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An offer he shouldn't refuse
Steve Young would buy team, keep patriarch
By LOWELL COHN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Al Davis has refused to adapt to the modern age of football. He is a relic, the strong man who runs a franchise like a dictator, and because of this he's ruined the Raiders. He needs someone to save him from himself.
Steve Young and Brent Jones want to do that. They have offered to buy part of the Oakland Raiders.
According to well-placed sources, this happened within the last six months.
Young and Jones were willing to give Al Davis a fantastic deal. In exchange for a big chunk of the ownership, they would let Davis run the football side of the operation.
Young and Jones also pledged to raise private money for a new stadium, not necessarily in Oakland. They would find the best location in the Bay Area and put up a state-of-the-art structure.
This would be quite an improvement over the Oakland Coliseum, one of the biggest dumps in the National Football League.
As you can see, nothing has happened so far. When asked if Young and Jones had extended this offer, Davis, speaking through a Raiders public-relations person, said: "It's ridiculous. The Raiders are not for sale under any circumstances. You or they must have come up with this while playing Monopoly."
Well, wait a minute. In the first place, Davis didn't answer the question. I asked if an offer had been extended, and he said the Raiders are not for sale. That's called bluffing. Believe me, an offer was extended.
He also said Young, Jones and I must have been playing Monopoly. So let's follow the Monopoly analogy. Davis currently has one of the worst franchises in the NFL, which can't sell out most of its home games.
On the Monopoly board, he'd have a loser property like Baltic that no one wants to buy. Young and Jones are willing to give him Boardwalk. And not just Boardwalk on its own. They'll fill it with hotels, so every time someone comes around Davis' side of the board they'll have to pay big rent.
You get the idea.
But according to Al's statement, he wants to wallow at Baltic when he could live like the other half - the Cowboys, Eagles, etc. So I ask you. What's better, to have total control of Baltic or partial control of Boardwalk?
Should Al accept this offer? Of course he should. It's a no-brainer. He doesn't even deserve this offer. Young and Jones would allow him to run the football operation, an operation he's made a mess of. But they would overlook that to gain part of the franchise.
This is a sensitive issue with Davis because it involves health and old age and death.
He is in a tough position in life - as we all will be some day - so have some compassion for him. He is not well, uses a walker. He's 76. All the quick fixes he's tried - getting Warren Sapp, Randy Moss, Kerry Collins, you name them - are because he's running out of time and he knows it.
He wants to burnish his legacy, win another Super Bowl or two before he quits or dies. He is a desperate man taking desperate measures. And you can understand why.
He also wants to control the Raiders. They are his life's work. Whenever you see Davis - even away from the Coliseum - he wears a Raiders leisure suit, silver and black, the pirate head, the works. He is the Raiders.
The team is his identity and these days he's probably having an identity crisis, and that must hurt like hell. From his point of view, losing total control of the Raiders would feel like a form of death. Instead of running a franchise, he would just be an old man with a walker.
So he would not want to share with Young and Jones, two former 49ers, and you can understand why. But he should. No one else would make Davis an offer like this. No one else would go into partnership with him. He is perceived as difficult, maybe even poison, and these two are willing to take a chance.
People around the league believe Al has not formed an exit plan, has not worked out what happens to his team after he's gone. Team exec Amy Trask could run the business side, but what happens to the football operation? Young and Jones will allow Al to project a future for his team, a direction after he is gone.
This is a kindness, and it makes sense. Think about it. If Al really has no succession plan, the league might eventually take over the team. That is unthinkable. From Al's point of view, it would be a defilement. Young and Jones are giving him an alternative.
And they are giving him something else - a way to defeat the 49ers. This should matter to Al, who's competed unsuccessfully with the Niners for Bay Area dominance.
Only one team will get a new stadium. The idea of two new stadiums funded with private money is a fantasy. Whoever gets the new stadium is the winner, and the other team is shackled with an old place and declining equity and a dwindling fan base.
One team wins. One team loses. The league understands how bad things are and is worried about the state of football in the Bay Area, as it should be.
Well, Young and Jones are willing to make the Raiders the winner. They will transform the Raiders into THE Bay Area team as the Niners dither and wander in confusion. They will do this because the 49ers aren't for sale, and Young and Jones want to save football for Northern California.
And Al still can run the football side of the Raiders. This offer is generous, maybe even foolish. Al needs to say yes. He needs to say yes today. He doesn't want to die at Baltic when he could go out in style on Boardwalk.
My bad.