The State of the Raiders

The downfall of the Raiders is now decades old without hope in sight. What happened to the winningest team of the 1960's-1980's.Photo byPhoto By: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

In the 1960s to the 1980s, no professional sports team in America had a better win/loss record than the Oakland Raiders. That has definitely changed over the years. Now the Raiders are a perennial loser, but there are definite reasons why.

1. No leadership:

In the glory days of the Raiders, they had Al Davis and Ron Wolf. Two all-time great Hall of Famers. Wolf created a scouting system that is part of the systems of today. Their knowledge and evaluation of players was unmatched. John Madden once said Ron Wolf was the only one that Al Davis ever listened to. Their goal was winning, and if you couldn't get it done, you would not be there long. They demanded excellence and winning. Now they have Mark Davis, who never played a part in any football operations and who never had a full-time job in his life. Even the new stadium deal was done by Jerry Jones and Sheldon Adelson.

2. No Identity:

The Oakland Raiders were the imitating bad boys of the NFL. Oakland was tough, blue collar, and not to be messed with. Hank Stram told reporters it was wrong to let criminals out just so they could go to Oakland Raiders games, and Don Shula called it hades. Steelers head coach Chuck Knoll constantly complained about playing in Oakland. The stadium was loud, and the Raiders rarely lost at home.

The move to Los Angeles created an atmosphere of violence and eroded the aura. In fact, in 1983, the Raiders drew less than 41,000 fans four times; that year they were 12-4 and won the Super Bowl. LA was never an NFL town, and when they moved for good, even the NY Times wrote about how great it was for them to leave Los Angeles. Raider players made fun of the lack of loyalty and were also glad to leave. Now they have no home and no identity. Las Vegas is like a road game for the Raiders, with road fans taking over and destroying the magic. No identity, no home field advantage.

3. Horrible Drafting and Signings;

Without Ron Wolf, Al Davis seemed to look only at speed and 40 times. Instead of drafting Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald, or Calvin Johnson, the Raiders were stuck with horrible picks and signings based only on speed. Gone were the Hall of Fame picks and signings like Upshaw, Shell, Biletnikopf, Blanda, Plunkett & Brown. Most picks and trades are now busts right away or bad draft picks who didn't stick around long.

How Can They Fix It?

If the Raiders are going to change the culture, they have to change the talent and draft better. The drafts and signings have got to be home runs or at least very positive additions to the team. A quarterback and a youthful group of talented players with solid coaching behind them will get the Raiders back on the right track.