Al Davis Passes Away, Becomes Active Twitter Trend

The controversial owner of the Oakland Raiders, Al Davis, has passed away at the age of 82. For most sports fans, whether they are fans of the Raiders or not, have memories of the outspoken Davis, and while he’s become the object of fun-poking over the years, his memory clearly resonates with a very active football-watching public.

The Oakland Raiders website was the first to break the news, and the team has turned their web presence into an Al Davis memorial. Considering the impact Davis had on the league, this is understandable. While he was a polarizing figure and his team hasn’t enjoyed the success it did in the 70s and 80s, Davis has been a constant with Raiders organization, not shying away from the limelight or any of the controversies his name was attached to. Here’s a look at what the Raiders did to honor their fallen owner:

If you’re curious to find out more about why Davis is such a known figure in the world of football, Wikipedia is a good starting point. Also, be sure and check out Tim Kawakami’s posts, as there aren’t many sports journalists who know the pulse of California’s sports landscape as well as Kawakami does, and this includes Al Davis. An example:

Incalculable emotion over losing the man who embodied the spirit of a franchise more than any man in sports.

Al dominated it, even while his health deteriorated. That’s a symbol of incredible strength–and at the end, it resulted in incredible isolation.

In light of his passing, Twitter has responded with not one, but two trends honoring the Raiders owner, “RIP Al Davis” and “Just Win Baby.”

Here are just some of the responses:

All things considered, it’s a little surprising there weren’t more posts in the vein of Kissing Suzy Kolber’s reaction. If you’re an NFL fan, that blog should be on your reading list, provided you can handle a great deal of snark with your football news.

One has to wonder how Davis might react to the social media reaction. It’s doubtful things like Twitter and Facebook were part of his day-to-day life, although, considering the humor from the “Shit My Dad Says” Twitter account, perhaps Davis should’ve been encouraged to use it as well. The sports blogs would’ve had a field day. As it stands, one can imagine the outpouring of memories and emotions concerning Davis’ passing will be out in full force tomorrow, the first NFL Sunday since Davis’ death.

Lead image courtesy.