Photo Credit: Peter Read Miller/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images
The NFL is back and I would say better than ever, but they’re already ignoring concussion protocol and bashing Colin Kaepernick while making veterans pay to be at games. Regardless of all of that, it’s that day of the week where I spotlight someone. At first, I wondered if I should keep the Olympic train going, but I decided to stop it and talk about an important woman in the NFL. This week’s spotlight is former Oakland Raiders’ CEO Amy Trask.
Trask grew up in Los Angeles, California and attended the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated in 1982 with a degree in political science. After graduating, she went on to attend USC Gould School of Law in 1982 which was the same year the Oakland Raiders moved to LA. In 1983, she was an intern for the team in their legal department. In 1985, Trask became a member of the State Bar of California and began working for a law firm the same year. Two years later, she would once again become a member of the Oakland Raiders staff.
In 1997, she was promoted to CEO of Raiders. During her time with the Raiders, she became well-known by the fans. She was even nicknamed “The Princess of Darkness” since she loved the team so much. There isn’t much known about Trask’s time with the Raiders but she did detail it in her book, You Negotiate Like a Girl: Reflections on a Career in the National Football League. Her book focuses on the good and bad times of working with the Raiders and especially her relationship with Al Davis. Davis passed away in 2011 but his spirit still lives on through Trask. One quote from her book speaks volumes to that, “Ask Amy, she keeps this place running.” was Davis’s response after being asked a question in a meeting.
Sure, she broke barriers while she was with the Raiders. She was the original female NFL pioneer. She became the first female league executive in NFL history and the first woman to attend league meetings. She eventually resigned from working with the Raiders in 2013 for reasons unknown but some point to the changes made by Al’s son, Mark Davis.
Trask hasn’t stopped loving football, though. Currently, she works as an analyst for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Networks and is one of the panelists on the first all-female sports talk show, We Need To Talk. Even Lesley Visser thinks she needs to be in the Football Hall Of Fame and Visser would know since she’s the only woman to ever be in the Football Hall of Fame.
Even if Trask doesn’t make it into Canton, she’s such an important figure for all women who want to work in any sports. She didn’t let anything stop her from achieving her dreams and working with the Raiders. She might not be with them now, but her impact can still be felt by the Raiders and their fans. Women who work in the NFL now should tip their hat to Amy Trask for all she has done!
