Fire Al Davis

I, like many, have spent years of my life rooting for a team that has shown little or no passion for the game of football. This overwhelming inability to produce anything exceptional on the field can be attributed to the owner of the Raiders, who keeps the team in a one step forward two steps backward direction. He fired Mike Shanahan in 1989. Shanahan now has two Super Bowl rings. He traded away Jon Gruden in 2002 for 4 high draft picks that are no longer with the team. The following year the Raiders were embarassed by Jon Gruden's new team in the Super Bowl. This year Davis fired Lane Kiffin for cause when the Raiders were starting to show promise for the first time since that Super Bowl loss to an ex-employee.

His mantra is "Just Win Baby," but he has shown no accountability and does not seem to realize that the only person holding this team back from success is him. If anyone were to run their business the way he does his it wouldn't be long before that person would have to declare bankruptcy. Since firing Shanahan the Raiders' record has been 148-168. Since firing Gruden the team's record has been 20-64. Shanahan's record with the Broncos since he became their head coach has been 130-78, Gruden's is 48-48. Shanahan has almost as many wins as the Raiders, in fewer seasons. Gruden has more than doubled the Raiders' record since leaving.

The Raiders were once a proud franchise, having won a super bowl in the 60's, the 70's, and the 80's, a model of consistency in the NFL. Al, you will never find another John Madden or Tom Flores. Get over it. Hire a head coach and stick with him for more than a year and a half when the team shows progress. Don't fire a head coach and keep an incompetent defensive coordinator in Rob Ryan. Lane Kiffin is the latest promising head coach to be let go by Davis prematurely. If Al Davis has a head on his shoulder he will look at was has been ailing the Raiders all these years as a professional organization and sell the team or step down as the controlling partner.