver and Black pirate ship.

While under the supervision of Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden, the Raiders had thier first taste of success in a 10 year span. The Raiders won the AFC West 3 years in a row. So, here's what Al Davis does... First, Al Davis grows jealous of the success of Jon Gruden. Al then see's that Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden have put a championship caliber team in place. Al then launches his master plan. Al Davis wanted to win the Super Bowl on his own, without having to give credit to anyone else. So Al Davis decides to trade away Jon Gruden to the Buccaneers, & Bruce Allen follows. Now the Championship caliber team that Gruden & Allen built is all Al's. Now Al can take the credit when they win the Super Bowl. What a diabolical plot by Al Davis. Too bad it completely backfired and bit Al Davis in the butt. The Raiders went on to lose to none other than the Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen run Buccaneers. Since that Super Bowl loss, Al has been in complete command of his franchise and roster. There hasn't been one ounce of success since then. It's been a disaster to say the least. Since that Super Bowl loss in 2002, the Al Davis run Raiders have had 6, going on 7 consecutive losing seasons, with a record of 25-75 over a 100 game span. There have been 5 coaching changes, multiple botched drafts, and some of the most bizarre and embarrassing behavior coming out of the Raiders organization.

Now, to support my argument on why Al Davis is a fraud. You've already heard about Ron Wolf and Bruce Allen's involvement in the Raiders success. Now here what Al Davis has done when he is the GM of the Raiders.

Al Davis has been the Raiders GM from 1991-1997, and again from 2002-2009. In that span of time, the Raiders have had countless 1st round draft bust, countless wasted draft picks, countless free agent failures, countless coaching failures, and everything else that could possibly go wrong. In those two time frames, the Al Davis run Raiders had only two playoff appearance's, and one of them doesn't even count in 2002, because that was a team that Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden helped to build. So that leaves Al Davis with 1 lone playoff appearance in the span of 1991-1997, and from 2002-2009. Not so good. Also, in that time span the Raiders record was 107-138. That's far below .500, and I could go on and on about all the mistakes that were made in that time span by Al Davis.

Here's Al Davis past draft picks over the past few years.

2009- Wr Darrius Heyward-Bey ( Bust)

2008- Rb Darren McFadden ( becoming a Bust)

2007- Qb JaMarcus Russell ( Bust)

2006- S Michael Huff (Bust)

2005- DB Fabian Washington (Bust)

2004- OT Robert Gallery (Bust)

2003- DE Tyler Brayton (Bust) and CB Nnamdi Asomugha ( who is the only non draft bust thus far)

2002- DB Phillip Buchanon ( Bust)

2001- S Derrick Gibson (Bust)

2000- K Sebastian Janikowski ( Al Davis took a kicker at #17 in the 1st round!!!!)

A few of those players are no longer with the Raiders, they were major draft bust. The most recent picks are looking like complete bust by the week. And only Nnamdi Asomugha was a successful draft pick in that time. Since 2002, the Raiders have only had 3 pro-bowl players. And one of those players was a punter. Need I say more??

Face it Al, you can't win squat on your own. You need a GM. Stop taking credit for other peoples work. Stop proclaiming to the world that you are a football genius, because you aren't. The proof is in the pudding. Hire a GM Al!