"The Oakland Raiders are deeply saddened by the passing of Al Davis. Al Davis was unique, a maverick, a giant among giants, a true legend among legends, the brightest star among stars, a hero, a mentor, a friend."
-Oakland Raiders Official Statement
I have a confession, Lunatics. I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but...I was actually unaware that Al Davis was still alive to this point. I had seen this photo and assumed he was dead when it was taken. Plus the drafting of Jamarcus Russell and Darius Heyward-Bey, plus that Richard Seymour trade...I don't know. I guess I just kinda assumed no living human would do all of those things. So uhh...that one's on the Football Ranter. Hey- you win some, you lose some. I'll take the loss on that one in Al's honor.
OK, now that we got the insensitive joke portion of the Rant out of the way, let's be serious. Yes, in recent years Al Davis had morphed into a demented version of Mr. Burns, but I would be remiss in not mentioning what he did for the game of football during his (very) long career. He used the game to advance civil rights at a time when doing so wasn't the popular move -- he refused to have the team play a game in segregationist Mobile, Alabama in 1963. He was the first person to hire an African American head coach, a Latino head coach, and promote a woman to Chief executive. Whatever happened in his later years, he was clearly a man who did what he felt was right and what was best for the game and the Raiders. An icon (and a quote machine) is now lost to us. For that, Al Davis, the Football Ranter salutes you.
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