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Al Davis is quite possibly the most controversial figure in sports history. If you aren't a Raiders fan, you probably can't stand the thought of him. The truth is that without this strong-willed, do-anything-it-takes-to-win type of manager, the NFL wouldn't exist as it is today. Love him or hate him; if you are an NFL fan, you are an Al Davis fan.

As any football fan knows, there was a rival league to the NFL throughout the 1960s. It always appeared the NFL was superior to the AFL. The truth is in 1966 Al Davis was elected AFL commissioner because the AFL teams knew he would do anything (and everything) it takes to make the AFL succeed. There was one major mistake made by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle that nearly cost the NFL to fold, and the AFL to prosper.

Back then, the NFL and AFL fought over the right to sign players to contracts to play in their league. There was an unspoken rule between the AFL and NFL that when one league got a player, that player belonged to the representative league. This changed however when AFL placekicker Pete Gogolak was signed by the NFL's New York Giants after his contract was expired. Rather than vetoing the contract (like was typically done), Commissioner Rozelle allowed the contract and the war between the AFL and the NFL was officially on.

Al Davis is not one to back down from a challenge, and Commissioner Rozelle's actions were a direct attempt to force the AFL into submission. Rather than back down and surrender, Commissioner Davis instead formulated a battle plan to attack the NFL. Instead of signing NFL players whose contracts had expired, Davis encouraged AFL owners to go after the heart of the NFL….the quarterbacks.

Davis sought out all the NFL's top quarterbacks, and had them signed to futures contracts. Thus, NFL quarterbacks that had years remaining on their current contracts were signed to contracts that would take place two or three years down the road when the contracts did expire. In doing so, ALL 8 AFL teams had signed an NFL staring quarterback to a futures contract including John Brodie and Roman Gabriel. The gloves were off against the NFL.

NFL owners, fearing (knowing) they were outmatched by a visionary Al Davis, started approaching lower market AFL teams to see if they were interested in a merger. When the AFL agreed to merger agreements set forth by the NFL (unknown to Al Davis), the NFL dodged a huge bullet from an up and coming AFL. While Al Davis was against the merger (he though the AFL had the NFL on the ropes and the NFL should merge with the AFL), Al still had a place in his heart for America's Game, and returned to Oakland as the President of the General Managing Partner.

Battles would continue for the next 40 years between Davis and Rozelle. When the LA Rams decided to move their team to Anaheim, Al Davis saw the dollar signs that LA had to offer him compared to the small market Oakland area. Even though fans were unlike any other in Oakland, Davis had a hard time getting the city to commit to putting luxury boxes in the stadium (NFL owners are not required to share revenues with visiting teams from luxury box suites like they are regular seats). Davis had a verbal agreement in place with the LA Coliseum for a luxury box stadium, as well as seating for 100,000 individuals. In order to move an NFL franchise, it was required to vote at the owners meetings in which Al got one yes vote to allow the move….his own.

In 1980, despite being voted down, Davis tried to move the Raiders to LA anyway but was blocked by a court injunction. In turn, Davis filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL. In 1982 Davis got his wish, and the team officially was relocated to LA. Davis' argument was the NFL was preventing him from becoming a successful businessman and that each team should be treated as a separate component of the NFL. Davis won his argument, and now NFL owners are allowed to move their teams at will.

Despite being a visionary, Davis has also been a proponent from day one on judging individuals based on their abilities to win, rather than race or gender. He was the first to hire a Latino head coach (Tom Flores), the first to have an African-American head coach (Art Shell), and also has placed Amy Trask as the president of the club, a higher position than ANY NFL owner has ever placed a woman.

Most people view Al Davis as a senile old man who has lost his marbles. The truth is, the rest of the NFL is still intimidated by the vision Mr. Davis has. In the 2008 offseason, Mr. Davis went on a spending spree to the tune of over $150 million to help turn his club around. Most called him a lunatic for creating a salary cap hell in future years. But once again, Al Davis was a step ahead of the competition. He knew the NFL owners would opt out of the collective bargaining agreement, which means the potential for uncapped years ahead. If a new agreement can't be reached, the NFL could turn into the same situation Major League Baseball has. If this happens, Al Davis will once again be considered a visionary that was once again a step ahead of the competition.

Love him or hate him (most will pick the latter) Al Davis made the NFL what it is today. Without him, there would still be football to watch every weekend, but viewers quite possibly would be tuning into AFL games instead of NFL games. NFL teams would not be the successful business entities they are today without him as well and teams would be forced to stay put in undesirable marketing venues. The harsh reality is Raider fans love him because he will do what it takes to win. Fans of other teams hate him because they don't have him acting as GM to put their team ahead of the competition. In the end, Al Davis will never be looked at in the light he deserves, even though most fans are to ignorant to understand what football today would be without him.

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