FanPost

A Football Life - "Marcus Allen"

Did anybody see this program, A Football Life - "Marcus Allen", on the NFL Network yesterday? I know that the media loves anything that sheds a negative light on Al Davis. I think they like that mainly because he didn't take their crap! That said, I am happy that this story was told. It deserved to be told. Marcus Allen was loved around the league, by a multitude of people. Owners, coaches, players and even opposing fans! When your own teammates vote you, what is essentially MR. RAIDER, that carries a lot of weight. I'm sure nothing made Al Davis more upset than that. In my most humble opinion, I think that Al Davis built this team in his own image. He got them to where they were, by and large, because he took chances. Chances other owners didn't take. I think that it breaks down to this, Al Davis saw himself as Mr. RAIDER! For Marcus Allen to come along and win the hearts of so many people, perhaps Mr.Davis saw that he was fading into the obscurity of just another owner. Anybody that really knows Al Davis, knows that cannot happen. Look at the coaches who "would have been" successful, but only stayed a short time. Had they been successful, they would have gotten all the credit. As an example, let's look at Jon Gruden's time in Oakland. He pretty much put his stamp on the team, and we all saw that right before our eyes. But, before he got too big, we were looking down the barrel of a "lame duck" coach. Hence, the trade to Tampa Bay that left us all scratching our heads. Since then, we have only seen coaches either too young and inexperienced, or coordinators that were up and comers. I believe that is why we never saw a "big name" coach in Oakland. Can you imagine Bill Parcels coaching the Raiders? Or, perhaps Bill Walsh coming out of retirement? We ALL would have loved that, but I don't think Mr. Allen Davis could have let them take away HIS spot light. He loved that spot light shining down on him way too much! This is an example of the classic conundrum. He wanted nothing more than to win, but couldn't give up the image of himself as the architect for that success. A no win scenario. Anyway, I think I have made the point I was trying to make. I could be wrong about all of this. I am humble enough to accept that fact. Like I have said before many times, only Al Davis knows the reasons why he did things he way he did. Just watch any of his interviews. That will tell you everything you need to know about the man. Having said that, this is why I respected Al Davis so much. He didn't care about being the most popular owner. He wanted to be remembered as the BEST OWNER! The Greatness of the Raiders! "When you have great coaches; then after you have great coaches, you get great players; you have a great organization, and you tell them one thing, JUST WIN!" Whatever the beef was between Al Davis and Marcus Allen, it remains just that. Between Al Davis and Marcus Allen. As it should be!