The ghost of Al Davis still lingers over the NFL landscape, and in no small way.
When Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke emerged victorious in the bid for Los Angeles, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said everyone was a winner in the deal. When asked about the fans in St. Louis, he quipped “Well, someone had to lose.”
But the fans in St. Louis weren’t alone in their frustrations.
Mark Davis and the Oakland Raiders lost out big time when the rest of the NFL owners (minus Dean Spanos of the San Diego Chargers) voted in favor of Kroenke’s Inglewood stadium project (30-2) and left Oakland out of the deal.
In the aftermath, Mark Leibovich of the New York Times Magazine dug up an interesting nugget that could have everything to do with the Raiders’ current situation:
‘‘Oakland gets nothing,’’ said Texans owner Robert McNair. ‘‘Al used to sue us all the time.’’
Bitter feelings are still apparently quite an issue, at least for McNair, who didn’t even become an NFL owner until 2002. If he’s upset and expressing such a sentiment, you have to imagine there are other owners who harbor even deeper feelings of resentment.
Now the Rams are building a football mecca in the second-largest sports market in the United States, while Davis and the Raiders are stuck (at least for now) in the worst facility in the league, Oakland’s O.co Coliseum, which is shared with the Oakland Athletics.
It’s been nearly five years since Davis passed, but his son is still reaping the rewards of his labor. In light of no move to Los Angeles, Davis has been searching for alternatives to Oakland, looking into potential re-locations in San Antonio and Las Vegas.
‘‘Everyone thinks I have no money,” Davis told Leibovich. ‘‘But I’ve got $500 million and a team.’’
That could be an attractive combination for future projects, but it’s clear the NFL’s ownership circle of trust isn’t going to include Davis and the Raiders for a while longer.