The Raiders have one of the league's most storied histories, dating back to 1960 and spanning three cities: Oakland, Los Angeles, Oakland again, and now, Las Vegas. Several Hall of Famers and pivotal figures in NFL history have been a part of the organization, but none are as important as Al Davis.
In fact, from the time Davis took over as the owner in 1966 until his death in 2011, no one else served as the team's general manager. But in the 14 seasons since his passing, the franchise has now had seven general managers.
Of course, Reggie McKenzie was the first of those general managers; however, that was not what Davis originally had planned. Former Raiders radio announcer Greg Papa shared that the franchise owner had been preparing him for that role, although it never came to fruition.
Greg Papa reveals Al Davis' plan for him to take over as general manager
Papa spent over 20 years as the Raiders' play-by-play announcer from 1997 to 2017. Prior to Davis' passing, the two were close. Papa had so much respect for Davis that he was fired by the Raiders after criticizing Mark Davis' decision to interview Mike Shanahan, who fell out with the elder Davis.
He even threatened to resign if Shanahan was hired again as the Raiders' head coach. Papa recently appeared on the KNBR Off Air podcast, where he revealed that he was actually being groomed to be the Raiders' general manager.
"[Al Davis] talked about a succession plan. He'd lost Bruce (Allen), he'd lost (Michael) Lombardi. If you didn't know him, it was hard to get his trust, and I'd been around him a lot in both good and bad times," Papa explained. "And he was the general manager, but he was also the owner, and he wanted to groom me to run the football department is what he wanted me to do."
Papa said that he didn't feel he had the background to be a general manager and reached out to Allen, who advised him to look at the background of each general manager in the league. He shared that he was even offered a job within the organization.
"It was moving in that direction. Ultimately, he offered me a job that paid me less money than I made from doing 30 San Francisco Giants games," Papa said. "It never ended. We talked about it all the way till he died. And I remember talking to him the Wednesday before he died, and it just never happened. I think there wasn't a sense of urgency for him because he didn't think he was going to die. And I don't know how it would've worked, but it never ended, and then he just died."
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Papa noted that his dream had died with the legendary Raiders owner. He did add that he spoke with Mark Davis, who said he had talked to his father and would hire him, but couldn't guarantee a role. The former voice of the Raiders shared that John Madden was among those who felt he would thrive as a general manager.
"I remember being at Al's funeral, and John Madden came up to me, and he said, 'Al told me all about what he was grooming you for.' He said, 'I think you could've done it.'"
Davis and Madden are two of the most influential figures in not only Raiders history but also NFL history. The fact that both supported Papa in the role leads one to believe that he likely would've been able to figure things out.
Furthermore, Papa noted that he was working for the Giants at the time that the discussions began. He held that role from 2004 through 2008, which narrows down the timeframe. Ultimately, Davis passed in 2011, so that means that the two likely held extensive talks about a potential role.
Raider Nation can only wonder how things would have turned out if Papa had accepted the role or things went down a different way. As things stand, under the seven general managers since Davis' death, the team has just two postseason appearances, and no playoff victories.