Could the NFL intervene in the Oakland Raiders' coaching debacle

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January 27, 2008

Could the NFL intervene in the Oakland Raiders' coaching debacle

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If the recent reports are true, and that is a big if, the Oakland Raiders organization is a complete mess. Could Commissioner Roger Goodell intervene in the alleged dispute between Al Davis and Lane Kiffin? A bigger question would be whether Roger Goodell and the NFL could actually intervene and force Al Davis from control of the Oakland Raiders? The idea of the other owners forcing Al out is not as far fetched as it would seem at first glance. Al Davis is the owner and President of the General Partner of the Oakland Raiders franchise of the NFL. The key word in there is franchise, which means that he owns the rights to the Raiders team and trademarks he also has to answer to the NFL as a higher authority.

No one can doubt that when it comes to the Oakland Raiders franchise, Al Davis wields near absolute power. He has shown that by making some strange moves in recent years. He has fought the NFL to get greater autonomy for his team, which has led to his being able to move the Raiders twice in the last 26 years. Despite all that, Al Davis is still bound by league rules whether he wants to be or not. Davis cannot just sign the prospects he wants out of college as he did back in his early days when the Raiders were an AFL franchise. Davis has to go through the NFL's common entry draft. Al Davis cannot just sign a player away from another team no matter how much he wants to. He has to comply with the anti-tampering rules as well as the rules of free agency. Al Davis cannot just open the bank vault for a player he wants, he has to comply with the Salary Cap rules. So, for all of Al Davis's apparent megalomania he has to comply with the rules of the parent company, in this case the NFL, if he wants to retain his franchise.

Essentially, owning an NFL team is like owning a McDonald's restaurant. The owner can choose to run his Mickey D's pretty much any way he wants to, as long as it complies with the basic rules of the McDonald's corporate office. For example, the owner of the local Mc Donald's can't just one day decide to cut costs by eliminating the middle bun on a Big Mac and hope to retain his McDonald's franchise. The McDonald's corporate office has to maintain a certain standard to enhance and maintain the image of the McD's brand. (OK, now I am craving a late night hamburger.)

Owning an NFL franchise is much more exclusive and glamorous than owning the local McDonald's, but idea is still similar. A perfect example was the NFL stepping in last offseason when Jerry Porter wanted to change his number. The NFL put conditions on it to protect the contracts that the parent company were entered into with Reebok. Al Davis and the Raiders organization signed off on the change, but the corporate office said not unless you pay Reebok 210k for unsold jerseys.

Why would the commissioner's office or the other owners intervene in a dispute between an owner and a head coach?

The answer is simple. The NFL makes more money when all its teams are competitive. The Raiders have not been competitive for the last five years, and it could seem to the commissioner's office that the move to oust Kiffin, especially this late in the offseason would damage the Raiders even further, thus damaging the NFL property as a whole. If the commissioner's office is to intervene, it would likely come as an offer to moderate the differences. The downside of it is that if Kiffin was kept around by a fiat of the commissioner, there would be virtually no way for Al and Lane to be able to work together. If this were to come to pass, likely Lane would run things his way with a constant middle finger extended towards the old man, because there would be nothing Al could do.

This is a possible scenario, but highly unlikely.

Has a commissioner intervened in the running of a team in the past?

Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any such actions in the NFL. Although, the commissioner's office has ruled in disputes between players and teams. An example of that was when Terrell Owens was trying to get out of San Francisco, his agent missed the free agent filing period, so the Niners traded him to Baltimore. The NFL voided that deal and granted TO free agency and he wound up with the Eagles.

In baseball, however, this has happened in the home of the Raiders. Former Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley cut a player in the middle of the World Series after he made two errors that cost the A's a game to the Mets. MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn forced Finley to reinstate that player by the next game. Kuhn again overruled Finely a couple of years later when Finely had dealt several high profile stars for next to nothing. (Can you imagine Bud Selig having that chutzpah? Me neither.)

What is the most drastic action the NFL could take?

Theoretically, he could be forced out as owner. This would be a radical move for the NFL to take, as it is unprecedented in the modern NFL. In the early days, the league did have to take over some struggling franchises, and at that time most of them folded. But that was long before the NFL was the money factory that it is now. During World War II the NFL temporarily merged franchises due to a player shortage, as most able bodied young men were overseas fighting the war.

In order for this to go through, the NFL would have to prove gross misconduct or ineptitude. The former would be much more likely to get it done than the latter. (the Bidwells have owned the Cards for how long, with how many winning seasons?) If the NFL could show that Davis has lost his faculties or is intentionally destroying his team, then they could step in. In this case, the former is the more likely of the two. Al is headstrong, but values winning above all else.

