BROCKTON, Mass. – Al Davis may have only lived in this sports-crazed Plymouth County city for the first five years of his life, but the late Raiders owner's influence is still felt here.
And, after Saturday's commemoration in the shadow of Brockton City Hall, it will forever.
Just like those of boxing champs Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, as well the recognized inventor of the catcher's mitt and former Brooklyn Bridegrooms manager Bill McGunnigle.
A commemorative plaque honoring Davis as a native son was unveiled here Saturday before a raucous crowd of about 300 fans, including the Brockton Raiders youth football team.
The timing of the unveiling was appropriate, what with the Raiders opening the season Sunday at New England, affording Raiders Owner Mark Davis, President Sandra Douglass Morgan and two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Jim Plunkett, whose NFL career began with the Patriots, the opportunity to attend.
"Pro Football Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion whose life began at 363 Spring Street in Brockton," the plaque reads, and, sure enough, the younger Davis, along with several fans, made a post-event pilgrimage to Davis' childhood home.
"The only person in NFL history to serve as assistant coach, head coach, general manager, commissioner, and most prominently as a team owner. A pioneer for diversity, Davis was the first person in NFL history to hire a Black head coach, a Latino head coach, a female CEO, and pick a Black quarterback in the 1st round."
The plaque also touts the Raiders' on-field successes under Davis – 12 division titles, 12 AFC title game appearances and only seven losing seasons in his first 40 years with the team – while Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan read a "citation" from the city to extend congratulations to the Davis family.
"Once a Brocktonian, always a Brocktonian," Sullivan said, and if that sounds familiar to Raiders fans, well…
"Brockton is known as the City of Champions."
Mark Davis told of his family's history with the city. His paternal grandparents Louis and Rose moved in the early 1900s to Brockton, where they had two sons, Jerry and Al, who was born on July 4, 1929.
"So the genes and the DNA of the Davis family reside right here in Brockton, and even further than that, it also resides in the Raider Nation," Mark Davis said. "I'm just so proud of Brockton in recognizing my father. It just means the world to me.
"I want to thank everybody here in Brockton for recognizing him, [not only for] the sports things, but the things he did off the field. I think that's the most important thing and the biggest lesson that he brings. And I think a lot of that came from here in Brockton, Massachusetts."
Where it now resides permanently.
