Ten years or so ago, Davis was dickering for a new stadium in the L.A. area that he envisioned as the Raiders' home for eternity, a facility which would also house the team's own hall of fame. Perhaps he even had an idea that, some day, its name would honor him, maybe something like Davis Downs. In considering Davis, this is one smart cookie who knows more football than any other owner in the league, one who ranks on the short list of top operators, like George Halas and Paul Brown. Davis is in the league's Hall of Fame in Canton. He was the biggest force in the growth of the AFL and driving it into the arms of the NFL and from that union emerged the Super Bowl, the biggest piece of marketing genius in American sports history.
Most owners are content with anonymity and firing their coaches and, occasionally, even the GMs.
They haven't been able to beat him in the courtroom and they had to be envious of Raider success on the field until the team went downhill in the '90s before a recent turnaround and making the playoffs this past season. The Raiders developed and exploited a macho mystique unrivaled in a half-century. Skull and crossbones logo. The team that the bikers and, uh, uncontrolled spirits would gravitate to. It's as if Davis has always had a chip on his shoulder and has this compulsion to keep the pressure on the league, to always be adversarial, if not controversial.