There’s a lot that will be said about Al Davis, the managing general partner of the Oakland Raiders who died today. He was a polarizing figure, no question about it. But the thing that may be given short shrift in all the eulogies soon to be written is this:

He . . . holds the distinction of being the first to draft an African American quarterback, the first to hire a Latino coach, the first to hire an African American head coach and the first from one of the four major professional sports to hire a woman as a chief executive.

“The Raiders have never been interested in a man’s color, only his ability,” Davis said.

It’s hard to believe when you look at the Michael Vicks, the Vince Youngs, the Cam Newtons and the Donovan McNabbs who play quarterback in the NFL today, but it was a pretty damned white league in 1968. That year, while still in the AFL, Davis spent the 25th pick on a guy named Eldridge Dickey who’d played quarterback at Tennessee State. Dickey didn’t play much, but the Raiders already had a great quarterback named Daryle Lamonica. After the merger in 1970 and John Madden’s subsequent retirement to the broadcast booth, Davis hired Tom Flores to be head coach. When Flores left in 1987, Davis tried Mike Shanahan for a season-and-a-half, then replaced Shanahan with Art Shell, the first black head coach in the league.

More importantly than the simple personnel moves was the fact that the team won three Super Bowls in five appearances, one under Madden and two under Flores. It was a very successful franchise on the field for years under Davis’s stewardship.

He was one of the best NFL owners of all time.