Al Davis
 Allen Davis

Oakland Raiders owner Allen Davis was inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame on the 1st of August 1992.

He went from assistant coach of the Los Angeles, then San Diego Chargers, to head coach and general manager of the Raiders, to Commissioner of the American Football League and to principal owner and chief executive officer of the Raiders, transforming a failing franchise into pro football’s winningest team.

After attending Wittenberg College in Ohio, Davis played baseball, basketball and football at Syracuse University, graduating in 1950. He was an assistant college coach and head coach of a U. S. Army team, then joined the staff of the Los Angeles Chargers of the new AFL in 1960.

Mr. Davis was the offensive end coach of the Los Angeles Chargers from 1960-62, before being named Raiders head coach/general manager at age 33. Davis went to the Oakland Raiders as the youngest general manager-head coach in pro football history. He adopted the motto "Pride and Poise," dressed his team in silver and black uniforms, and helped design a new logo, showing a pirate wearing an eye patch and a horned, Viking-like helmet.

One of Davis's chief goals was to turn the Raiders into a feared team, and he succeeded. In three seasons, he had a 23-16-3 record and was named AFL coach of the year by AP, UPI, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News and his fellow coaches in 1964, when Oakland went 10-4-0.

The nine-win turnaround in one season remains the greatest such accomplishment in pro football history. Mr. Davis became the first sports figure ever honored by the Chamber of Commerce as Oakland’s Young Man of the Year.

In April of 1966, Davis was named commissioner of the league. He immediately set out to attack the rival NFL by signing its top quarterbacks to future contracts. That tactic was a major factor when the leagues agreed in July to a merger, which angered Davis because he felt the AFL could have succeeded without a merger.

He was also upset at being passed over for consideration as commissioner of the merged NFL. That was the beginning of a long feud with Commissioner Pete Rozelle. Davis could have remained as AFL commissioner until the merger formally took place in 1970, but he returned to the Raiders as managing general partner for the 1966 season and built teams that won the AFL title in 1967 and Super Bowls after the 1976, 1980 and 1983 seasons.

Davis was a maverick in NFL councils. Most owners and their representatives tended to work toward a consensus, under Rozelle's leadership, but Davis consistently fought such a consensus. When Oakland refused to add luxury box seats to its stadium, Davis signed a memorandum of agreement to move the team to the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1980.

Under league rules at the time, such a move was supposed to be approved by three-fourths of the other teams. Davis didn't get the approval, but tried to move anyway, only to be blocked by an injunction. However, he pressed an antitrust suit against the NFL and a federal district court ruled in June of 1982 that the move should be allowed, awarding $35 million in damages to the Raiders and nearly $15 million to the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Distrusted by many owners, Davis once told an interviewer that the secret to Oakland's success is simple: "Our way is to put fear in the opponent, baby, and outscore him." In another interview, he commented on his own single-minded approach, "It's tunnel vision, a tunnel life. I'm not really a part of society."

Has been chosen by a record eight Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees to present them at the Canton, Ohio ceremony: Lance Alworth, Jim Otto, George Blanda, Willie Brown, Gene Upshaw, Fred Biletnikoff, Art Shell and Ted Hendricks.

Mr. Davis became the first recipient of the NFL Players Association's Retired Players Award of Excellence "for his contributions to the men who played the game" in 1991.

As a member of the Executive Committee of the NFL Management Council, Mr. Davis was a major factor in achieving a collective bargaining agreement with the players.

His innovative technical football articles published in the leading coaching magazines gained him wide acclaim. He went into the U.S. Army, being assigned as head football coach at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. There he molded a national power service team and capped one season by defeating Maryland, national collegiate football champions, in a squad game. Mr. Davis was on the staff of the Baltimore Colts in 1954, at age 24, concentrating on player personnel. During 1955-56, he served as line coach and chief recruiter at The Citadel. He then spent three years at the USC Trojans as line coach and in 1959, and was also defensive coordinator.