Is it likely for the league to take any action?

No. As Earthshattering as this seems to the Raider Nation, this in my opinion doesn't rise to the level where the NFL would have to step in. IF this is true, and the Raider front office has denied that there is any meat to this story, it would be an odd move and one that is disheartening to the Raider Nation, but it would fall within the purview of the owner. Yes, Kiffin seemed to bring serious improvements to the Raiders, but he still had a record of 4-12. Hell, AJ Smith of the Chargers fired Marty Schottenheimer for Norv Turner despite Marty having a 14-2 record.

This is a dark time for the Raider Nation, there can be no debate about that. And with all that we have gone through with Al Davis as the owner, the moves, the odd decisions, etc its easy to think that he has lost it and needs to be ousted. Some in the NFL may even agree with that assessment, but despite the 19-61 record and the Raiders POTENTIALLY looking for a new coach for a third straight year, it doesn't rise to the level for the NFL to be able to oust him.

What would be the fallout if the league were to take action?

The first thing is that if the league were to force Davis to keep Kiffin, there would be no way they could have any kind of a coherent positive working relationship. Even with the flare up of the rumors if Al and Lane work it out between themselves, they can forge a good working relationship. If a reconciliation attempt is forced upon them, no way it will happen. That would end up raising the insanity level to even further heights.

The most obvious response from Al Davis would be a return to the courtroom with a truck load of fresh lawsuits before Goodell could get off the plane back to New York. Davis has fought the NFL before to get some autonomy. He would fight like one of Mike Vick's prize pit bulls with an extra dose of mean to maintain his power. This would rapidly devolve into one of the ugliest battles in the history of sports.

If the NFL were to intervene in this one case, the law of unintended consequences would take over and the ripple effects would be felt throughout the NFL. Owners would be looking over their shoulder after a losing season or two wondering if they would be next.

Frankly, I would be shocked if the NFL were to intervene in this dispute, if there truly is one, in any way shape or form. Don't for a moment think that the other owners are enjoying it as it is hurting the value of their property as it is bringing shame on the Raiders. The games that get the highest ratings are the games that are the most competitive. (Remember how the NFL had to relent and allow a simulcast of the New England-New York Giants game? Would that happen if the Pats opponent has been the 'Fins or the Raiders? no.)

Tags: NFL, Oakland Raiders, Raiders

Discussion

14 Comments on "Could the NFL intervene in the Oakland Raiders' coaching debacle"

Posted by 16 to 88, January 27, 2008 6:14 AM

Could the league intervene?

Yes.

Would they intervene?

With the NFL you never know. So much of what they do makes no sense to me. As an example, the biggest black eye the league has is it��s own officiating.

Yet, they still have the same moron in charge and they have yet to still fix it.

Posted by krazyr8rfan, January 27, 2008 6:15 AM

Look Lane will resign. Ryan will become HC and Saunders the OC if they can agree on it come Wednesday. Lofton will come in as OC if Saunders turns Al down, There you have it and it will happen by Wednesday.

Posted by mikeinny, January 27, 2008 6:28 AM

hey pat, how bout this ! a timleine! jan07 - sarkasian seems to be the guy davis wants, the 3rd day of meetings to "iron out contract" steve brings lane with him,as a potential off cord! 2 days later lane is there alone to intview for 'headcoach" job????? & steve is out & cant understand what happened! "hey steve your buddy lane sold you out,&backstabbed you"! now what could lane offer to al that steve doesnt??steve had lineage,history,experience,in nfl&college w/ sucess,lane dont! both are young! steve is loyal x-raider coach, lane is " unknown entity" so there is only one thing that lane could use to get him in the door! & hired!!! TAMPA BAY BUCS CONNECTION! thats'rite the that Bruce allen SOLD out the raiders to during the supe bowl! lane told AL DAVIS, hey i can get you MONTE KIFFIN here in a year! this is what sold al davis on the idea of bumping sarkasian,and bringing in a " unqualified,unknown, w/ no edge ! to be his coach! lane guaranteed monte to oakland , while monte was still under contract w/ bucs! lane then is able to bring in any one he wants to coach! except def cord??, cause the deal was monte in a year! this is why lane didnt fire robryan then!! if lane knew ryan was this big of a idiot in jan 07, then why couldnt he simply tell al "i want him outta here",now !

