During his tenure as Raiders owner Davis was a trail blazer who personified diversity and civil rights within the NFL. In 1963, Davis refused to have his team play a game in Alabama because of segregation laws and demanded the game be moved to Oakland.  In 1965, the AFL had slated an All-Star game to be played in New Orleans until Davis protested due to racial barriers still in effect in the city. The game was ultimately played in Houston.

Davis was also groundbreaking in his hiring practices, selecting Art Shell as the first Afican-American head coach in league history and also hiring Tom Flores as the second latino head coach. Flores and quarterback Jim Plunket, who is of mexican-american heritage, combined to win two Super Bowls for Davis.

Accepting the Award on the late owners’ behalf will be son, and current Raiders’ owner, Mark Davis

Al Davis to Posthumously Receive Younger Award is a post from: Touchdown LA

Madison RB Pierre Cormier has an offer from both the Bruins and Oregon State.

Scholarships were offered to:

• Central (CA) DB Johnny Johnson
• Mountain Pointe (AZ) OL Kenny Lacy
• Long Beach Jordan (CA) WR John Ross
• Madison (CA) RB Pierre Cormier
• Mead (WA) TE Danny Mattingly
• Casa Grande (CA) Elijah Qualls

Johnson has received a handful of offers already and is seen as a scrappy-type of back, who is projecting to be one of the highest-rated players in his position in the West.

Lacy is a huge lineman that is going to be one of the West’s most highly sought after players. He has visited with USC and Arizona State already, and plans to trip to Oregon State and Nebraska. He is not expected to make a decision until January.

Ross names the Bruins as his current leader. He is said by many to be one of the nation’s top kick returners, last season he took six kickoffs back for touchdowns. Ross can also play cornerback, but projects as a receiver in college. Trailing the Bruins are Washington, San Diego State, and Cincinnati for his services.

Cormier has two offers on his plate: UCLA and Oregon State. Many scouts are intrigued by the lack of interest in Cormier, who is viewed as one of the state’s top runningbacks. He plans to trip to Westwood for Junior Day this weekend.

Mattingly is one of the hottest prospects in the Northwest. Within this past week, he has picked up five offers. When asked what stood out about UCLA, Mattingly said: “I’ve heard the school is awesome. Their 2012 class was also like the 9th rated class. I think they’ll make a big turnaround under the new coaching staff.”

Qualls is a monster athlete, coming in at 6’2″ 260 lbs. He plays as both a fullback and a defensive lineman. He has plenty of room to grow and definitely sounds like an interesting prospect heading into the upcoming season.

Expect more offers to be handed out as Junior Day approaches.

Bruins Offer Several 2013 Prospects is a post from: Touchdown LA

For those of us who have not fallen under the spell of Lin-mania, Jeremy Lin is a basketball player for the New York Knicks who bounced around the league before landing in NY. He went from the end of their bench and almost being cut to a solid starting spot following some insane starting performances.

For a more football relevant analogy, Lin’s story is very akin to that of Arian Foster, running back for the Houston Texans. Foster went from an undrafted free agent to the Texans practice squad. Injuries led to his opportunity to shine (just like Lin) and he took hold of that moment. Last season he was a 1200 yard rusher despite being injured for the first couple games.

Let’s bring the zero to hero argument now to the Trojan’s current roster. Who is most likely to go from being buried in the depth chart to a superstar on the field?

Personally, I think the person most likely to shine next season is going to be D.J. Morgan. Morgan is currently a redshirt Freshman from Van Nuys, CA. In high school, Morgan was an all state hurdles champion and ran for 1400 yards as a senior. Morgan is a great mix of strength and speed as he can hit the hole with power yet he remains quick enough to elude those big linebackers and linemen in the trenches.

The most important factor in Morgan’s bid to Linning next season is USC’s current situation at running back. With George Farmer moving back to wide receiver, that leaves only Curtis McNeal and D.J. Morgan on the depth chart. Incoming freshman Jahleel Pinner is expected to be the starting fullback or at least vie for that role. No one else on the current or incoming roster is poised to make a move to the running back position. That leaves the Trojans woefully thin at tailback, but for Morgan this is a Lin-credible opportunity.

