Al Davis Dead: Remembering Raider Nation Leader's Greatest Moments

With today's news that Raiders' owner Al Davis has passed away, there is no better time to take a look back at everything he did.

Davis was not always the most well-liked owner in the league. As a matter of fact, he was often one of the least liked owners.

Still, you can't deny just how much impact he made in his 50 years in the world of professional football.

Not all of these moments were exactly well-liked by fans, the NFL, players, coaches or fellow owners. But they all went a long way in making Al Davis the man that we knew.

The tricky part is narrowing it down to 10. Yes, there are going to be moments that people feel belong here. That's fine. That's what happens when we're talking about a person with Davis' longevity.

Super Bowl XI

The Raiders entered this game as four-point favorites. Minnesota was playing in its fourth Super Bowl without notching a win.

Oakland had dropped Super Bowl II, but hadn't made it back to the big game. When you count the pre-merger loss loss to Kansas City after the 1969 season, the Raiders had lost six AFC Championship Games since losing Super Bowl II to the Packers.

In the 1976 season, the Raiders finally broke through. They notched a controversial win against the Patriots in the first round of the AFC playoffs, then torched their old tormentor Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game.

When Super Bowl XI finally arrived, Oakland wasted no time. After a scoreless first quarter, they outscored Minnesota 16-0 in the second quarter. They rode that to a 32-14 win.

Despite recent struggles, the Raiders are one of the best franchises in NFL history. Still, this was likely their crowning moment, at least for the Oakland fans.

Super Bowl XV

At the end of this video, you will see one of the more hotly anticipated moments in NFL history, as Commissioner Pete Rozelle had to hand the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Davis. But we'll get into that a little later.

The Raiders entered this Super Bowl as a Wild Card, having beaten the Houston Oilers, Cleveland Browns and San Diego Chargers in the AFC playoffs.

Philadelphia was favored by three points, but came out flat. This one was never close, as the Raiders scored 14 first quarter points on their way to a 27-10 win.

Super Bowl XVIII

Washington was heavily favored in this one. They were 14-2 on the regular season (including a win over the Raiders), were the defending champions and had one of the best offenses in the history of the game.

Coming in, it was certainly not a long shot that this would be a historic Super Bowl. It was. The Raiders outscored the Redskins 21-3 in the opening half en route to a 38-9 blowout.

The Raiders set a Super Bowl record for points scored and margin of victory, though both have since been broken.

This was also the last Super Bowl that an AFC team would win for 14 years.

Move to Los Angeles

Fans in Oakland may not like this one, but they will get their moment.

Actually, fans of any teams that have moved may not like this, but the impact of it is undeniable. Davis tried to move his team from Oakland to Los Angeles, but the NFL tried to block the move.

In response, Davis filed an anti-trust suit.

While all of this was happening, the aforementioned Super Bowl XV was played. The Raiders were still in Oakland, but Rozelle and Davis were in constant legal battles against each other.

The main question was, how would Davis and Rozelle react if Rozelle had to hand him the Vince Lombardi Trophy?

Rozelle was actually told to present the trophy with two hands, out of fear that Davis would snub a handshake.

In the end, both men were very professional.

Back to Oakland

Davis never got a new stadium in Los Angeles. So, after the 1994 season, he moved his team back to Oakland. 

Rumors that he would move the team again persisted until his dying day. Davis didn't do anything to really buck those rumors, as he was very clear that he wanted a new stadium.

He never got that. In Oakland, the Raiders played at the O.co Coliseum (more commonly known as the Oakland Coliseum). In Los Angeles, they played at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Stint as AFL Commissioner

Al Davis' run as the AFL's commissioner in 1966 was short, but memorable. He went aggressively at the NFL, trying to poach some of the league's more established top players.

Unfortunately, Davis was also against a merger, while other AFL owners weren't. When they met in secret away from Davis to negotiate and announce a merger, Davis resigned as the league's commissioner.

While Davis' run was short, his moves went a long way in establishing the AFL as a viable league.

Hiring of Art Shell

You can call Al Davis a lot of things. One thing that you have to include there is colorblind.

In 1989, Davis hired former player Art Shell as the first African American head coach in the NFL's modern era (Fritz Pollard had been a coach years before).

Shell notched a 54-38 record between 1989 and 1994, when he was fired.

Davis regretted firing Shell and brought him back as the head coach for the 2006 season. That run was not as successful, as the Raiders posted the NFL's worst record 2-14.

Davis also hired Art Flores as the NFL's first Hispanic head coach (who won two Super Bowls) and Amy Trask as the NFL's first female executive.

In addition to race and gender, Davis had no problem hiring young coaches like John Madden, Jon Gruden and Lane Kiffin.

Just Win, Baby

Davis had no problem bringing in players who had a checkered past. He had no problem bringing in guys who weren't exactly the men you would want your daughter to date.

Other teams were concerned with that and often let these guys go. If they could produce on the field, Davis couldn't care less about anything else.

In the Raiders' heyday, they would frequently come across teams that were uptight in big games. More often than not, the Raiders would handily beat those teams.

No three words better define Al Davis than, "Just Win, Baby."