who will take a def cord job for 1 year win or lose?? no one ! so al & lane agree to keep the "punk ass bully" for the year , predicated on monte is coming a year from now,the only problem is lane knows monte aint comin!, so all year lane feels pressured , he is living a lie with al ! so that also explains why lanes'agent gets 3 coleges calling to intview him he wants those jobs bad!! because lane knew at end of year

he wasnt gonna be able to deliver on monte!!!and that would probably get him in hot water with raiders,r maybe even fired!/ or in trouble legally!!!so what does a guilty guy do , cover his ass!!! in this case lane probably is the one leaking to all the "anti aldavis" dopes(chris mortenson) this b.s.how al wants him out,because he wanted to bring in his own guy!and al wont let him now!!! this seems like all a lie!! dont you thnk its weird that lane would tell ryan b4 charger game, oh btw youre fired, but we need you to be yourself during the game!??? no no no ! ryan wouldve slipped by now! if that is the case , then the onlything for ryan to do is 1 thing " go to al & suckup" , al then says " hey rob this is news to me" al then goes to lane & says " what are you doing, we cant hire your dad till after the playoffs,why would you feel the need to fire ryan now"??! lane then lied thru his teeth, saying" well i figured monte wanted it that way" al then puts 2 & 2 together & calls lane on this whole monte thing , petrino then calls al to tell him that lane was lobbying for this job @ arkansa bad""and it wasnt a rumor like lane said!! etc! al then figures out that this little shit lane lied to him!! about monte just to get himself hired!!! @ 2mill a year !! lane was on books for 400k year @ usc!!! in case anyone was wondering why lane will lie! who doesnt lie to get hired or a promotion!!! we all do it! and hope for the best! so in summation , the real bad guy here truly is & should be "robryan" & no one else! but lane \kiffin is such a "lowrent" liar,fraud" ME-ME-ME-type,THAT HE IS NOW MADE ROBRYAN THE GOOD GUY! but funny, how the press has the whole story nailed down & framed " AL DAVIS IS BAD",

AL DAVIS WONT LET LANE COACH HIS WAY"( even tho he has all year) ! if any one is leaking this to press it is LANE KIFFIN!!( he probably calls himself deepthroat, hey he is 32,single,lives alone,never seen in public,and his own "hillbilly" dad wont work for him!that speaks volumes to me, about lanes' character or lack of it! his own dad wont help him out!!!) hey the crux of this issue is one simple point!!!WHY IS AL DAVIS WILLING TO FIRE LANE KIFFIN OVER ONE SIMPLE THING,LANE TOLD RYAN YOURE OUT! & AL SAID NO HES' NOT!

I DONT THINK SO! I NEED TO HERE AL DAVIS SAY IN PUBLIC " I WILL FIRE LANE, B4 I PART WTH ROBRYAN, this is how highly i regard robryan"

if al put this letter in lanes mail box, it is because al caught lane lying about multiple things, #1 monte

#2 arkansas #3 dante @qb! (lane undermined dantes' stature b4 week 1 vs detroit! )

just know 1 thing you anti al davis people,if lane was left alone to his own device! the qb depth chart wouldve been #1-josh,#2 walter# 3 jamrc! lane wouldve started " jmrc " in game 3 or 4 & jamrc wouldve finshed year on the INJURED RESERVE LIST! so thank god al brought in DANTE!!

Posted by Rick, January 27, 2008 8:04 AM

ALL a Buch of POPPYCOCK....oh Yea...Jesica Simpson is rumored to be pregnant by an alien from the planet Preposterous in the reediculas system. True trust me!

Posted by JFF, January 27, 2008 8:26 AM

Good Take, Pat.

Posted by raisin', January 27, 2008 8:39 AM

Hey Pat: like your articles. What we see now is CYA lawyer talk from both sides. No one is denying the alleged events. Amy T says "nothing has changed in Lanes' contract" for legal CYA reasons. Lane is saying, "I want to coach" for strategic reasons. (buy out) This has become a game of lawyers poker. This is the old man against youth. This is grandpa vs grandson, This is the new against the old. I've been a Raider fan since the 60's. That makes me "old" but I know when to say when. It's time for the the "new". My vote is for Lane. Davis; "learn how to grow old gracefully". Shut Up!

Posted by I live in reality -- won't you join me?, January 27, 2008 8:58 AM

The idea that the NFL might intervene is absurd and also would get shot down in court. That anyone would even regard it as a real possibility is an even bigger joke than the way Al Davis has run his franchise into the ground. You're proposing the league take over his team because the guy hires and fires coaches like there's no tomorrow and hasn't been any good for five years? Ok, fine. While we're at it, then, I guess we better take over the Lions, too, because they draft too many wide receivers have never even played in a Super Bowl. And let's take over the Niners because that whole 'he said/he said' thing between Alex Smith and Mike Nolan is an embarrassment and they haven't been much better thant the Raiders for the last five years. And let's not forget the Cardinals, because they've been a joke since the Eisenhower administration. Say, this is fun. Who else can we take over?

