Jun 29th 2008 11:22AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Raiders, AFC West, NFL RumorsIt’s official: Al Davis is senile. According to Yahoo.com’s Jason Cole, the Raiders owner is apparently questioning his ability to make personnel decisions (thanks, Javon!). He might even consider relinquishing his de facto general manager’s role … okay, he’s not senile. Oakland public relations director Mike Taylor reacted strongly to the notion that Davis would lack confidence in his decisions and declined to ask Davis for a reaction.

“You obviously don’t know Al Davis. Self-doubt is not part of the equation with Al Davis,” Taylor said. “I’m not going to justify this tripe, this drivel by even asking (Davis) for his response. It’s ludicrous, it’s insane, it’s rumor-mongering and it’s irresponsible journalism. I kind of agree with Taylor; if Davis was going to doubt himself it would’ve been before this offseason. I mean, DeAngelo Hall, Darren McFadden, and to a lesser extent, Gibril Wilson, are all solid acquisitions that should, in theory, make the Raiders a little more competitive than they’ve been since they last made a Super Bowl run in 2002.

I was never particularly jazzed about the Javon Walker deal, but I can’t imagine that would be enough to send Davis over the cliff.

This isn’t to say Davis isn’t thinking about turning over some of his day-to-day responsibilities — he’s 78, after all — but that, if history is any guide, it’ll take more than a few crappy offseason signings to make him reconsider his place in the universe.