He may have been blindsided by the trade that sent him to the Buccaneers nearly two decades ago, but Jon Gruden isn’t holding any grudges against Al Davis.
Gruden has been careful to acknowledge the influence Davis had on his career and is even incorporating the late Raiders owner into his playbook.
According to Raiders play-by-play voice Greg Papa, Gruden has been naming plays after Davis.
”A lot of the plays that are actually being called are going to be named after Al Davis,” Papa said Monday on his 95.7 The Game radio show.
Surely a deep throw will be named after Davis, but maybe Gruden can also incorporate some variety of verbiage that includes “Lance” Kiffin, the overhead projector, Pete Rozelle, or even a Walt Coleman reference.
Gruden said in February that the mostly undisturbed office of Al Davis has become something of a memorial to Davis since his passing in 2011.
Now it looks like the Raiders playbook will become an extension of the memorial.
Just throw it deep, baby!
twitter: @raidersbeat
Just Go get a I.V. Fill it up with Coffee and Study Your Asses OFF if you wanna MAKE this TEAM, that is What Mr Davis Established With the Raiders
“Commitment to Excellence”
😎✌🖤🏈🖤🏈🖤🏈🇺🇸
Gruden never did go public about what led to him being traded and never has anything bad to say about Al . But I’m sure he enjoyed poking that sharp stick in Davis’ eye in front of a national audience in the Superbowl . That was all the revenge he would ever need .
Thank Bill Callahan for Gruden’s victory. Callahan should have just run the ball down Gruden’s throat. Instead, Callahan used Gruden’s playbook. Unfortunately for Raidaas, Gruden knew the playbook better than Callahan/Gannon.
Al Davis’ impact on Gruden after giving him his 1st Head coaching gig & the respect Gruden has for Al as a football mind. The trade for Gruden was an all time deal & only someone with solid brass balls & ice in his veins could pull the trigger on that one. Al should have a tribute in playbook