Al Davis

Raiders principle owner Al Davis died this Morning Saturday October 8, 2011 in his home in Oakland. The cause of his death is still unknown to the public. He was born in Massachusetts but was raised in Flatbush. He graduated from Syracuse with a degree in English, soon after graduation he was a line coach for Adelphi from 1950-1951. He then became the head coach at army from 1952 to 1953. From there he became line coach and chief recruiter for The Citadel. From 1957 to 1959 Davis was an offensive line coach at the University of Southern California.
Davis' first coaching experience in professional football came as the offensive end coach of the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers from 1960 to 1962. After the 1962 season, Raiders general partner F. Wayne Valley hired Davis as head coach and general manager. At 33, Davis was the youngest person in professional football history to hold the positions.

In 1966 he was named AFL Commissioner and set out to prove his league was Superior to the NFL, he did this by signing many big name NFL players. He was also against the AFL and NFL merger, so much so that on July 25, 1966; Davis resigned as commissioner rather than remain as commissioner until the end of the AFL in 1970.

After resigning as AFL commissioner, Davis bought a 10 percent stake in the Raiders. Under Davis's ownership the Raiders won three Super Bowl titles and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. He is also credited with being one of the creators and the "West Coast" offense. Today football loss a great owner and innovator, may he never be forgotten.

-Jason Gieser