Next Page: What Morgan Could Bring

Which USC Player is Most Likely to Go Lin-Sane Next Season? is a post from: Touchdown LA

Martin’s hiring doesn’t come without a slight hint of controversy, as he hasn’t always had the nicest things to say about Lane Kiffin, particularly after Kiffin left Tennessee to join USC in 2010.

At the time of Lane Kiffin’s departure Martin was one of th vocal critics who questioned Kiffin’s motives. He told the Sporting News he was ‘embarrassed’ by how Kiffin conducted himself:

We were led to believe that Lane Kiffin was going to be the next Phillip Fulmer, but he left a year later. Frankly, I’m embarrassed by the timing of it all. Lane Kiffin was hired to do a job for the University of Tennessee. He wanted everyone to buy into what he was selling, and then he left after one year.

So I guess there’s no hard feelings, eh?

In other news USC has filled out the rest of their coaching staff with the hires of former Nebraska assistant Marvin Sanders as defensive backs coach and Scottie Hazelton as linebackers coach.

Tee Martin Hired as New USC Receivers Coach is a post from: Touchdown LA

Mazzone was a big part of Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler’s success. In fact, Osweiler nearly transferred to UCLA before opting to go pro instead.

The tip comes from the Twitter of CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman. Tebow is without a doubt one of the most popular quarterbacks in the NFL at the moment with much room to improve. It really is a great sign for Bruin fans to see Tim select Mazzone as the go-to guy for a mini course to try and tweak some errors in his release which may in turn help Tebow garner more success next season. Tebow’s Broncos were humiliated in New England by the Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round.

But back to the Bruins and their quarterbacks, who without a doubt will be eager to soak in all of coach Mazzone’s knowledge to their advantage. It begins with the battle between the two seniors: Richard Brehaut and Kevin Prince. They can go out with a tremendous impact should they win the competition to start. If not, they will be passed up by a gunslinger that has the opportunity to go down as one of UCLA’s all-time greats. Those quarterbacks of course are Brett Hundley, T.J. Millweard and Devin Fuller.

For now though, the coach belongs to Tebow. If any further success is found next season, may I request that all the credit be given to coach Mazzone and this crash-course.

Tim Tebow Training with Coach Mazzone at UCLA is a post from: Touchdown LA

Apparently the Trojans went after Yarber quite vigorously, even getting athletic director Pat Haden involved in the process. Haden made several phone calls and attempted a few different recruiting pitches of his own to land the coveted wide receivers coach, including a lucrative offer (much higher than that of UCLA). In a shocking turn of events, the Bruins upped their ante for Eric and were successful in landing their man.

In past times the Bruins might have bowed out immediately with knowledge that they could not offer the terms or figures to compare with that of USC. But times are changing, and this is yet another indicator of the Bruins will to vastly improve their struggling football team.

Coach Yarber nearly was able to get stud wide receiver Bryce Treggs to switch his commitment from California to the Bruins. Treggs was exceptionally excited to have been in touch with Yarber and cherished the thought of playing under his tutelage. But at the end of the day, he remained a man true to his word.

Still, Yarber is undoubtedly one of the most talented coaches of wide receivers in the game having experience in both the college game and in the NFL. It was a tremendous get for the UCLA football program that looks to nurture up and coming receivers such as Devin Lucien, Ricky Marvray and Shaq Evans.

USC Tried to Lure Yarber from UCLA is a post from: Touchdown LA

The crop of new Trojans is led by standout wide receiver Nelson Agholor, a top 50 recruit hailing from Berkeley High School in Tampa Fla. During his high school career Agholor totaled an impressive 4,732 rushing yards, 921 receiving yards. He also added 12 interceptions on defense and eight kickoff return touchdowns. Look for Agholor to supplement the already stellar receiving duo of Robert Woods and Marquise Lee.

However, despite the big name at a skill position, the true focus of the Trojans recruiting efforts was in the trenches. Seven of the 16 total signees play either offensive or defensive line.