Idiots

Posted by The Mad Stork, January 27, 2008 9:20 AM

Nice work as always, Pat.

If Kiffen is out, how will Al ever find another decent coach to take this job? Nobody wanted this job before Lane, and what does it say when he gets canned after immediately improving the team?

Kiffen was the first coach since Gruden that the Raider Nation could really get excited about. If Al runs him out of town after one season it will be completely maddening--maybe unforgivable.

Posted by krazyr8rfan, January 27, 2008 10:17 AM

Here is the complete story Kiffin v Al Davis.

When the Arkansas job opened Kiffin wanted to interview for the job behind Al Davis back. Word got to Al Davis about this through his close friend Jerry Jones. Once Davis learned what Kiffin was up to he tried to broker a deal to get Kiffin the Arkansas job and out of Oakland. Kiffin fired Ryan before talking it over with Davis which was overruled by Davis. Kiifn told Davis if he couldn��t fire Ryan maybe Al should fire him while Davis told Kiffin to resign. There was dissention in the locker room so now Davis wants Kiffin gone. Davis talked to his players who they liked more Lane or Ryan. The majority chose Ryan. Now all of this is now getting out to the media through Kiffins agent. Davis is pissed and Kiffin will most likely be fired Wednesday replaced by Ryan. Lofton is coming in to interview for the WR OC job. To add to this list Al Saunders will also interview for the OC job. Davis is also trying to bring Williams in for DC. Also everyone should know Kiffin has lost the loyalty of many players. Many of the other assistant coaches will remain including Cable.

#10

Posted by GG, January 27, 2008 4:52 PM

krazyr8fan aint crazy.

the arkansas chronology is how i understood it too.

lane expresses interest only to be caught out by jones who tells davis who then tries to arrange it but they prefer petrino obviously because kiffin is off in the fairies.

and the rest the last post is what seems to be going down.

#11

Posted by Raider Card Addict, January 27, 2008 7:35 PM

Actually, for sports to intervene in other teams' efforts, you simply have to look to the NBA. How many people remember when the Timberwolves threatened to leave minnesota, for new Orleans? The NBA hierarchy quickly killed the idea, as they put an expansion club there, only to have their choice turn it's back.

Of course, that old style of thinking died out, as the Grizzlies abandoned the Pacific Northwest, and the Hornets got out of Charlotte quickly.

If anything, I know the league would love to do something to Al Davis, from dropping him off, and sticking his son in control, or another radical option, is put together a small collective of Raider Admins, to run the club until a singular person could be selected.....would be something to see a Raider great finally become the head honcho....it's time for some solid help in this club....and a long time coming.

#12

Posted by Anthony, January 27, 2008 10:27 PM

The Arkansas storyline is what seems to me to make the most sense, too, but there's something about this that makes me even warier.

Lofton and Saunders aren't going to be interviewing for position-coach jobs or coordinator gigs -- they're going to interview for the HC position. Little noticed in all of this was a leak that "Ryan wants out, too." Would he overcome that to get an HC gig, or is he working in his own way behind the scenes to get out of Dodge himself?

Now that Gregg Williams has been fired, it seems a bit more likely that both Kiffin and Ryan hit the bricks. Sadly, it's a good move for both of them, and either way, they're going to come out smelling good to most.

#13

Posted by Raider Blues, January 27, 2008 11:46 PM

Meanwhile... I'm speaking with others about the playoffs and make wisecracks about how we're (Raider Nation) just waiting for the draft and hope we don't get first pick because we can't afford another after last year. Waiting for the draft isn't true, we're dealing with a young coach looking out for himself and an owner who can't control his franchise. I too would like to see a Raider Great step forward but we saw an example a couple years ago. Now What??? Ryan is no HC! I like Al as an Owner and Lane as the HC - why can't we just leave it like it is and focus on #3/4 in the draft. We are in position to make this proud franchise competitive again so let's get to it!

#14

Posted by Raidah55, September 30, 2008 7:37 AM

Actually, there is precedent for the League to step in...Pete Rozelle stepped in to resolve a conflict between Wellington Marra and his nephew Tim Marra back in the 70's, when the Giants were inept, and the League was concerned over it's major NY franchise in disarray. Rozelle asked Wellington and Tim to each submit a list of 5 names they would trust to run their organization...The name that appeared on both lists would be the team's new GM...Not one name appeared on both lists. Rozzelle then laid down an edict that George Young would be hired, and would be answerable only to Rozzelle....And things worked out pretty well then....