Al Davis Becomes AFL Commissioner

On April 8, 1966, a significant shift occurred in the landscape of professional football when Al Davis, then only 36 years old, was elected Commissioner of the American Football League (AFL) following a unanimous vote by the league's owners. Davis, who held the dual roles of head coach and general manager for the Oakland Raiders, accepted the commissioner position with reluctance. His primary passion lay in coaching, and he recognized that assuming this leadership role would likely mark the end of his career on the sidelines.

However, the AFL owners, deeply engaged in a fierce rivalry with the established National Football League (NFL), persuasively urged Davis to take on the commissioner's mantle. Ralph Wilson, the AFL President and owner of the Buffalo Bills, lauded Davis as both "a coaching genius and astute administrator," highlighting the unique combination of skills he brought to the table. The owners believed Davis's strategic acumen and competitive spirit were crucial in their ongoing battle for supremacy with the NFL.

Remarkably, just eight weeks after Davis's appointment, the protracted six-year war between the AFL and NFL reached its conclusion with a historic merger agreement. Davis was widely credited across the nation as the driving force behind this monumental unification, his brief but impactful tenure as commissioner proving instrumental in forging the path towards a single, unified professional football league. His influence didn't end there. In 1969, Davis played a pivotal role in the dramatic realignment of professional football, which saw the formation of two 13-team conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC), set to commence play in 1970.

Prior to his brief stint as commissioner, Davis had already made a substantial impact on the Raiders organization. Arriving in Oakland in January 1963 at the age of 33, he was the youngest individual in professional football to simultaneously hold the demanding positions of head coach and general manager, tasked with revitalizing a struggling franchise. Despite his youth, Davis brought with him 14 years of coaching experience, earning accolades such as "young coaching genius" from Sports Illustrated and being hailed by Scholastic Coach Magazine as possessing "the most inventive mind in the country." His election as AFL Commissioner and subsequent role in the merger underscore his profound influence on the trajectory of professional football.