STEELER FANS JUST WIN BABY????

By: Steve Dobbs

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders have a long and storied rivalry.  Many hard fought battles have occurred at three rivers, Heinz field, and the black hole.  Unbelievable plays such as the legendary immaculate reception and hall of fame caliber players such as Mean Joe Greene, Marcus Allen, Jack Lambert, Ted “the mad stork” Hendricks, Tim Brown, Franco, and of course Terry Bradshaw and possibly the most recognizable definitely the longest lasting Al Davis graced the field over the long years of this incredible rivalry.

Most Steeler fans hate Al Davis. O.K. maybe hate is too strong, but at least the majority dislikes him.  In fact fans who don’t love the silver and black often have no love for Al Davis.  The above reference to a great rivalry could just as easily played out in another state against another team with another cast of fantastic players and another set of fans who either love or hate or love to hate Al Davis.  I chose the Steelers for two reasons.  First, I live on all sides surrounded by within spitting distance of multiple Steeler fans.  I’m from WV and since we have no professional team by default everybody is crazy about the Steelers.  Of course Cleveland is pretty close but we won’t get into that.  I don’t blame the population for choosing Pittsburgh.  The second reason is a conversation between Bradshaw and Al Davis shortly after Bradshaw’s retirement, which has only come to light after Al Davis recent death.  The story according to Bradshaw was as follows:

“When I retired from the Steelers I went home to my ranch in Louisiana and one day I got a call from Al Davis.  He asked me what are you doing?   How are you doing?  Then I’ll never forget this, he asks me how are you doing financially?  Well I don’t have any money coming in I don’t have any money going out.  And, He said if you ever need anything at all, call me.  And, I said yes sir, I appreciate that.”  

Bradshaw was his rival on the field.  Bradshaw beat his team and went to the super bowl.  They weren’t friends, nor were they enemies.  They held a mutual respect and Al Davis reached out to help if it was needed.  That was but one of the examples of what a great man Al Davis was off the field.  When superstar linebacker Derrick Thomas was tragically killed, the funeral was paid for by Al Davis.  For those of you unfamiliar with Thomas, he’s a hall of famer who was killed in a car wreck.  He played for Kansas City.  Yes Kansas City another Oakland rival. That’s just the type of guy Al Davis was.

Davis paid the medical expenses for his former players.  He gave his former players jobs when they were in need.  His motto was once a raider always a raider.  There were many other incidents of exemplary conduct on Davis part.  He was the first to hire a latino coach in Tom Flores.  He was the first in the modern era to hire a African American coach in Art Shell.  He was the first to have a female as management in the front office.  Most importantly it was Davis who was absolutely vital in making the NFL the multi-billion dollar industry that it is today.  In the 60’s when the AFL was around Davis was crucial in forcing the merger.  Otherwise we may have two football leagues, neither of which would be what the NFL is today.  So Steeler fans, Kansas City fans, and for that matter all football fans, take a moment to remember a man that truly had a commitment to excellence.