As far as everyone in Raider Nation is concerned, the 2019 Oakland Raiders and their success is because of head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock. But what about the man that actually signs the checks? We’re talking about Mark Davis.
Raider Nation: The Second Coming of Raiders Owner Mark Davis
People want to bash his haircut (only serves him to want to keep it actually) and some people even bash his football knowledge, huh? That man is the son of Al Davis, a football pioneer. His blood has football flowing through it. He was bred for it and has forgotten more at his age than most of his critics will ever know. Then why the hate? Does it go back to the relocation to Las Vegas?
The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree
While he is not his father, you can see he developed some good business sense in his dealings so far. He has never even had an actual job, he just grew watching the man in action. No, Mark is not like Al. We should have learned from Al’s final years to be glad of that actually. Mark is his own man, accepting the changes and rolling with them. He has been willing give more than Al and even taking more when you think about it. He’s actually getting his new stadium, something Al didn’t get… ever!
Players like him, he grew up with a lot of them, stood toe to toe against his dad representing the late great Cliff Branch in a contract battle (something many fans seem to forget) and even invented the QB hand warmer.
Mark found the right advisers to steer him towards Reggie Mackenzie to bring in and fix the cap issues. He then brought in head coach Jack Del Rio to steer the ship away from irrelevance, and now he got the man he wanted all along in Jon Gruden and brought in arguably, the best draft analyst in the NFL with Mike Mayock.
The younger Davis did it respectfully too, everyone there knew he wanted Gruden above all, he played the cards to give Gruden a better chance at the game. Not many owners took over a team in a worse condition, or came in gauged against a man of his father’s stature. Mark has done well, and he deserves some praise for the Raiders turnaround, just by simply sitting back and allowing others to do their job, listening clearly and using the give and take, not just take.
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