Yes, Al Davis Was Jewish: Jewish American Heritage Month

Former Raiders owner Al Davis was well known for his role in the NFL and for raising a son with a haircut that is extraterrestrial. However, despite being open about his faith, very few people are aware that Davis was a Jewish American. Davis was a bit of a handful, so his more salacious side was often more highlighted than the positives, like his Jewish faith. We will acknowledge the multi-dimensional nature of Al Davis, below.

Al Davis’s Childhood

Allen R. Davis was born in 1929 in Brockton, Massachusetts, to Jewish parents Louis and Rose Davis. The couple’s firstborn son was Jerry. When Allen was five years old, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Mr. Allen owned a female ladies’ undergarment business with a very embarrassing name. Ladies still needed underclothing even during the Great Depression, and Allen showed his business acumen when he identified that.

The family settled on a sixth-floor walk-up on Utica Ave. for all of Al Davis’s life. We already know that the family had leg muscles of steel. Little Al had many friends as a kid, played a lot of basketball, which was often labeled as a “Jewish sport,” and was known for being all talk and no bite. Allegedly he was very smooth with talking. Something some people echoed when Davis was an adult as well.

Growing up, Davis attended what was named Union Temple at that time in Brooklyn. The temple had a gym and a swimming pool, interestingly, and Allen spent many a childhood day utilizing them. That particular house of worship was a Reform Jewish synagogue. Reform Judaism is one of the most liberal interpretations of the Jewish faith, with loose rules like women and men sitting together during worship and allowing female rabbis. Certain practices like eating kosher are optional in this type of Judaism, but people are welcome to follow the faith as they see fit.

Sports Stuff

Davis was a professional benchwarmer in multiple sports throughout high school and college. He warmed seats during basketball, baseball, and football games. Davis is one of the few football coaches who didn’t even play at the high school varsity level. Something about football specifically drew Davis’ attention. He had plenty of time from his vantage point on the bench to study his coaches. Most of Davis’ college career was at Syracuse, and he allegedly stalked the football team he was not a part of. He took notes and watched the coach so closely that he was sent away since he unnerved the head coach.

Benchwarmer Davis was a smooth operator who weaved con and bluff into many things he said. Collegiate athletes thought Davis was an athlete from some other team, and they never questioned it. This talent earned Davis his first coaching gig at Adelphi University in Long Island. Davis both juggled his master’s degree and coaching before he graduated and had to go into the armed forces in 1952. Unlike many of his players, Davis remained a coach in America his entire stint in the Army.

It’s NFL Time

After marrying his wife Carol in a Brooklyn synagogue in 1954, Davis did a little scouting for the NFL before jumping back into coaching in college until 1959. A chance encounter at a coaching camp helped Davis skyrocket to the professional level. At a coaching clinic, Al Davis made an impression on the also Jewish NFL head coach Sid Gillman by writing extensive notes from the first row. It may have creeped out coaches at the college level, but it worked magic on Gillman. That and Davis’s ability to schmooze people and persuade them, which we can add on to bluffing and conning.

The Raiders

After a few years as a wide receiver coach for the Los Angeles Chargers under Sid Gillman, Davis moved on to the Raiders. The confidence of Al Davis is truly stunning. He walked into an interview with the Oakland Raiders and convinced them to sign him for a multiyear contract as both head coach and GM, despite his total lack of head coaching experience and age that would make him the youngest coach in the AFL.

Under his skilled guidance, the Raiders were on the up and up. No more hand-me-down uniforms from a college, no more hotel lobby offices for the administration and management, and plenty of strategizing to use the limited money the team did have to make solid trades and pick up cut players from other franchises. That’s what is called polishing a turd.

Jaded

After just three seasons with the Raiders, the AFL felt that Al Davis had a higher calling. They wanted him to be the league commissioner because of his schmoozing, conning, bluffing, and persuasive ways that could force the NFL to merge correctly. Many AFL members, like Davis, had the attitude that the AFL was mostly fine on its own, and if they did merge, it was because the NFL fulfilled their every desire and then some. In 1966, Davis felt he could make that happen.

However, Davis was not as aware as the majority of AFL leadership that the two leagues were basically already at the merging stage. The AFL would choose less than desirable conditions due to their desperation to get in on NFL resources. Allegedly, Davis felt he was deceived and hired to complete a job the league didn’t actually want. Merging, not fighting, was their actual goal despite what they conveyed to him.

The AFL offered Davis the presidency over the league post-merge, which he did not want. They also said he could continue to be commissioner, but he would be subservient to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Davis already didn’t like Rozelle and no longer liked his job, so he quit and headed back to the Raiders. Rumor has it that this planted a general distrust for the league in Al Davis’s heart that never left.

Al Davis Heads Back To The Raiders

With a bitter taste in his mouth, Al Davis returned to the Raiders. This slight, along with a lifetime of antisemitism, left an epic chip on Davis’ shoulder, which is usually the mark of a genius in this league. He was an owner, later majority owner in 2005, and the general manager of the Raiders from 1966 to 2011, when he died. A lot could be said for his career, but we will discuss the highlights here.

Davis was named AFL Coach of the Year in 1963, won 13 division championships, three Super Bowls, and one AFL Championship, which is basically a Super Bowl, and was in the playoffs 15 times between 1963 and 2011. He was also enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992 for his leadership talents in the front office. Davis was an absolute enigma from his lack of NFL playing experience, extremely fast move up the ladder, and ability to juggle ownership and the general manager role for just under 50 years. They don’t make them like that anymore.

