Al Davis Dead: NFL Grieves as It Loses One of Greatest Minds in History of Game

Today is an extremely sad day in the NFL.

According to the official website of the Oakland Raiders, Al Davis has passed away this morning at the age of 82. The passing was completely unexpected. Despite, Davis' age, and his somewhat declining health over the past few years.

Davis made some questionable personnel decisions in recent years, but will always be remembered as one of the greatest minds the NFL has ever seen.

He became the youngest person in NFL history to hold both the coach and general manager positions, when he took over the Oakland Raiders at 33 years of age.

He left the team after just a couple years to become the commissioner of the AFL, before returning to the Raiders in 1966 as a partial owner.

He eventually became the principal owner, and has been in charge of the Raiders since 1976. Davis then led one of the most successful eras in all of football.

The Raiders dominated during Davis' first 20 years as owner. He was instrumental in hiring John Madden as the head coach in 1969, and led the team to 13 division championships from 1967 to 1985. The team made the playoffs 15 times during that span, and won three Super Bowls and one AFL Championship.

Davis became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, as both a league and team administrator.

He is one of the few owners in the league who would rather be feared by other owners than respected. Davis created plenty of well known slogans during his time as tenure according to ESPN Classic,

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The Raiders' bully image of the 1970s and 1980s are attributed directly to Davis, who has often said he'd rather be feared than respected. Slogans such as "Just Win, Baby," "Pride and Poise," and "Commitment to Excellence" are Raider/Davis trademarks. "Don't be afraid of failure," said Davis, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. "Don't worry about mistakes. Just win."

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Davis never wanted to be the typical owner. He wanted to stand out, and he certainly did that.

He was without a doubt one of the best football minds the world has ever seen, and he will truly be missed by the NFL and by the Raiders.

Rest in peace, Al.