Legendary Owner Al Davis Dies At The Age of 82

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At the age of 82, Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis passed away today. The eccentric and controversial owner will be remebered for being commissioner of the AFL, the merger with the NFL and his rule over the Raiders for the past 30 plus years.

Pittsburgh Steelers chairman said in a statement released by the team of Davis "He was a football man and did a lot for the game of football. I had a lot of respect for him, and he will be missed throughout the entire NFL."
Davis was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1992 and was considered to be a renegade by many of his peers. But Cincinnati Bengals owner and president said he was fond of Davis and it saddened him to hear he was gone.

As Davis got older his health began to decline and the years of fighting with the NFL and moving the team to Los Angeles from Oakland and back to Oakland began to take there toll on him.

The Raiders won three Super Bowls under his tenure in 1976, 1980, and 1983. 

From The Sports Mind Of RB:
I am not old enough to remember the golden years of the Raiders franchise. What I did see was that no matter the coach,  whatever team they put out on the field, no matter how many penalties they racked up in a given season (they were usually in the top ten) Al Davis would be there looking down on his prized possession. Say what you may about Davis but the team will be totally different without him at the helm. It is like when George Steinbrenner was not principal owner of the New York Yankees and the day Jerry Jones steps away from the Dallas Cowboys. 

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