That Aforementioned Antisemitism

Being anything other than the absolutely milk toast Anglo-Saxon in the 1920s was difficult for most minority groups. Jewish discrimination worldwide has always been present but would be particularly pronounced during Davis’ growing-up years. Some people have called into question what Davis perceived as antisemitism throughout the years, and we will not indulge in that here. If he felt it, then that is what it is. How dare anyone else call that into question if they are not in his shoes? That being said, let’s talk about what we do know on this topic.

Incidents

To start with, Davis moved into what was known as the “Pastrami Prefab” dorm, named after the large population of NYC Jewish students at Syracuse that resided there. Pastrami is apparently a Jewish deli meat, and prefab appears to be referencing pre-built structures that are built first and sent out to be put together after. It is unclear what that actually means in this context. Davis also felt that he didn’t make the basketball team due to an antisemitic coach, and he made sure to tell everyone about it. As he should. It is worth pointing out that instances like this could have contributed to his bench-warming status and not a lack of general talent. But we will never know, since he wasn’t given a chance.

Davis was also accused of having Jewish “connections” that helped him rise so quickly in the coaching ranks, particularly in the military. Although he did get a start in the professional coaching world with a boost from the Jewish Sid Gillman, it would be patronizing to suggest it was just based on race or religion. Also if a white non-Jewish man helped another white man in the same way no one would call it out, so they can eat that accusation. As if he wasn’t already accused of colluding with people from the same background, it was also suggested that he was a member of the Jewish Mafia. One of his co-owners of the Raiders also loved him a antisemitic joke at Davis’ expense. It’s not surprising, but it is shameful that people treated Davis in this way.

Jewish In Adulthood

Every child is born with a framework in this world that is typically ingrained in them by parents. This typically includes religion. As an adult, everyone has to make the choice whether they want to continue to live out that faith or not. After leaving his childhood home and Union Temple, how did Al Davis choose to live out his Jewish identity?

Davis was a devoted member of the Beth Jacob Congregation, which is a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Oakland, California. He attended with his wife, Carol, and his son, Mark. This church appears to actually be a bit more traditional than the synagogue he attended as a youth. Apparently his father dying in 1961 brought Al Davis closer to his faith. Davis was notoriously private about his personal life, including his faith. However, we do know he was a man with conviction who was a solid member of his local synagogue.

Al Davis had a knack for doing life mostly right. He was sick with an undisclosed illness in 2011 when he was 82 years old. Davis chose to pass away on Yom Kippur, one of the most significant Jewish holidays. Dying on this day means you die without sin. Talk about optimal circumstances to leave the earth plane in.

The Good

In addition to Davis’ commitment to his faith, which is admirable, he also was a bit of a trendsetter in the NFL. He had a focus on civil rights. It may have been his own experiences of discrimination that made him sensitive to the experiences of others, and sensitive he was. Davis boycotted games in Alabama in 1963 due to their segregation laws. He had a rule that if his players couldn’t eat and sleep at the same locations together, they weren’t going. Either the team had to come to Oakland, or the game wasn’t happening. That was a strong step to take for any coach, but especially a Jewish one during such a turbulent time in American history.

Davis was also the first NFL franchise owner to hire an African American head coach in the modern era (so not including Fritz Pollard in the 1920s), the first to hire a Latino American head coach, and the first to hire a female chief executive as well. Talk about using your own position in power to elevate others who often would go unnoticed or discriminated against. It’s likely things like that, amongst Davis’ other good traits, that had him inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 in addition to the Pro Football one.

Fond Memories

Even after dying, Davis left good impressions. His son created a memorial torch in his father’s honor in 2011 that currently resides in Las Vegas. The torch has been lit by his wife, Carol, and other times by Raiders alumni before every home game. Torches are very significant in Jewish culture (examples here and here), so this feels like a beautiful ode to Davis. Rumor has it that at the game the day after Davis died, he was the 11th man on the field that helped out with what is known as the divine interception.

The Bad And The Ugly

Besides the adjectives we’ve used in the past for Davis, the media and Slate had far different opinions. They chose words like asshole, paranoid, devious, vindictive, and mercenary. There was the whole Gruden thing, the Marcus Allen benching, and the Ken Stabler trade that upset people. Most of these choices backfired for Davis and may have been teachable moments. We all have mistakes; they’re just not usually on such a grand scale in the fishbowl that is the NFL.

Davis is probably one of the most lawsuit-heavy head coaches ever too. He didn’t trust the league and despised Pete Rozelle like a woman scorned, and he was never much for being quiet about his indignation when things weren’t right. It would be impossible to describe all of the antitrust lawsuits and other legal maneuvers that Davis waged against the NFL without a law degree. Check out NFL’s 30 for 30 documentary called “Al Davis vs. the NFL.”

What most people agree on is that it was more of an Al Davis vs. Pete Rozelle thing. The majority of the legal shenanigans went on when Rozelle was still the commissioner. Rozelle was a piece of work, and the league did do Al Davis dirty, so some of us can find it amusing this many years removed. Rozelle retired, mentioning Davis’ litigation as being one of the causes. It felt like a passive-aggressive jab for a man who should have hung up the cleats around that time anyway. When it comes to this feud, it does seem like Davis might have had the last laugh.

In Conclusion

Al Davis is a multi-dimensional man. He may have been a bit challenging personality wise, but in the wider scheme of things we see in 2025 his list of “bad” things is pretty darn good in comparison to some other rich, powerful men. We’ve all had a Davis vs. Rozelle feud in our lives it just typically doesn’t last that many decades. Davis was a solid family man who was devoted to his players, his team, his faith, and of course Mark and Carol.

Davis is an example to all young boys and girls, in particular Jewish ones, who can see that with grit and determination along with a few other adjectives, they too can reach for the stars and live out their dream against any odds. Make sure to catch the other two Jewish American Heritage Month articles on inspiring men at The Forkball here and here!