Al Davis Death: 5 Figures Influenced by Oakland Raiders Owner

The death of Al Davis impacts the entire National Football League. He represented where this game came from and how it is going to move forward. 

He was the only person to be a scout, coach, general manager, owner and commissioner. He didn't buy the Oakland Raiders because he had made money in other aspects in life. Instead, Al Davis ascended from being a coach within the organization. 

In respect, lets look at five figures that were impacted by the life and career of the great Al Davis. 

Amy Trask

In a career full of trendsetting moments it makes sense to pay homage to what Al Davis represented in terms of equality among genders. 

Long before Amy Trask became the first Chief Executive Officer in the NFL's history with the Raiders in 1997, she was a fan of the franchise. Trask became an intern in the Mid 1980s following her graduation at the University of California. 

In 1997, Al Davis made history be making her the very first female chief executive and empowering females in the arena of all sports. 

Cliff Branch

People said that Cliff Branch was too small, couldn't physically cut it in the NFL and wouldn't be a productive player in the league.

Those people did not include Al Davis, who took a chance on the receiver from Colorado. 

Branch would go on to catch over 500 passes for nearly 9,000 yards in his 14 year NFL career. Today, Branch is a self-anointed Raider for life and is still a member of the great organization in a advisory role. 

Charlie Finley

Construction began on the Oakland Coliseum in 1965, a couple years later the Athletics franchise moves from Kansas City.  

After being downtrodden in the mid-west, the Oakland Athletics won three consecutive World Series titles from 1972-1974. 

If it wasn't for Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders, this would have never happened. 

Art Shell

Continuing with the trendsetting theme, Art Shell became the NFL's first African American head coach in modern history with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1989. 

From 1989-1995, Shell went 54-38 as the Raiders head man, going to the AFC Championship Game in 1990. He was fired following the 1995 season in a move that Al Davis would later admit to being a mistake. 

John Madden

John Madden wasn't even a coordinator for the Oakland Raiders when Al Davis tabbed him as head coach in 1969. 

In ten seasons with the Raiders, Madden was a whopping 103-32, still one of the best winning percentages in the history of the NFL.

Oakland went 13-1 in 1976, defeating the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 in the Super Bowl. If it wasn't for Al Davis, Madden wouldn't be the seminal figure in the NFL that he is today.