He may not have been there physically but he could have been a part of it via phone or video conference and helped settle some key issues for the NFL.
In 2006, Al Davis stepped in and convinced the owners—who had bickered about earnings and wouldn't concede to the players who wanted and deserved more of the pie—to settle with the players and they signed a good collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in terms of what the players finally were awarded and the NFL had to give up.
Al Davis is considered a very difficult owner to get along with, but those who are friends with him and even those who aren't respect him and understand he's one of the smartest men in all of football.
When Al Davis respects the owners and agrees with their decisions, he will go to important meetings. But when he disagrees, like he has this offseason, he will do things contrary to what other owners will do by spending money like he's making it—even when deep-pocketed owners or those in big markets claim to be losing money.
Obviously, now that the wealthiest owners have the biggest and best stadiums, of course they are more in debt. Is it the players' fault the owners have taken on as much debt as they have? Al is clearly showing that the Raiders have money and want to spend it and the owners need to realize everyone's making a lot of money, just not as much as before.
I expect something to happen by July after what recently happened. The preseason will probably be shortened by a game or two, but I think the NFL has finally realized that a lot of players have put money away and can sit out a year if necessary. I think this was shocking to the owners to...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
