He joked that his fandom for the Silver and Black intensified in his college years because of his teammate Earl Watson, who also played 13 seasons in the NBA. Watson, a Kansas City, Kansas native, is a passionate Chiefs fan who would always give Davis grief about the Raiders. This included Watson accusing Davis of being a fair weather fan after wearing a John Elway jersey around campus.
“I told him I was just wearing Denver because I like Elway,” Davis recounted. “After [Elway] won the Super Bowl [in 1998] I said, ‘I’m never wearing another jersey again. I’m only wearing Raiders.’ And he was like, ‘You’ve got to pick a lane’ and I said, ‘Raiders for sure.'”
“It’s Al Davis, it’s Charles Woodson, it’s Ronnie Lott, Marcus Allen,” he added on his favorite Raiders players he’s watched. “I became tight with Marcus Allen, he became a mentor. Ronnie Lott became a mentor.”
As Davis made his way to the outdoor practice fields, Maxx Crosby – who just so happens to be Davis’ sons’ favorite Raider – made a special appearance. Davis, his children and Crosby tossed around a football with each other and talked for a few minutes on the field about basketball.
His tour ended quite fittingly, heading back inside to the indoor practice field where a basketball hoop sits off to the side for players and coaches to shoot around on.
Players in passing watched in awe as one of their childhood sports heroes knocked down multiple 30-foot jumpers with ease. Several of them approached Davis for pictures, with the All-Star obliging with great humility.
“Let’s just put it like this,” he said, “there’s not a Raider that I don’t love.”
