[SoCalRaider]

[b:479d4f2d13]Al Davis proves to everyone he hasn't lost his touch[/b:479d4f2d13]

By Carl Steward

IT DOESN'T really matter now who came up with it. But at somepoint over the past few years, Al Davis was tagged with a rather unflattering nickname by someone high within his very own Oakland Raiders organization.

The Vampire.

Now that sounds like something Pat Bowlen or someone from the NFL legal counsel might dub Al, not a person from his own inner circle. The name was applied more in reference to the owner's frequently nocturnal office hours and his penchant for calling staff members in the middle of the night than his reputation for craving the blood of his enemies.

But there definitely was some malice applied with the moniker, too -- the usual intimations centering around the lurking, demanding, sometimes stifling omnipresence Davis reputedly exerts in his dark domain. His advancing age certainly didn't discourage its use, either.

But hey, the 73-year-old Davis has been called worse, occasionally by his own people. And sometimes you can turn an ugly nickname into a handle that works for you. One thing's certain, if Al accepts his latest fiendish sobriquet, he already has a head start on the wardrobe.

What's more, Davis still very much has the fangs for it.

Five years after critics were saying he'd lost his touch, he suddenly has reclaimed a football Midas touch, both in terms of talent evaluation and structural approach. Bottom line, Al's current again, hip and cool, fully risen from the dead.

Al Davis, NFL Lestat. He might just hang around for 300 or so more years to torment commissioners and fellow owners not yet born. He'd probably settle for hanging around the next three weeks, though.

As the Raiders begin their latest postseason quest in a favorable position not only to reach the Super Bowl for the fifth time but win it for a fourth, it's starting to dawn on folks that the grand old batman who runs the show hasn't been staying up nights watching old Bela Legosi movies.

Vampire of the Year? Perhaps not, but NFL Executive of the Year? Now that's something into which Davis can sink his teeth.

Throughout the past year -- and realistically, for a significant period before that -- Davis has been writing yet another compelling chapter to his memoirs without ever picking up a pen to do anything more than sign off on his latest deal. Without question, this season has to be one of the most rewarding and satisfying for Davis in his 40-plus years with the franchise.

Things didn't start so well in 2002. First, there was the Immaculate Fumble, or the Snow Job, or the Foxboro Farce ... whatever anyone chooses to call it. Then, on top of that loss, Davis clearly had lost long-term contractual grip on his dynamic young coach, Jon Gruden, the man who helped him rebuild his empire and restore "the greatness of the Raidahs." There were rumblings that senior assistant Bruce Allen might depart as well.

The organization, quite clearly, was at a crossroads.

But then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came calling, and Davis showed them the mark of a bona fide professional pirate. He got four high draft picks -- all of which subsequently demonstrated themselves as keepers -- plus $8 million for Gruden, who almost certainly was going to depart Oakland after the 2002 season anyway. Gruden has been good for Tampa, no doubt, but this has turned into one of the sweetest deals of Davis' career.

The real ingeniousness of it, though, was hiring Bill Callahan as head coach and maintaining the guts of Gruden's staff, thereby maintaining a high degree of continuity yet somehow infusing the team with some fresh energy and ingenuity. It's something the Raiders clearly needed on both sides of the ball.

But Davis, with the able support of Allen (who stayed) and a seasoned player personnel staff, wasn't through. He made quarterback Rich Gannon happy with a new contract, and Gannon reciprocated with an MVP season. He restocked a weak defense by signing defensive tackles John Parrella and Sam Adams, free safety Rod Woodson and linebacker Bill Romanowski.

These vets not only have been good on the field, but they also have had a profound impact on the younger players.

[size=18:479d4f2d13][b:479d4f2d13]"We think we have a good mix," Davis said last month during his State of the Raiders interview with ESPN's Hank Goldberg. "We have some older players, but at every position we have some great young players, too."

Davis makes an excellent point there. It's been hypothesized by almost every so-called football expert that this is a franchise trying to make one final run at a Super Bowl with its nucleus of graybeards. In truth, the Raiders are trying to rebuild and refine as they go. It's working. This team isn't nearly as old as it appears on the surface.[/b:479d4f2d13] [/size:479d4f2d13]

The offensive line, one of the best in the NFL, is young. Lincoln Kennedy, an All-Pro, is the oldest at 31. Third-year receiver Jerry Porter and rookie tight end Doug Jolley have assumed bigger roles in the passing game, taking a significant amount of the load off Tim Brown and Jerry Rice.

The defense shows great future promise with Eric Barton, who should have been a Pro Bowler, and rookies Napoleon Harris and Philip Buchanon. Harris has been particularly good of late, faster and bigger than popular predecessor Greg Biekert. Rod Coleman had a terrific year at tackle. If Charles Woodson can ever get healthy, this defense would have a very nice foundation of young players once the older ones move on.

But nobody's looking too closely at the long-range future right now. More to the moment, if the Raiders go on to win the Super Bowl, this particular team might stand as the crowning achievement in Davis' illustrious Hall of Fame career. Very few people had the Raiders even winning their division in 2002 after Gruden departed.

Maybe too much credit was given to Chucky and not enough to Nosferatu.

Carl Steward can be reached at (510) 293-2451 or by e-mail at

csteward@angnewspapers.com .