Al Davis gave his Raiders the royal treatment
I just bumped into marketing rep Mike Ornstein in the lobby of my hotel. He was a longtime executive for the then-Los Angeles Raiders and reminded me of something Al Davis did in early 1984 when the Silver & Black played Washington in the Super Bowl at Tampa.
Every time Raiders players would come back to their hotel rooms for the night -– whether it was after a team dinner, practice, whatever -– Davis would make sure there were gifts waiting for them. Little things –- watches, T-shirts, sweatsuits, radios etc. He also picked up the tab for all the incidentals when the team checked out, the day after winning the game.
That kind of stuff wouldn’t be allowed now; it would count against the salary cap. But at the time, it almost provided a psychological edge. After all, players from the teams mingle and talk during the week. And while the Raiders were getting gifts in their rooms, the Redskins were staying at a Holiday Inn. One Washington player once told me that his hotel-room treat was breaking the paper sanitized-for-your-protection strip on the toilets.
-- Sam Farmer
Photo: Al Davis, left, receives the Super Bowl trophy in 1984 from then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, right, as Brent Musburger -- then with CBS -- gets ready to interview the Raiders' owner. Credit: Associated Press
raiders will always be here and will never go
Posted by: JImmy lopez | January 27, 2009 at 07:08 PM
The Raiders should have never left Los Angeles. They are still the most popular team in the area.
Posted by: Jim Meser | January 28, 2009 at 07:11 AM
The difference between a corp. ownership and an owner of a team.
Raider Cool Mr. Davis!
Posted by: rebraider | January 28, 2009 at 09:26 AM
I'm really enjoying this series by Sam Farmer. There are a lot of Raiders fans in SoCal including myself. I'm a season ticket holder who travels to Oakland ten times a year. I appreciate the LA Times' acknowlegement of the LA Raiders years. Thank you Sam!
Posted by: Bill Hart | January 28, 2009 at 09:41 AM
now Al just gives multi million dollar bonuses to losers like Javon Walker and DeAngelo Hall.
Posted by: Dark Forces | January 28, 2009 at 10:35 AM
The Raiders made a mistake for unlucky 13 years, what we call the world's longest roadtrip. They will begin their 37th season in Oakland this Fall, almost 3 times the number of years they were in L.A. Allen Davis still lives in Piedmont. He will be 80 on the 4th of July. He and the Raiders aren't moving. When the A's leave, he'll have the Oakland Coliseum Stadium to himself and the Raiders. Plus no Northridge quake will hit in Oakland. There were more fights in the stands than there were on the field in L.A. Julie's sign misspelled "Committment" (using two "t"s in the middle, instead of just one), in it's "Commitment To Excellence" banner. No parking meant that fans had to pay to park in neighboring yards and driveways of private homes around the Mausoleum. L.A. fans suck, L.A. traffic sucks, L.A. air sucks, L.A. sux
Posted by: OakRaidFan | January 28, 2009 at 10:36 AM
cool raider articles-
Sam, how about a piece on Blanda's miracle games from the 70's
Posted by: Zeke | January 28, 2009 at 12:49 PM
The Raiders are back where they were born, and "never" should have left.
In Oakland, the Raider fans were known as "Blue Collar Fans" the most loyal fans around. (And still are)
When Al moved his "Just Win Baby" team to L.A. where there was a different grade of fan.....it was there the Blue Collar fans became known as "Gang Bangers".and criminals.
I don't even live in California, but I have been a Raider fan since I saw them in a pre season game against the L.A. Chargers in July of 1960, they "were" the Oakland Raiders when I came on board, they are "now" the Oakland Raiders, and in my opinion should have always been the Oakland Raiders.
But I will say....no matter where this team goes, "IF" they go anywhere.....
You can bet I'll be a Raider fan!!
Posted by: oneraiderfan | January 28, 2009 at 02:48 PM
oneraiderfan...I am a Raider Fan from LA totally agree with you that no matter where they move, I will support them through thick and thin, but i have one problem.
You have to understand that every team back in the day had blue collar fans. Name a team from the colts to the redskins...all had blue collar fans as the times were different, but to say that the Raider fans from LA are the ones that started all the bad name for the raiders is ridiculous.....
- So you are telling me that Oakland is not that ghetto and that they LA is more ghetto than Oakland?....
- How many times have you hosted the Super Bowl? Even Jacksonville Florida hosted a Super Bowl
- All the fans that fight at the raider games nowadays are all fans from LA right?
Boy Oakland must be the safest city to live in ....right?
I am just tired of reading all the LA bashing.....This city has some of the greatest fans in the world. We are hardcore fans and we support our teams with a lot of passion. But just cause you live in a ghetto does not mean that its our fault.....
Now i know is wrong to say that all of Oakland is ghetto cause i am sure there are two sides to everything, but since you can all us worst fans and that this city sucks...i can make statements as strong as mine too....
and last time i checked this is the LA Times column so if you don't like the city ...then stop writing in our columns
From a LA RAIDER fan to all IGNORANT OAKLAND RAIDER fans
Posted by: titusraider | January 29, 2009 at 03:10 AM
It's a family tradition to like the OAKLAND Raiders. I always thought it was ridiculous that the team would move to LA, Southern California when Northern and Southern Calif. have been rivals since god knows when. That's why they were called "Raiders Traitors." Just glad they are back to Oakland where they can represent not just Oakland fans, but the entire Bay Area. Or East Bay specifically. ;)
Posted by: James | February 02, 2009 at 10:55 PM
Sorry, OakRaiderFan, Al Davis' biggest mistake was leaving LA. Don't believe me? Here's a quote from Al (From his 2001 lawsuit against the NFL) "I wanted to be here, in Los Angeles. I wanted the Raiders to be here"
Thinking the team has a future in the Oakland Coliseum is laughable. Forbes rates the Raiders as the second least valuable team in the league! You think Al and those others investors like that? Think they wouldn't jump at the chance of getting that state of the art stadium in City of Industry?
Posted by: RugbyUnion | February 07, 2009 at 02:30 PM
LA RAIDERS !! COME BACK TO TOWN
Posted by: CEE | August 09, 2009 at 09:25 PM