Al Davis gives state of the Raiders

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Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis rarely talks to the media anymore.
Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis speaks to reporters after introducing Hue Jackson as the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

So when Davis got the chance at a news conference announcing the hiring of Hue Jackson as his new head coach on Tuesday, he took the opportunity to address a number of issues.

Davis spent a larger portion of a more than 100-minute news conference explaining why he fined former coach Tom Cable $120,000 in the final year of his contract. Davis says he withheld the money from Cable’s last six checks because of the strain on the organization from lawsuits involving Cable assaulting a former assistant coach and a former girlfriend.

The suit by former assistant Randy Hanson was kicked out of court and sent to an NFL arbitrator. Davis said that Cable recently settled the suit with former girlfriend Marie Lutz.

“That lawsuit created a tremendous amount of work, stress and turmoil,” Davis said. “Tom had been told earlier in his career that he could have been fired without pay for the wrath he brought on the Raider organization.”

Cable’s agent did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment. Cable has filed a grievance with the NFL to recover the lost wages. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-raiders-davis