Al Davis Tribute

"Just win, baby!" Those are the words of Hall of Famer Al Davis. Sadly, the 82 year old Davis died in his house Saturday morning. For those of you who do not know, Davis has been with the Oakland Raiders organization since 1963! He started out as a head coach but after three seasons, he became the head commissioner of the AFL. When the AFL and NFL merged in 1970, he went back to the Raiders and became owner. Under his ownership, the Raiders went on to win the '76,'80, and '83 Super Bowl. He hired great coaches like John Madden, John Gruden, Mike Shanahan and Art Shell. Hiring Art Shell was a very big deal because Shell became the first black coach of the NFL. As the years continued and Davis got older, the Raiders started to decline. Since 1983, the have only made it to the Super Bowl once, in 2002 when they lost to the Tampa Bay Bucs. Even though the team has been bad for this long, they still have the rowdiest fans in the NFL thanks to Al Davis's marketing of the team. Davis will always be remembered for his honesty and brilliant leadership. The Raiders will miss his contribution to the team and anyone they find to replace him will not do a near as good of a job. RIP Al Davis.

John Madden (left) and Al Davis (right) getting interviewed after winning the 1977 Super Bowl.