Yep!!!!
Without Al, we would not have the NFC & AFC
Discover how Al Davis revolutionized the Oakland Raiders and clashed with the NFL to reshape professional football. From his early coaching days to owning the team and leading them to three Super Bowls, Davis championed independence and defied league norms. Learn about his pivotal legal battles...
huffsports.com
Patently false.
Poor article, with a lot of Al Davis worshipping and hype.
I get the feeling if Al Davis was still around and came to a sudden halt, the author (amongst others) would end up Al's backside.
In 1966, Davis became the head coach and general manager of the Raiders, a role he held until 1971.
I stopped reading after the above quote.
And the majority of AFL owners wanted the merger. It would have happened without Davis.
Read the below, from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Davis
It thoroughly explains Davis' disdain for Pete Rozelle.
FL commissioner (1966)
Main article:
AFL–NFL merger
By the end of its sixth season in 1965, the American Football League had overcome its initial status of bare-bones survivor to become a significant rival to the NFL. With a television contract with
NBC and major stadiums constructed or being built, the AFL could afford to compete on equal terms for players with the NFL. Not all AFL owners sought a merger — Jets owner
Sonny Werblin, for example, felt that with brand-new
Shea Stadium and the young star
Joe Namath at quarterback, his team could compete on equal terms with the crosstown NFL
Giants. However, most AFL owners wanted to be a part of the older, better-established NFL, whose owners feared continued escalation of player salaries.
[45]
While the AFL owners liked the league's first commissioner,
Joe Foss, they had little confidence in his abilities at a time for struggle between the two leagues, and Foss resigned on April 7, 1966.
[46] Davis, 36, was voted in as commissioner the following day,
[47] and took the job with Valley's agreement, hired as a fighter who would win the war with the NFL. The owners, led by Chiefs owner
Lamar Hunt, felt that Davis could put pressure on the NFL and force a favorable settlement. His biographer, Glenn Dickey, notes that Davis was deceived by the owners, "He thought he had been hired to win the war with the NFL. In fact, the owners only wanted to force a peace. They were quietly negotiating a merger while Davis was fighting a war."
[48]
According to sportswriter Ken Rappoport in his history of the AFL, "Davis had a plan, and, considering the football genius the man would become, no one should have been surprised that it would work—brilliantly."
[49] Davis's target in the war was the NFL's quarterbacks, arranging for AFL teams to sign star players, such as
Roman Gabriel of the Rams, who would be free agents after 1966 although that season had not yet begun. Gabriel, with his AFL contract to begin in 1967, received an immediate $100,000 bonus. The signing of 49ers quarterback
John Brodie was announced by Davis and the AFL.
[a][48] These transactions increased the financial pressure on the NFL's weaker franchises, which faced the prospect of losing their best players in a year, or greatly increasing their labor costs. A
merger agreement was announced on June 8 and Davis was greatly displeased with the agreement on two fronts. It required the Jets and Raiders to pay indemnities to the Giants and 49ers for establishing teams within their exclusive territories, and it also put him out of a job: the merger agreement immediately abolished the post of AFL commissioner.
Pete Rozelle would continue in his post as NFL commissioner under the merger agreement. Davis had hoped to be named commissioner if any merger was reached; the result increased what already had become a dislike of Rozelle.
[50][51]
Davis resigned as commissioner on July 25, 1966. AFL owners wanted Davis to continue serving as AFL
President. AFL owners had explicitly agreed that the office of AFL President would be subservient to that of the NFL Commissioner, and Davis flatly refused to consider serving as a subordinate to Rozelle. Eventually,
Milt Woodard (who was assistant commissioner under Foss)
[52] agreed to serve as President of the AFL.
[53]
_______________
Did you catch the name of the 1st AFL commissioner?
Joe Foss.
WW II Marine Aviator, Pacific Theater, Guadalcanal
CMH winner.
Joseph Jacob Foss (April 17, 1915 – January 1, 2003) was a
United States Marine Corps Major and a leading Marine
fighter ace in
World War II. He received the
Medal of Honor in recognition of his role in air combat during the
Guadalcanal campaign. In postwar years, he was an
Air National Guard Brigadier General, served as the
20th Governor of South Dakota (1955–1959), president of the
National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and the first commissioner of the
American Football League. He also was a
television broadcaster.
This is an outstanding video of an outstanding man. If you like military history, this channel has tons of great stuff
