The NFL already has one Al Davis -- we're not sure it needs another one.

Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams was fined $250,000 earlier this week for flipping a pair of birds at Buffalo fans after his Titans pounded the Bills 41-17 at home.

Really, who would have thought that the soap opera resulting from a Bill-Titans game would involve Bud Adams, not Terrell Owens?

Adams apologized for the digital vulgarity.

"I do realize that those types of things shouldn't happen," Adams said. "I need to specifically apologize to the Bills, their fans, our fans and the NFL. I obviously have a great deal of respect for (Bills owner) Ralph Wilson and the history we have shared."

The middle finger to opposing fans was similar to the one he pointed at head coach Jeff Fisher recently, virtually ordering the longest-tenured NFL head coach to bench Kerry Collins in favor of Vince Young.

For the record, both Fisher and Collins have a Super Bowl appearance under their belt.

While baseball remains America's official pastime, there's little debate that professional football has become America's game.

The league has proven flexible, entertaining, responsible and evolving.

It has yet to determine how to "fix" its biggest problem -- poor ownership. More specifically, the problem lies in incredibly rich men who mistakenly believe they have the football know-how to run a team. Some would do less harm to their team by suiting up and playing defensive tackle.

Dan Snyder has turned a storied Washington Redskins franchise into the perennial basement-dweller of the NFC East. Besides a one-year blip of success, Al Davis has been rebuilding the Oakland Raiders off-and-on since Jim Plunkett threw his last pass. Browns owner Randy Lerner has turned both the general manager and head coaching gigs in Cleveland into the world's most insecure job.

Jerry Jones in the 1990s and Davis in the 1960s and 1970s (but not since) stand out as the only hands-on owners in the modern era to find success in meddling publicly with their team and coach.

And now Bud Adams is sticking his head out of the owner's box telling Jeff Fisher how to run his team and embarrassing himself and the franchise of Blanda, Campbell, Moon, Muchak, Matthews and McNair.

To be fair, Adams has been around since the founding of the AFL in 1960 -- and has more career highlights than most owners will ever have.

Let's hope the venerable patriarch remembers those best moments have been the result of players and coaches on the field. Again, the NFL already has Al Davis and Al Davis Lite (Snyder)  -- and that's quite enough, thank you.

Editorial by Ron Fields

rfields@dailynews.net