Al Davis wants to win … just not on the field

[24champ]

By Michael Silver, Yahoo! Sports
September 19, 2008

The three-word mantra is as ironic as it is iconic, a simple mission statement in which the connotation is now opposite its literal meaning.

Just win, baby.

Yeah, right.

As Al Davis prepares to fire another coach – today, at halftime of the Oakland Raiders' game Sunday against the Bills, or whenever his lawyers tell him he's suitably positioned to try to withhold the money he contractually owes – the loyal denizens of Raider Nation are being asked to believe, as always, that this is about an owner's obsession with victory.

It is, kind of, only the winning that Davis wants so desperately has nothing to do with what happens on the football field. He wants to beat Lane Kiffin, the young man he unearthed 20 months ago as some sort of boy-wonder-savior, in a game of wills. He wants to beat down all his enemies: The city of Oakland, the county of Alameda, the NFL establishment that conspires against him, the officials, the media and the employees who dare do anything but kiss his aging butt.

He wants to win a never-ending game of Feel My Power; in this case, even if he has to sacrifice an entire football season to do it.

We know this because Davis, 79, has a different way of doing business than everyone in professional sports. That used to be a good thing, at least in terms of the bottom line, as Davis' teams had consistent success for nearly four decades. But since Oakland got plastered in Super Bowl XXXVII by the Buccaneers and Jon Gruden, another coach with whom he couldn't coexist, the Raiders have been the least victorious team in the NFL.

Over the last five-plus seasons, Oakland is a league-worst 20-62. That's six defeats more than the next two most futile franchises during that stretch: the 49ers and Lions.

It's not being a "hater" to point this out; it's stating the obvious.

The Raiders are awful. The way they do business is laughable. Their corporate culture is cancerous. And all of this can be traced to one man and his never-ending mission to show everyone who's boss.

This is not a new thing. Twelve years ago, I wrote an article for Sports Illustrated that detailed Davis' destructive leadership approach, right down to his practice of dropping a towel and making a team employee wipe his shoes.

How would you like to work in such an environment?

Bringing this back to the present: How would you like to be the head coach of an NFL team, having just completed your first season – one in which most of your players felt there had been signs of progress despite a 4-12 record – and one day you show up to work and, on your desk, there is a letter drafted by your boss: "I, Lane Kiffin, hereby resign … "

That's what happened to Kiffin back in January. He had two years left on his contract, and by resigning he would have forfeited $4 million. So he decided not to quit, figuring that if Davis wanted him gone that badly, the owner could cut him a check and move on to the next victim. He acted out by spending a week as the coach of the North team in the Senior Bowl without wearing any clothes containing the Raiders' logo and waited for the axe to fall.

At the time, I tried to give Davis the benefit of the doubt in terms of his evaluation of Kiffin. From my vantage point, things had improved considerably from the previous year, when Art Shell's second stint as the Raiders' coach proceeded in disastrous fashion. I also found it odd that Davis, the only person in the world who viewed Kiffin as a viable NFL head coaching candidate at the time the hire was made, had reversed his opinion so abruptly.

But hey, I figured, it's his team, and if he wants to cut his losses, so be it.

Sources said Davis blamed Kiffin for impelling him to trade wideout Randy Moss to the Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick, chafing as the Raider washout set an NFL record with 23 touchdown receptions. The owner groused about Kiffin's decision to start Josh McCown over Daunte Culpepper at quarterback. He was also angered by reports that Kiffin had sought the Arkansas job before it was filled in December.

The final sin came when Kiffin told Davis he wanted to replace defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. At that moment the owner apparently decided he'd rather replace Kiffin. Yet he didn't have the foresight or guts to do it the traditional way.

It was around that time that Kiffin got his predrafted resignation letter, as well as a directive from Davis stating that the owner would have control over Kiffin's staff and over all personnel decisions. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Kiffin was also informed that he and his closest ally in the organization, director of football development Mark Jackson, wouldn't be involved in the scouting, planning or selecting of players in the draft.

Shortly thereafter Davis hired James Lofton as receivers coach without having Kiffin speak to the former Hall of Fame wideout.

