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Al Davis Is the Problem in Oakland
Published: April 28, 2009
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In my opinion, you could not ask for a worse owner for a team than Al Davis. I am by no means a Raiders fan, but even I can see how much of a poison he is to Oakland.
It has to be depressing for Raider fans to even watch the draft each year. There are always great players to choose from, but somehow Davis always seems to find a way to pick a player that would, more than likely, still be there for a few rounds.
For example, starting with the 2004 draft, Davis selected Robert Gallery. At the time, it seemed like a good selection, until you see just a few of the players that he passed up on to get Gallery: Larry Fitzgerald, Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger (who has won two Super Bowls), Lee Evans, and Steven Jackson. These were just first round picks that he passed up.
Then in 2005, he drafted Fabian Washington over Shawne Merriman, Marcus Spears, and Demarcus Ware. 2005 was not as bad in terms of his ignorant picks, but he did pick up where he left off in 2006 by drafting Michael Huff over Jay Cutler, Jason Allen, Bobby Carpenter, and Santonio Holmes (last year’s Super Bowl MVP).
2007 and 2008 saw names like Adrian Peterson, Brady Quinn, Jerod Mayo, and Chris Johnson slip past Oakland’s pick while they chose Jamarcus Russell and Darren McFadden. Doesn’t sound too bad, except for the fact that they do not have anyone to block for them.
I wish I could say that was the end of it, but Davis found a way to do the same thing this year when he selected Darrius Heyward-Bey. Although Bey was a good wide receiver at Maryland, I do not understand how anyone can take him over Michael Crabtree. I guess the only thing you can say is that it is Al Davis and he does not make any sense.
Drafting is not the only area of football that Davis has a hard time with. He also cannot keep a coach longer than a couple of years. Of course, the newest coach to get the axe is the newly appointed Tennessee Vols coach Lane Kiffin. The only thing that he could do, to be professional, was laugh and make light of the situation.
I cannot name any coach out there today that can please Davis by winning the championship in his first year. Basically, because Davis would probably fire whomever it would be if he lost more than two games. I can understand if a coach has been at a program or NFL team for four or five years and has losing seasons each year, but when a coach has not even been there for one and gets the axe, that is unacceptable in my book.
Like I said in the beginning, I am not a Raiders fan, but even a blind man can see that as long as Al Davis is the owner of that team, and has a say so in the putting together of it, they will not even make the playoffs, let alone win the championship.
