John Madden Remembers Al Davis

One of those people is John Madden, who coached Davis’ Raiders for a decade. Madden reflected on Davis and how he felt when he initially heard the news in an interview with a San Diego radio station.

Madden is one of the people most associated with Al Davis, who often went against the grain in hiring executives and coaches. Madden was the youngest head coach in the league when Davis tabbed him as the leader of the Raiders, and all he did was go on to win 100 games in a decade, along with a Super Bowl.

Some may remember Lane Kiffin’s stint as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Kiffin was not a fan of first round draft pick quarterback Jamarcus Russell, but Al Davis was. There was a big back and forth through the media between Davis and Kiffin, and during the press conference in which Kiffin was fired Davis said, “I couldn’t go on with the propaganda and lies anymore.”

Kiffin, now the head coach at Southern California, issued this statement to the Los Angeles Times on Davis’ passing:

Note: Raymond St. Martin, manager of SB Nation’s Oakland Raiders blog Silver And Black Pride, has offered his thoughts on the passing of Al Davis. The following are his words.

The Raiders released the following statement Saturday following the passing of team owner Al Davis earlier in the day:

Raiders fans are sharing their memories of Davis at SB Nation’s Raiders blog, Silver And Black Pride.

What we can remember Al Davis for though, outside of his success as the owner of the Oakland Raiders, is the plethora of fantastic quotes he’s left us win. Many are used well beyond the NFL.

Here’s just a sample of some memorable quotes Al Davis graced us with:

Fans over at SB Nation’s Silver and Black Pride are reacting to the loss of the only owner many of them have ever known in Raider Nation.

“The Autumn Wind” is a poem written by NFL Films president Steve Sabol and it’s become a theme song of sorts for the Raiders.

You’ll be hearing the word “legend” quite a bit when talking about the death of Davis. He went from personal assistant to scout to head coach to AFL commissioner to team owner. He was one of the driving forces of merging the AFL and NFL and he had so many contributions to the game that he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

Now that the news of his death is settling in the next logical question is who assumes control of the Raiders. Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News notes that Davis’ son, Mark Davis, inherits control of the franchise.

Head over to SB Nation’s Silver and Black Pride where Raiders fans are grieving the loss of one of the game’s greats.

Word is starting to spread through the NFL world that legendary Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis has passed away at the age of 82. Davis’ health was in decline in recent years as his public appearances became few and far between.

The team’s website gave us the news of his death with the image above on their website, Raiders.com. (The splash page with the news of his death isn’t displaying on mobile phones right now but it’s there.)