Al Davis Gives a Rare Interview

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis is sort of the J.D. Salinger of professional football. Nobody gets to talk to Mr. Davis unless Mr. Davis is really in the mood to be talked to.

He has not given a public interview in nearly a year. Oh, he's put out plenty of press releases. But he has not participated in a recorded media interview since September 2009, and the "reporter" was Ice Cube.

But Al Davis did give a rare one-on-one interview Tuesday evening on Sirius NFL Radio, with Gil Brandt. Brandt was a personnel executive with the Dallas Cowboys for 30 years, and one of the few old-timers in the NFL whom Davis has never fired.

Sirius NFL Radio is not in the business of putting content online for free, but Jerry McDonald has a full transcript of the interview on his Oakland Tribune Raiders blog.

Davis was only asked very, very easy questions. And he twice referred to the Ravens as "the Baltimore Colts".

Some of the praise Davis chooses to heap is pretty surprising. "I see this young Jason Campbell as a football player like I saw Jim Plunkett. He has everything," Davis said. "I really predict great things for him."

Also surprising -- when Davis discusses his great Raiders coaches, he mentions new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson but fails to mention Tom Cable.

"This year we come in and we have a bright new young offensive coordinator in Hue Jackson," Davis said, after yamming it up about John Madden, Tom Flores, Art Shell, and Jon Gruden.

Tom Cable was forgotten in the sentiment.

But at least he wasn't accidentally referred to as "Baltimore".

Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who is predicting low temperatures and occasional snow flurries in Hell after seeing Al Davis actually saying a nice thing about Rich Gannon.  

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