Yet Davis still wouldn't fire his coach. A source told me Kiffin could have been bought out for as little as $1.7 million. But even if he'd had to pay the full $4 million, that shouldn't have caused Davis to pause. Having sold 20 percent of the team to a group of venture capitalists a few months earlier, he had all the cash he needed.

This was obvious as Davis doled out serious helpings of guaranteed money to free agents Gibril Wilson ($16 million), Javon Walker ($16 million) and Tommy Kelly ($18.125 million) and trade acquisition DeAngelo Hall ($24.55 million), among others.

Of course, Davis' reluctance to fire Kiffin had nothing to do with money. It was about not giving the insolent employee the satisfaction of leaving on his own terms. It was about torturing him until he caved and reminding him and everyone else that Davis rules the Raider Universe.

In other words, it was about everything but winning football games

How did Davis suppose his franchise would perform under such an arrangement? The owner wanted to fire the coach, who wanted to fire the defensive coordinator – yet here they were after a toxic offseason, and everyone was supposed to pretend it was all good?

Apply this model to any business, and imagine what it might do to workplace morale. The players aren't stupid – if they know that the head coach has been emasculated, that the owner's pets will enjoy what amounts to unquestioned job security, some of them will have a very different reaction to the coach's authority (or lack thereof) than they would in a more conventional situation.

That's why Davis' bitterness over Moss' departure is so ludicrous, for the owner completely misses the point: In a dysfunctional situation like the one in Oakland, he would always have been a checked-out underachiever. Only in a stable situation like New England's, with a culture of professionalism and veteran leaders (and a strong head coach) to enforce it, could Moss maximize his potential.

The fact that Davis allowed a coach he wanted gone to stay on the job through September is absurd enough. Even worse, Davis and his minions are now hell-bent on undermining what's left of Kiffin's credibility – again, at the expense of the team's ability to prepare for those ancillary events that take place on Sundays.

I'm not saying Kiffin has handled all of this in the best possible manner. After the Raiders' embarrassing, 41-14 defeat to the Broncos in their season opener, he probably shouldn't have answered a reporter's question about defensive strategy by saying, essentially, that such matters are between Ryan and Davis. But Kiffin is young, and he's clearly under a lot of day-to-day stress. And, most of all, he's a coach who probably wants to get fired as soon as possible, so he can cash out and get on with his coaching life.

Determined not to let Kiffin get his way, Davis is doing everything in his power to derail that plan.

First he reportedly ordered Ryan to rebut Kiffin's comments about the defensive strategy, which resulted in an 18-minute, profanity-laced tirade. (A source said Davis wasn't thrilled with Ryan's performance because the defensive coordinator forgot one of the key talking points: That a specific defense endorsed by Kiffin had been particularly ineffective against the Broncos. Incredible, and only in Raiderland.)

Then Davis, through his subordinates, floated media reports last week that Kiffin was about to be fired. The Raiders' 23-8 upset of the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday – and/or the owner's whims – staved off the inevitable.

On Wednesday, according to reports, senior executive John Herrera went around the press room at the team's Alameda training facility distributing copies of an espn.com column critical of Kiffin. A source says the team's public relations director, Mike Taylor, has also taken an active role in advocating for Davis' position, at the head coach's expense.

Think about how preposterous that is – at least two team officials are essentially engaged in a campaign to turn public opinion against a man who is theoretically the most important employee on the football side of the organization.

Gee, I wonder why this team loses so much.

If Davis can't get Kiffin to quit, sources say, he's trying to build a case against having to pay him the balance of his contract, on the grounds of insubordination. I suspect that at this point, the best Kiffin can hope for is that Davis will fire him and withhold the remainder of the cash he's owed. Kiffin can then file a grievance that probably won't get resolved, one way or another, for a year or more.

If Kiffin has to wait for his buyout – or if it never comes – Davis will undoubtedly feel a sick sense of satisfaction. It'll be another victory for a man who long ago started caring more about winning the petty wars he creates in his paranoid world than the games his fan base actually cares about, and Lofton or Ryan or Tom Rathman or Denny Green (if Davis is lucky) will be heralded as the next savior who'll help restore the greatness of the Raiders.

