Pete Carroll should be headed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Now with the Raiders, Carroll is trying to restore a championship legacy built by the godfather of the Raiders, the late Al Davis. The legendary executive built the Raiders into a juggernaut in the late 1960s, sustaining the franchise at an elite level for the next 15 years. Davis won three Super Bowls with the Silver and Black. His mantra: “Just win, baby!” A recent Raiders Wire article compares Pete Carroll to Al Davis:
“I immediately thought of classic Al Davis. He built those championship teams through a combination of uncovering lesser known talented players, castoffs or misfits others shied away from, and previously highly touted players looking for a career rebirth. The Raiders’ first three Super Bowl teams were made up of plenty of players that would fit that mold. Just like Carroll had his late-round DBs Chancellor and Sherman, Davis had the likes of Lester Hayes, George Atkinson, and Skip Thomas.
“And, you want to talk about players looking for a second act, those teams were full of them. Such as CB Willie Brown, LB Ted Hendricks, DE John Matuszak, DE Lyle Alzado, TE Todd Christensen, and QB Jim Plunkett. Just to name a few. That trend continued with their 2002 Super Bowl team which had the second act and career rebirth of players such as QB Rich Gannon, RB Charlie Garner, RB Tyrone Wheatley, and RT Lincoln Kennedy.”
Pete Carroll and Al Davis definitely looked for players other NFL teams didn’t want. That’s a very accurate comparison, and it helped both men reach the pinnacle of the NFL. It would be special if Carroll’s methods gave the Raiders their first title since Al Davis was at the height of his powers in January of 1984.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Raiders analyst compares Pete Carroll to Al Davis
Reporting by Matt Zemek / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
