SPORTS
If you were able to delve into the mind of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, oh the sights you would see.
You would probably have a somewhat better understanding of why he would file an anti-trust lawsuit against the league; trade away former coach Jon Gruden; move from Oakland to L.A. and back to Oakland and why on earth does he continue to wear those fossilized sunglasses.
At one time the Raiders’ maverick owner was considered one of the best executives in the NFL. From the late 60’s straight through ‘til the mid 80’s, under Davis’ watchful eye, the Raiders racked up 13 division titles, 15 trips to the postseason and three Super Bowl rings.
Unfortunately, the pro sports world takes a “What have you done for me lately?” approach and Lady Luck has seemingly passed Davis and the Raiders by.
In 2006, the Oakland Raiders went a ghastly 2-14; surrendered 338 points against; “rumbled” into the endzone and split the uprights for a meager 168 points; allowed their QBs to be sacked 72 times and finished off the season on a nine game slide.
A season like that doesn’t raise morale amongst the ranks and WRs Jerry Porter and Randy Moss began to whine and head coach Art Shell—who was just hired in the offseason—was again relieved of his duties, replaced by highly regarded but inexperienced Lane Kiffin.
Landing the first pick overall in the 2007 NFL draft might seem like a silver lining to the big black cloud (no pun intended) floating over Oakland, but it also opens up a whole other Pandora’s Box of troubles.
When you land the first pick overall—with all due respect to the 1992 Washington Redskins—you normally won’t be competing for a Super Bowl in the immediate future and such is the case with the Raiders.
But when you have more cracks in your hull than the Titanic, post-iceberg, any player will do. With so many holes in the roster, who will Al Davis and the Raiders select?
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