Raiders owner Davis fails to make trip to Tampa

Dec 28, 2008 - 3:03 PM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, who has not missed a game since 1979, will not be on hand to watch Sunday's season finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Davis decided not to make the cross-country trip to allow swelling in his right knee and ankle subside. The 79-year-old was hospitalized earlier this month following a fall.

"The doctors told him it's probably not the best thing to spend 10 or 12 hours in the air," Raiders executive John Herrera told the Oakland Tribune.

Herrera said it's the first game Davis has not attended since 1979 when he missed a game to be with his wife Carole, who was hospitalized following a heart attack.

Davis joined the Raiders organization in 1963.