November 4, 2026 - 5:29 pm

Las Vegas Raiders owner Al Davis was a man of multitudes, says the man playing him in the upcoming “Madden” film by Amazon MGM Studios — Christian Bale.

“People loathe Al Davis, or they love Al Davis,” the Academy Award-winning actor said in an appearance on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” this week. “I played Al Davis. I love Al Davis.”

Approaching the release of the film, a biographic sports drama that documents John Madden’s life and journey that included winning a Super Bowl with the Raiders in the 1976 season, on Nov. 11, Bale touted the reverence he gained from playing and researching the Raiders’ legendary owner.

While Davis is widely recognized for his winning, fear-over-respect mentality, Bale grew to understand a different side of Davis.

“He had that motto, ‘once a Raider, always a Raider,’ and he really stood by it. The man said to get respect, you’ve got to be feared, I think he liked people to think about him that way,” Bale said.…