It's a sad state of affairs for a once-proud franchise, one which, I feel, deserves a new motto in line with the times. So I took the liberty of creating one.

It's not quite as snappy as the current, three-word staple, but it's a lot less disingenuous:

Just feel my power, and cave under the onslaught of pressure I unleash until you commit enough acts that my lawyers decree are insubordinate, baby.

That's a very strange way to run a business, but hey, he's the boss.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

[Smiling Assassin27]

At some point, Al just has to say 'uncle' and let the Grim Reaper provide him with a conslolation prize--a dirt nap.

I would interject the ol' 'hey, at least you're not...(insert loser here)', but Al really is the bottom of the barrel.

[24champ]

By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports 12 hours, 31 minutes ago

The height of Rich Gannon’s NFL career was with the Oakland Raiders. As league MVP, he led the team to Super Bowl XXXVII during the 2002 season. He played alongside stars Jerry Rice and Tim Brown for one of the most storied franchises in sports history.

Yet, for all the glory Gannon enjoyed, he can tell everyone what a struggle it was to play for the organization.

“It’s like I’ve said many times, every day was a fight inside that building to do what we did,” said Gannon, now a TV commentator. “We had to overcome adversity in the building and then get on a plane to go try to beat Denver.

“When I played in Kansas City, all I had to do was walk in the door. I didn’t have to worry about guys showing up late for practice or meetings, guys being out drinking until 3 a.m. or missing curfew the night before games. In Kansas City, that stuff didn’t happen. In Oakland, it was an everyday occurrence.”


Considering that, it should be no surprise that in the five years since Gannon and Oakland were at the top of their game, the franchise has fallen into a deep abyss. Since the end of 2002, which culminated in a lopsided loss to Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl, the Raiders have lost at an unprecedented rate.

The net result is that the Raiders have suffered five consecutive seasons with at least 11 losses, going 20-62 in the past five-plus seasons in a league that is designed around the principal of parity.

Part of the problem has been that on-the-field leaders such as Gannon, Rice, Brown, Trace Armstrong, John Parrella, Lincoln Kennedy and Bill Romanowski have been replaced by … well, they haven’t been replaced.

“What you have left is all these guys (owner) Al (Davis) loves; these disaffected, talented guys who are only marginally productive and weren’t really even all that productive in college,” one unnamed former Raiders employee said. “They don’t care about winning, but (those are) the guys who are supposedly the leaders.”

While the team has lacked consistent production from players on the field, the franchise has been the epitome of instability on the sidelines. Current head coach Lane Kiffin is the fourth since Gruden was essentially traded to Tampa Bay after the 2001 season.

Barring an out-of-body experience by Davis, there will be a fifth coach very soon. It’s not that Kiffin is simply on the outs after refusing to step aside in January when Davis reportedly drew up a resignation letter for him. Kiffin, repeatedly taking verbal shots at the owner in the media, wants out faster than investors can dump their AIG stock.

“That’s the funny part about people asking if he’s worried about getting fired,” said a source close to Kiffin. “He’s worried that he might be stuck there the whole season.”

So sometime in the next few days or weeks, Kiffin will be fired. While such a move addresses the short-term issue of an owner getting rid of a coach he doesn’t want, it doesn’t solve the bigger problem: The Raiders are an institutional mess.

“They say there are 32 organizations in the NFL, but really it’s only 31,” one former Raiders player said. “The Raiders aren’t an organized team.”

Or as former Cowboys and Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson, now a FOX analyst, said last weekend: “I don’t know that there’s a lot of people who would want to work there. It’s a mess and it’s been a mess for quite some time, I just don’t know how anybody functions in that type of atmosphere. They do have some good young players and they showed that (against the Broncos). I think eventually this team will be one to be dealt with but as far as being a coach there, being an assistant coach, being someone in administration, it really is a mess.”

If there is a center to the dysfunction, it’s Davis. The former coach-turned-executive is a Hall of Famer and has long been considered a brilliant football strategist and football businessman. The problem is that at a time when the NFL has become increasingly sophisticated, Davis is too old school and hands on.

“You want to know how far behind the times he is? He still signs everybody’s expense forms,” another unnamed former employee said. “Not a dollar gets spent in that place that he doesn’t have a say about.”

While that may have been a functional way to do business in the NFL 20 years ago, it’s unfathomable at a time when a majority of the NFL’s teams are worth more than a $1 billion.

Davis’ control goes well beyond monitoring if someone has gone over per diem. Davis makes nearly all the personnel decisions and has systematically eliminated people who used to disagree with him.

“If he had his way, we’d have taken Jordan Beck instead of Kirk Morrison, but we wouldn’t let him,” former Raiders personnel man Mike Lombardi said, recalling a draft-day debate he had with Davis in 2005 over which linebacker to select in the third round. “He wanted Beck, but we had coached Morrison at the Senior Bowl and the whole coaching staff believed that Morrison was the best player we had seen there. We all told him, no, Morrison is the guy.”

Photo Morrison makes a play during the Senior Bowl.
(AP/G.M. Andrews)

Beck was waived by Atlanta after 2006, played part of 2007 with Denver and is now out of football after being waived by the Broncos in August.

Morrison has been a starter since he was a rookie.

While second-guessing Davis on one draft pick is being picky to say the least, what has happened since is indicative of Davis’ desire to control and his lack of understanding what works in the modern NFL.

“Everything is about, ‘Remember when …’ ” said Lombardi, making an open-ended remark about how Davis is trying to conjure past greatness.

For instance, before the 2007 draft, Davis told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen that quarterback JaMarcus Russell reminded him of Jim Plunkett, another chunky-bodied quarterback who won two titles with the Raiders in the 1980s. Plunkett was a No. 1 overall, although long before Oakland picked him up as a reclamation project.

Likewise, Davis’ fascination with defensive backs (the Raiders have used a first-round pick on either a cornerback or safety in five of the past eight years and this offseason signed safety Gibril Wilson as a free agent and traded for DeAngelo Hall) harkens to the days when the Raiders won titles with Mike Haynes, Lester Hayes, Jack Tatum and George Atkinson.

Perhaps even more significant, Davis allows players great latitude. Former Raiders lineman Adam Treu recently wrote a column on nationalfootballpost.com about the blatant uniform violation by the Oakland defensive backs in the season opener. Treu derided it as an affront to league rules and sign that the players had no respect for authority.

That should be no surprise. Davis has often reportedly overruled coaches when they have tried to fine players or told coaches who needs to play. On the way to the Super Bowl in the 2002 season, the Raiders would regularly fly on a Friday before a Sunday game. According to multiple team sources, the reason was that a large number of players would get drunk on the plane ride to a road game.

“We needed Saturday to get sober so we could play on Sunday,” one former player said.

How does the problem get fixed?

“The first step to rebuilding the team is to tell the owner not to walk in the door ever again. The next is to get rid of the front office and then all the personnel people … There’s no structure in place. That’s why nothing is going to change,” said another former Raiders player.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

[Kaylore]

That's a pretty good article. Too bad Raider fans still worship Mr Burns like he's the messiah. Fools.

[Miss I.]

Excellent articles. I knew the guy was insane, but wow. Thank goodness we don't have anyone that old or stupid with control of a nuclear arsenal. Oh wait....

[Dudeskey]

Originally Posted by Smiling Assassin27

At some point, Al just has to say 'uncle' and let the Grim Reaper provide him with a conslolation prize--a dirt nap.

I would interject the ol' 'hey, at least you're not...(insert loser here)', but Al really is the bottom of the barrel.

Do you realize what you're saying? Greasy Al's death would lead to the Raiders toward managing the organization with competence! I hope this dude lives to be 200...™

[Garcia Bronco]

God Bless Lane Kiffin, Al Davis is a complete POS. I had soften on him over the years after what he did to Marcus Allen, but the fury is there again.

[Irish Stout]

Originally Posted by Kaylore

That's a pretty good article. Too bad Raider fans still worship Mr Burns like he's the messiah. Fools.

Too bad for Raiders fans? Kaylore, I expect better from you. I think its great for Raiders fans! Good for them, good for Al, good for the organization! Keep it up boys!

[Smiling Assassin27]

Originally Posted by Dudeskey

Do you realize what you're saying? Greasy Al's death would lead to the Raiders toward managing the organization with competence! I hope this dude lives to be 200...™

Well, if that pact with the Devil that Al signed (to gladly succumb and surrender his soul when the Raiders win their next Lombardi Trophy) has any weight at all, he will be 200.

[Rock Chalk]

Actually Raider fans would rather Al Davis go than Lane Kiffin. Signs when we were demolishing the Raiders were all over the place.

Davis Must Go!

Kiffin rules. I hope he wins this war of wills.

[RaiderH8r]

I'd like to toast Al Davis and his continued existence and future as owner of Raider Nation. His ongoing dementia is a credit to the fan base his club continues to lead.

[DomCasual]

I wonder how many things got broken when the old man read those articles.

[bronco_diesel]

Al Davis is an accurate display of a control freak. Contrast his methods to that of coach shanny, and you will see quite a big gap.

[24champ]

In falsetto voice...

"I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly"

[Bronx33]

Davis is insane

[Bronx33]

Originally Posted by DomCasual

I wonder how many things got broken when the old man read those articles.

Everything within reach from his wheelchair is broken and that includes the team.

[DomCasual]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

Everything within reach from his wheelchair is broken and that includes the team.

Yeah, you're right. There isn't much he can do anymore, physically. He probably just angrily readjusted his blanky.

[Bronx33]

Originally Posted by DomCasual

Yeah, you're right. There isn't much he can do anymore, physically. He probably just angrily readjusted his blanky.

God wouldn't be great to be a fly on the wall for one day with al davis i can see some poor assistant running down a long hall responding to AL in the bathroom yelling ( i need my ass wiped!) who the hell pays you!!! wipe my ass!!!! and don't use that cheap shyt!!! i like charmin!!! WIPE MY ASS!!! HELLO!!!!

[24champ]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

God wouldn't be great to be a fly on the wall for one day with al davis i can see some poor assistant running down a long hall responding to AL in the bathroom yelling ( i need my ass wiped!) who the hell pays you!!! wipe my ass!!!! and don't use that cheap shyt!!! i like charmin!!! WIPE MY ASS!!! HELLO!!!!

[hambone13]

Lane Kiffin might not get paid. If I was in his shoes, I would take a year off and write a book. Just travel around gathering up Al Davis stories. He would make a fortune. He could title it, "Screwed by Old Balls". If the shoe shining incident came out in this article, there has to be worse incidents than that. I'd totally buy it just to have the ammo

[Bronco Yoda]

[Raidersbane]

Originally Posted by Kaylore

That's a pretty good article. Too bad Raider fans still worship Mr Burns like he's the messiah. Fools.

This reminds me of the scenario in Paradise Lost where all the rebel angels have just been cast out from heaven and are now gathered on the burning lake. They all watch Bealzebub and Satan debate as to what to do next and they still can't find reason not to put their collective faith in Al Dav.....I mean Satan.

[TomServo]

Too bad Raider fans still worship Mr Burns like he's the messiah.

too bad? you mean thank god?
until the raider fans do like the rockies fans did (before our world series thing) and quit going to games and stop buying merchandise, it will be status quo for Al and the raiders.

[watermock]

I grew up in Southern Iowa till 9, and at G-Ma's house, Uncle Bob introduced me to the Chiefs, (the home team). the hated Cowboys and the dominant Packers. I saw him at my neices wedding.

I can genuinely feel for the Chefs, hell, that was my first team, just like minnesota when I moved almost to the line.

Damn if I'm gonna be a Cowboys fan now tho! even if they're on every week along with NOLA.or the Chefs,,,it's just fate.

But I will NEVER pity the Raiders, particuliarly their fans. Let them burn in everlasting hell! Al Davis will be gone soon, but the thug mentality that pervades Raider Nation will remain.

[NYBronco]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

God wouldn't be great to be a fly on the wall for one day with al davis i can see some poor assistant running down a long hall responding to AL in the bathroom yelling ( i need my ass wiped!) who the hell pays you!!! wipe my ass!!!! and don't use that cheap shyt!!! i like charmin!!! WIPE MY ASS!!! HELLO!!!!

It would be even better if the assistant never returned.