Leonard Williams from Daytona Beach, Fla. heads the list of names. Williams is one of the top defensive lineman in the country and should provide added depth on the D-line while Zach Banner from Puyallup (Wash.) Lakewood High School and Max Tuerk from Santa Margarita will help to buoy the offensive line.

With the added beef up front, fans will be eager to see how the new additions will shape up. They’ll get their first look when spring practice begins on March 6.

USC Recruiting Class Ranked Tenth by Athlon is a post from: Touchdown LA

On Tuesday the Raiders released the following statement officially announcing six additional hires. Via the team website:

The Oakland Raiders have added six more assistants to the 2012 coaching staff including two who are in their second stints with the Silver and Black—quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore, tight ends coach Mark Hutson, defensive backs coach Clayton Lopez, defensive backs coach Johnnie Lynn and defensive line coach Terrell Williams.

Two of the coaches, DeFilippo and Lopez, have previous experience coaching for the Raiders. DeFillipo served as quarterbacks coach for Oakland from 2007-2008 while Lopez coached the tight ends from 2004-2005.

With the six additional hires officially on the books it appears that the team will continue to settle into the task of figuring out which players will remain on the roster.

As present the Raiders are still $11 million dollars over the salary cap. Fans can expect more cuts to announced in the coming weeks before the March 13 league mandated deadline for teams to meet cap requirements.

Raiders Rounding Out Coaching Staff is a post from: Touchdown LA

The five senators signing a letter to the FCC, all Democrats, were Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. In Brown’s home state the Bengals were blacked out in six out of their eight home games this past season.

“These blackouts are ruining the experience of rooting for the home team and are unjustly hurting fans,” the senators said in a joint letter to the FCC. “That many of these stadiums were constructed or remodeled using taxpayer dollars underscores the disservice done to fans by blackouts.”

On other side the NFL claims that the blackout policy, which has been in effect since 1975, has been extremely effective at keep attendance up while limiting the amount of games actually blacked out. The NFL pointed out to the FCC that in 2011 only 16 of the 256 games were blacked out.

“These numbers show that the league’s decades-long commitment to promoting each week of the NFL as an event that attracts wide fan support is working, both for fans in the stadium and fans watching on television. The current system is working and should not be altered.”

The over-arching question in my mind is this: Is holding a gun to consumers’ heads and forcing them to buy a product (in this case, a live NFL experience) the right way to go about putting more butts in the seats?

If fans aren’t compelled to go to games the league shouldn’t be forcing them artificially, nor should it be punishing viewers who in all likelihood contribute tax revenue to the building of stadiums that the league always seems so eager to erect.

The fact is that in some ways the NFL competes against itself in terms of a home viewing experience versus an in-stadium experience. Watching a game at home is convenient and with the improvement of HD quality television it also brings a remarkable level of detail to the viewer that is far superior to what the average NFL TV game looked like from twenty, or even ten years ago.

Rather than punish people who enjoy this experience more than buying a ticket and going to a game, the NFL should be seeking ways for each franchise to improve their live experience or perhaps even (gasp) lower the cost of attending a game.

It only makes sense, right?

Lawmakers Call for end to NFL Blackout Rules is a post from: Touchdown LA

In August of 2011 Moss retired after 13 NFL seasons with career totals of 14,858 receiving yards and 153 touchdowns. Now, on the same day that he turns 35 years old, he says he wants back in.

Via a Ustream web chat on Monday evening Moss answered questions and interacted with fans after using the video chat tool to announce his un-retirement earlier in the day. Regarding his desired return to pro football Moss aid, “I’m coming to tear somebody’s heads off, man.”

The always colorful wide receiver always made clear that while he has regrets about how he left his situation in New England, he is “fully committed” this time around.

In addition to letting everyone know that he was back on the market as an NFL wide receiver, Randy also took times to read and answer a few reader questions. Comments included a warning about working with former head coach Brad Childress (now an assistant in Cleveland) and a seemingly random question about his bowel movements (yes, you’re reading that right).

He also, apparently, picked his nose for all the world to see.

Stay classy, Randy.

Former Raider Randy Moss Says He Wants Back Into NFL is a post from: Touchdown LA