Al Davis To Be Wheeled Into Court Yet Again

And so it begins ... Lane Kiffin vs. Al Davis in court, as you always knew it would end up. Bright and early this morning, Kiffin filed a grievance with the league alleging that the Raiders owe him the $2.6 million balance on his contract after he was fired in Sept., to which I respond, what took you so long? This one's going to be fun, because Davis lives for such legal drama, and Kiffin seems to have a good case. At any rate, the Raiders team itself surely won't be distracted by any of this! We all remember Davis' press conference last month, in which he alleged that Kiffin was an incompetent jerk, didn't know football, and was also possibly responsible for the Mortgage crisis. It was Davis' little way of saying "You ain't getting the rest of your money." Raiders executive John Herrera — yeah, that guy — issued a statement from Davis today, saying: "Mr. Kiffin was terminated for cause. The grievance is without merit." From The Football Wire:

He goes on to add that it "completely ignores the fact that Mr. Kiffin repeatedly made reckless statements that attacked players, assistant coaches and the owner of the team and were damaging to the Raiders organization." Davis and Co. are hiding under the premise that Kiffin's actions demonstrated an act to "embarrass, discredit and disgrace" the Raiders organization. The matter will ultimately be up to Roger Goodell to decide.

Hmm, I should probably live blog this thing. Former Oakland Raider Coach Lane Kiffin Files Grievance, Al Davis Strikes Back [San Francisco Examiner]