Davis' death means the passing of one of the NFL's visionaries

"Just Win Baby"

"Committment To Excellence"

These catch phrases are part of the legacy of "Mr. Raider" Al Davis, who passed away this morning in California at 82. Davis' contribution to pro-football was huge, to say the least: the success of Lamar Hunt's AFL (some people believe the AFL-NFL war was one Davis, in his mind, never stopped fighting), The Snake, Fred Belitnikoff, the revival of the careers of Jim Plunkett, "The Mad Stork", Lyle Alzado, just to mention a few.

The Raiders were known for their vertical passing game, which was ahead of its time when it was first invented, though passe today. He hired the first hispanic (Tom Flores, who won two Super Bowls)and African-American (Art Shell) head coaches in the NFL, and, in the mid 60's, when Davis decided to turn over the coaching to John Rauch, so he could concentrate of being the owner and a de facto General Manager, they hired a very young defensive coordinator, who's name went on to be synonynous with a video game: Hall-Of-Famer John Madden, who coached the Raiders to a Super Bowl XI victory after the 1976 season.

Davis did have his detractors, one of his biggest was Pete Rozelle, who sued Davis to stop his move to L.A. in 1982. The scene of Rozelle presenting the Lombardi trophy to Davis was priceless. Last but not least, Davis kept a firm control on the organization, even as the gamne seemed to pass him by. That being said, this man was a visionary on a level with Halas and Lombardi, and will be long remembered for that.