Since the Raiders hired Jon Gruden, Mark Davis slipped from public view. Normally, team owners maintain a sense of a public identity. Granted, not everyone can be Jerry Jones, hogging camera time. Yet, Davis seems to relish the shadows. FPC Raiders writers Aspuria and Richards sit and discuss the lack of Mark Davis on the big stage.
Ray Aspuria
I prefer Davis’ behind the scenes style. He has avoided the spotlight and let his staff do the work, unimpeded. There only one thing I would like to see Davis fingerprints on Khalil Mack. He has complete trust in GM Reggie McKenzie and the football operations crew, yet it would be intriguing to see Davis step in and say, “get it done”.
Grant Richards
I would love to see Davis use his platform to address certain issues throughout the team. Over all, I want Davis to address paying Khalil Mack. Mack is the best, most dangerous threat the Raiders have and he is certainly worth whatever money he is asking for and then some. This should not even be a question. The team appears to take advantage of the fact that Mack desires to play here. Before another player is signed, Mack should be paid. Another aspect circling the team and the league is the player protests.
Ideally, I would like Davis to back the players. From a business standpoint, this is unwise as he will lose fans, but that should truly be a nonfactor in this situation. Players coming together to raise awareness for any cause should be backed by the owner. I am not asking for anything drastic here but he should confirm his support of the players, this is currently a divided league and any support of the players that management can bring would be incredibly helpful to the situation. A final, minor aspect that I would like to see him change would be losing home games due to overseas games.
Due to the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas, the Raiders have a limited number of home games remaining. I would love to see Davis work something out where the Raiders can play overseas games but should not lose a game in Oakland off the schedule.
