Al Davis came out of more than two years of hiding to introduce his new head coach to the world.
And the affair was a blast from the past. The 81-year-old legendary owner of the Oakland Raiders may not have looked his best but he showed his mind was still sharp.
Davis touched on topics ranging from the greatness of Steve Young to his discovery of Jim Harbaugh to why he is fining Tom Cable to the need for a new stadium in Oakland. He even challenged reporters on the specifics of previous articles they have written.
"I didn't think you would all show up but I'm glad you did," he told the pool of reporters as he took his seat.
The first five minutes of Tuesday's press conference to introduce Hue Jackson as the new head coach of the Raiders was spent how talented quarterback Jason Campbell is. Davis compared him to former Raiders' quarterback Jim Plunkett.
"The quarterback is dynamite," he said. (He) can go all the way anytime."
Davis also expounded on the team's perceived identity as a long ball offense. Instead the owner identified his team's problem as its inability to score enough points.
"You gotta score points to win," he said. "You can't win without scoring points and then you got to knock someone down."
That is where Jackson, the teams offensive coordinator last season, comes in, according to Davis.
He said the new coach's No. 1 priority is to get his players into the end zone. A task that should be made easier by Mr. Davis' believe that he has one of the most talented offensive units that has been seen in Oakland in years.
For his part, Jackson agreed with Davis' assessment of the team's talent and its weaknesses. But the most glaring statement by Jackson may have been what he called the Raiders' owner.
People around the owner for years have called him Mr. Davis. But Jackson ended any suspicion about just how much control Davis has over the team's day-to day-operations.
"There is nothing like working for Coach Davis," Jackson said adding the Raiders' owner is the best he has worked for.
Davis clarified his involvement with the team however. He took ownership of last year's draft but he said his power stopped short of deciding which players would play on game day.
He gave a specific example last season where Davis said in one game Campbell was removed and while he questioned the move he did not force the coaches to put Campbell back in.
