Source:
SFGATE.COMAl Davis, whose iron-fisted reign over the Raiders for practically their entire existence led to three Super Bowl titles and made the silver-and-black franchise a symbol of renegade toughness, died Saturday. He was 82.
Brilliant, enigmatic and unapologetically independent, Mr. Davis turned the Raiders into one of the most successful franchises in pro football in the 1960s and '70s. A keen judge of talent, he was willing to accept other team's castoffs and troublemakers and able to get the best out of them.
He defied the National Football League by moving the team to Los Angeles in 1982 without league approval, then brought it back to Oakland in 1995. The Raiders won Super Bowls in 1977 and 1981 and a third while in L.A. in 1984.
They reached the Super Bowl one more time after the 2002 season but lost to Tampa Bay and coach Jon Gruden, whom Mr. Davis had traded to the Buccaneers earlier that year for four high draft choices and $8 million.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/08/SPS51FBUGF.DTL
Many people hated him, many liked him. He was always controversial.
The autumn wind is a pirate
Blustering in from sea
With a rollicking song he sweeps along
swaggering boisterously
His face is weather beaten
He wears a hooded sash
With his silver hat about his head
And a bristly black mustache
He growls as he storms the country
A villain big and bold
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake
As he robs them of their gold
The autumn wind is a Raider
Pillaging just for fun
He'll knock you around and upside down
And laugh when he's conquered and won
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nSKIJvVQI0&feature=rela...