SO, Greg Papa went on the radio and told a rather cool tale or two about his Raiders' firing and if you truly believe only one incident led to his demise I have a bridge in the Mojave I'd love to sell you.Papa, as I have detailed here, had a unique relationship with the late Al Davis: an unofficial "Raider for Life" which he (and I, to a degree) thought was eternal employment with the Raiders, Oakland, Vegas, Emeryville, Denmark, wherever. Only problem was there was nothing on paper. That itself wasn't the only issue; their were many issues Papa had with Al's imbecile son, Mark Davis; too numerous to mention but when Al died, the issues became tremendous and quite lengthy and loaded. Papa didn't detail those and only made light of his disgust of Mark Davis for having the gall to interview Mike Shanahan for a coaching job. There was a lot more. Too bad Pop didn't address that avenue instead taking the time to rip "bloggers" (me) to cover his track.
HERE's THE NON-BS: Papa and Davis (Mark) were fire and ice; they never had a relationship. It was rock bottom from the start. Mark was distrustful of Papa the moment his father died and resented his (Papa's) growing influence in the Raiders' organization --Mark even hired a security guard in plain clothes to monitor Papa's activity when he visited the Alameda facility. Did Papa say anything about that on the radio? No, and many other things to boot.
Papa was on Davis' hit list a few years after Al's death but he was afraid of firing a popular broadcaster who had 20-plus years on the job and was held in high esteem with the team's enormous fan base here in Oakland and beyond. Once the Vegas deal was finalized, Davis was adamant that it was time to lower the boom on Greg Papa. The Shanahan deal was only a sliver of why he was let go; granted a big part but only a sliver.
Davis, as much as a schmuck he is, still was the owner; the managing partner he inherited from his father. Davis got the Vegas deal done much with the help of Cowboys' owner, Jerry Jones, one of Al's close allies and his significant cachet with the NFL and its owners. Had Jerry Jones not pushed other owners, the Raiders would probably still be in Oakland negotiating some kind of deal to remain but that's another story.
Quite simply Davis had enough of Papa and put the gavel down and said enough is enough. Papa was a Raider lifer but nothing was officially on paper and there never any real indication that Papa was going to Vegas anyway but at the end there was never a choice.
Papa can belittle "bloggers" and put out only part of the story if it suits his ego to manage the memo only he didn't say nor would tell the whole enchilada. In the end I wish cooler heads prevails and Papa would still be in the broadcast booth but ownership and the wire trumps fan and loyal employee interest.
The Vegas Raiders deserve 102 year-old Brent Musburger and Oakland will finally cleanse itself of the worst owner in professional sports.
There's your real story devoid of purist BS.
From a "blogger."
So the only thing Papa left out was the alleged hiring of a security guard. I thought Papa's evaluation as to why the relationship ended was pretty honest. More forthcoming than I expected.
ReplyDeleteEver since Mark took over and brought Reggie in the Raiders have been a clown show. Al is rolling in his grave. Al had flaws bur Mark is the biggest loser that runs a professional sports team.
ReplyDeleteOn 10/8/2011, the Raiders lost a legend in Al. Ever since then the Raiders have been DEAD. AL was the Raiders and these new so called "Raiders" are frauds along with that imbecile Mark Davis.
They won their last Super Bowl in 1984. They started becoming frauds when Reagan was still President.
DeleteMark Davis is far from the worst owner in sports. Probably not even the worst owner in the Bay Area. Granted, that's not saying a whole lot about Davis. Really not sure about his "back to the future" thing with the Raiders.
ReplyDeleteMark Davis may be Orange Moe Howard, but the Raiders still have Jon Gruden and their 3 titles can never be taken away. He is too imbecilic for the East Bay, but Mike Brown has never done anything as owner of the Bengals for almost 30 years, while the Bidwells have owned the Cardinals for almost 100 years in Chicago, St Louis, and the Desert with 1 disputed title and another title that would have been manhandled by another league's champion 2 years after WW OK. Believe it or not, the Raiders might actually win these upcoming last two years; can't say that about the Bungals and Birdies. Still, I look forward to move on from the Traitors when the time comes, and the airwaves will be a bigger gamble, pun intended.
ReplyDeleteMark Davis didn't like Papa publicly intimating he was being disrespectful to his Father's legacy. So he fired him. I don't find fault with that.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, Papa is overrated as a play by play guy; because he's a know it all, he cannot differentiate between the roles of play by play and analyst. I'd prefer listening to the ex-athlete's take than somebody who has never done it.
Sounds like Papa didn't show respect to Mark Davis as new owner. That's a career limiting move. Papa thought he was invincible because he had a relationship with the deceased Al Davis? Hah!
ReplyDeleteDid Jon Lund not get along with Papa? I always assumed he left for KNBR for more dough and he and Papa were tight...at least they made it seem that way on the air always talking about hitting the bars and getting drunk.
ReplyDeleteI can see hiring a new announcer after 20 years, perhaps someone more in tune with Vegas. I would have thought they would give a couple of young announcers a chance...maybe they will in a few years.
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