This week’s ESPN Magazine has a feature on Raiders’ owner, Mark Davis, that every Raiders fan should probably read. Among the nuggets in the story:
- Davis drives a 1997 Dodge Caravan with a built-in VHS player
- Davis uses a 2003 Nokia push-button phone
- Davis wears a white fanny pack
But the more interesting story (technically, the above-mentioned are not actual stories) comes from the summer of 1980. According to Davis, former Raiders great, Cliff Branch, asked Davis to negotiate his final contract… against his father, Al Davis. Davis obliged and Branch was eventually signed after “tense” negotiations.
The fallout from the deal? The younger Davis says he was kicked out of the home as soon as the contract was signed. “We didn’t talk much for the next year,” Davis, referring to his father, told ESPN’s Tim Keown. Nevertheless, the deal was a good one – particularly for Branch, who at 67 years-old, still collects an annual annuity from the contract.
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