The Cal 100: No. 45 -- Amy Trask

Known by fans and rivals of the Raiders as the "Princess of Darkness," Amy Trask was the first female CEO of an NFL franchise.

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 45: Amy Trask

Cal Sports Connection: Trask earned a degree in political science from Cal in 1982 while developing an affection for the Oakland Raiders.

Claim to Fame: She went to work for Raiders owner Al Davis as an intern while attending law school at USC, eventually becoming the first female CEO of an NFL team. 

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Amy Trask earned her nickname “Princess of Darkness” during a nearly 30-year run as a top executive with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders of the NFL.

But that’s only a piece of how Trask, now 62, identifies her place in the sports world.

“I have an undergraduate degree from Cal in political science. I went to USC for law school, but I very quickly point out to anyone I share that information with that I always retain my football loyalties to the Golden Bears,” she told the Daily Californian in an interview a few years back.

“Let me be very clear: I am a Cal fan. My entire collegiate football loyalty lies with Cal.”

Trask has a career resume that stacks up nicely against anyone in The Cal 100. The headline entry on that list is her lengthy stint as the first female CEO of an NFL franchise, hired by and working in concert with the late Al Davis, and subsequently Mark Davis.

Amy Trask with current Raiders owner Mark Davis / Photo by Kirby Lee, USA Today

Trask, who grew up in southern California, became a Raiders’ fan during her time as an undergrad at Cal, where she was a member of the prestigious Phi Betta Kappa academic honor society. She graduated in 1982 and headed to USC for law school just as the Raiders defected from Oakland to L.A.

The timing allowed her to land an internship in the team’s legal department. Trask stresses that it was football that lured her to the assignment.

“I fell in love with the game of football when I was very young,” she said. “A lot of people look at the game of football, played by very strong, very large, very fast individuals, as entirely a physical sport. It’s really a very cerebral game,” she said. “It’s chess played at a very high speed with a lot of contact.”

Trask says Davis, who died in 2011, never wanted to make a fuss about his ground-breaking decision to install a woman in the top job of the Raiders front office. And she appreciated the fact that others in the organization didn’t put that asterisk on her during her run as CEO from 1997 through 2013.

Hall of Fame offensive lineman Gene Upshaw supported her when others questioned her place. "She's not a girl; she's a Raider,” Upshaw said.

“I still get goosebumps,” Trask recalled thinking of Upshaw's statement.

There was respect from others in the NFL, as well, she said, including Wellington Mara, late owner of the New York Giants. "The fact is (many) men went out of their way to lend me their support and to encourage me,” she said.

Trask earned their regard by not expecting a break because she’s a woman. "If I don't want you thinking about my gender, why am I thinking about it?” she said.

Trask, who left the Raiders in 2013, wrote about her journey and her approach to creating success in a male-dominated business in the 2016 book, You Negotiate Like a Girl: Reflections on a Career in the National Football League.

She also revealed that some within the NFL didn’t appreciate her presence. Here’s an excerpt from the book:

Some very prominent men—some of whom are in the Hall of Fame, some of whom were or still are associated with the Raiders, and some of whom never were—attempted for years to get Al (Davis) to fire me. I know this because Al told me. He would giggle as he told me of the former coach, the former personnel executive, and a number of others who periodically urged him to get rid of me.

Trask also wrote that players were never the source of any resistance she encountered:

Many people are surprised when I tell them that I never experienced what I believed to be any gender-based resistance from players, whether Raiders or those on other teams. Although others find this surprising, I do not. Players evaluate their teammates and others on performance. Are you blocking your man? Are you covering your receiver? Are you doing your job?

When I left, I was touched by how many former and current players contacted me — far more than I would ever have imagined.

Since her time with the Raiders, Trask has done TV analyst work for CBS Sports and served as chairman of the board for a 3-on-3 professional basketball league.

Trask currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission.

In 2017 she was awarded the WISE Women of the Year, presented by Women in Sports and Events (WISE). 

A year later, the UC Berkeley Foundation and the Cal Alumni Association made her the 2018 recipient of the Campanile Excellence in Achievement Award, given to an alum “whose remarkable professional achievements reflect the excellence of a UC Berkeley education.”

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-- No. 46: Andy Messersmith

Cover photo of Amy Trask by Kelley L. Cox, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo