Longtime Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis died Saturday. While he made many contributions to the NFL, such as playing a large part in its merge with the AFL, for my generation, Davis is the owner who made personnel decisions that made no sense to anyone not named Al Davis.
Here now are some of my favorite Al Davis moments of recent years. In no way am I joking about Davis’ death. I am simply poking fun at some of the things he will be remembered for.
With the 17th pick the Oakland Raiders select … Sebastian Janikowski?
This pick basically sums up Davis’ moves over the last decade or so.
In 2000, the Raiders selected kicker Sebastian Janikowski with the 17th pick of the first round.
Now, Janikowski is listed at 6-foot-2, 250 pounds, so maybe they were going to put him at linebacker? No. He remained a kicker.
There is no way that any other team was going to take him in the first round. But Oakland did.
The good news is that Janikowski has performed well his entire career. He tied an NFL record with a 63-yard field goal in this year’s season opener against the Denver Broncos and is the highest scoring player in Raiders history.
The bad news is that THEY TOOK A KICKER IN THE FIRST ROUND!
With the seventh pick the Oakland Raiders select … Darrius Heyward-Bey?
While the drafting of Janikowski represents the craziness of Davis, the acquisition of Heyward-Bey represents the types of players he wanted on his team.
Even though Michael Crabtree was a much better player in college, Davis passed on him in the 2009 draft because Heyward-Bey ran a 4.25 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
Never mind the fact that Heyward-Bey had 609 yards and five touchdowns in his final year at the University of Maryland versus Crabtree’s 1,165 yards and 19 touchdowns in his last season at Texas Tech. Heyward-Bay is really fast.
Davis was always known for picking super athletic and physical freaks over proven commodities. More often than not, it turned out very badly.
With the first pick, the Oakland Raiders select … JaMarcus Russell?
Are you sensing a trend here? It seems that Davis’ biggest blunders occurred in the draft.
Maybe the biggest of Raider draft busts was quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who the team drafted No. 1 overall in 2007.
Much like Heyward-Bey, Russell had a very limited track record coming into the draft, starting only two seasons for the Louisiana State University Tigers. But, he was 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, so really they had to take him.
What a great decision to pick him ahead of Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson and Patrick Willis.
Russell lasted three years in the NFL and is now out of the league. Again, Russell was very gifted physically, but it takes much more than that.
“Just Win Baby”
You can blame Davis for being foolish when it came to the draft or for being too reactionary when it came to coaching changes, but it would be foolish to accuse him of not caring.
The Raiders won three Super Bowls under Davis. Much like George Steinbrenner, nothing mattered but winning at all costs.
The movie Field of Dreams is famous for its line, “If you build it, they will come.”
In reality, Davis knew that winning was the cure for any problem a team might have. Whether it’s low attendance or an unhappy locker room, win and it’s all taken care of.
While many my age will remember Davis during his later years, making bad decision after bad decision, he will be remembered in football history as one of the best owners of all time.
