Raiders fans and players mourn NFL legend Davis

Long-time Oakland Raiders owner and American football Hall of Famer Al Davis has died. He was 82.

Davis, one of the most important figures in NFL history, is best known as a rebel, a man who established a team whose silver-and-black colours and pirate logo symbolised his attitude towards authority, both on the field and off. His willingness to buck the establishment helped turn the NFL into the most successful sports league in American history.

Davis died on Saturday at his home in Oakland, while his team was in Houston preparing to play the Texans. That Davis was not with his team was telling as he is believed to have missed only three games since joining the team as coach in 1963.

He had not appeared at a single training camp practice this summer and missed a game in Buffalo last month. The team were told of Davis’ death at a meeting on Saturday morning.

“He’s one of the greatest sports icons ever,” Raiders player Stanford Routt said. “He will be greatly missed. He believed in me, he lived for us, now we have to play for him.”

Davis was praised as a trendsetting owner who broke racial and gender barriers while winning three Super Bowl titles and preaching his mantra of “Just win, baby!” Unfortunately since going to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season, the Raiders have not had a winning record.

He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. He hired the first black head coach of the modern era, the first Latino coach and the first woman CEO. Fans dressed in Raiders jerseys quickly made their way to team headquarters in Alameda, where a black flag with the team logo flew at half-staff and a makeshift memorial formed at the base of the flag pole. There was a tombstone on the Raiders’ website for Davis.

Meanwhile, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is interested in adding a second regular-season game in London and says the move will be discussed at the owners’ meetings this week.

Goodell spoke before the Buffalo Bills’ game yesterday against the Philadelphia Eagles, saying the league would like to build on the success it’s had playing in London.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play the Chicago Bears at Wembley Stadium on 23 October in the fifth regular-season game in London. The commissioner said the league was happy with the game it played in Mexico City in 2005 - the first regular-season game outside the United States - but noted he is focusing on adding a regular-season game in England.

Goodell said the issue will be addressed at the meetings in Houston that begin tomorrow.