Call him optimistic or call him delusional, but Raiders owner Al Davis says the 2010 team reminds him a lot of the 1980 team that won the Super Bowl.
“I really liken this team a great deal to the team of 1980, in which the great Jim Plunkett pulled us out of the doldrums, took us to the Super Bowl as a wild card, and we had so many great players who eventually made their way into the Hall of Fame,” Davis said in an interview with Sirius NFL Radio.
Davis doesn’t give interviews very often, but he’s apparently fired up enough about his new quarterback, Jason Campbell, that he wants to spread the word that this year’s Raiders are for real.
“I see this young Jason Campbell as a football player like I saw Jim Plunkett. He has everything. He was 13-0 in college, at Auburn, he can throw up the field, he can run, he’s big, he’s smart,” Davis said. “I really predict great things for him. I hope he doesn’t let me down. I don’t think he will.”
If Davis just wants this year’s Raiders to be better than last year’s team, maybe Campbell won’t let him down. But if Davis seriously believes he’s got a Super Bowl team on his hands, it’s probably safe to say a rather large letdown is coming.
