The NFL and Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis not only broke the hearts of Raiders’ fans -- they reached into their chest cavity and ripped their hearts out.
The news travelled at the speed of light in both traditional and social media forums throughout the day and remains a heavy talking point as of this writing. The Raiders received 31 of 32 votes from NFL owners to move the team to Las Vegas, only 24 were required. The Raiders will remain in Oakland for the 2017 season, potentially longer until their new stadium in Las Vegas is constructed.
According to ESPN.com, the Raiders have committed $500 million toward the projected $1.9 billion stadium project, with another $750 million coming in the form of public funding, including a hotel tax passed by the Nevada Legislature in October. The team has informed the NFL that Bank of America is also helping to finance the deal with a $650 million loan after casino magnate Sheldon Adelson withdrew his $650 million pledge in late January, essentially saying the Raiders dealt with him in bad faith. It will be the third time in franchise history the Raiders will move. In 1982 the team relocated to Los Angeles before returning to Oakland in 1995.
The website also reported that Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf made a last-ditch effort to retain the Raiders on Monday, after being told by Goodell in a letter on Friday that the city's proposal was not a "viable solution." In another letter delivered to owners Monday morning, she asked them to delay the vote in order to give Oakland a chance to negotiate with a small group of owners to complete a stadium deal at the Coliseum site. She also requested a secret ballot on the vote. Schaaf’s narrative just smacks of desperation for re-election. The deal she had in mind was never viable. It was an attempt to save face so she could say the City of Oakland tried to save the Raiders. I can’t fault her for that narrative.
As I listened to talk shows and read social media posts throughout the day, I feel horrendously bad for Raider fans. While the term “diehard” can be overused, Raider fans embodied the term. Sure there is a bandwaggon element but that’s true with any team but you’ve got to be a special breed of diehard to stick with a team that lost 11 or more games in all but three seasons from 2003-2015. Try watching JaMarcus Russell, Andrew Walter, Matt Flynn, Matt Schaub and Aaron Brooks without going into concussion protocol from banging your head against the wall.
Raider fans had been through losing their team once before from 1982-1994 when they were the Los Angeles Raiders. After a 22-year stint in Oakland, they leave once more just as they are trending up on the field, going 12-4 in 2016.
It’s funny how my interest in the Raiders developed. When I was truly old enough to understand football growing up in Northern California, it was 1981. The San Francisco 49ers began their run of success winning five Super Bowls in 13 years. I vaguely remember rooting for the Raiders in 1980 when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 in Super Bowl XV. The next season, they went 7-9 and missed the playoffs before moving to LA. I hated the Raiders in their 12 years in LA and rooted for them to lose every game. After all, in Northern California, we are conditioned to dislike LA teams. With the 49ers going on their extended run of success, I bled Red & Gold, going to games with my father, who was a season ticket holder.
In 1998, when I moved back to my hometown of Napa, CA after graduating from the University of Nebraska, I had a special opportunity to cover the Raiders for both the Napa Valley Register and Silver & Black Illustrated. For the latter, senior writer Michael Wagaman approached me, I said yes. Though I have changed careers, I still get my writing fix. I learned a lot from Wagaman in terms of the ins and outs of covering a professional team. I also owe him a debt of gratitude for reaching out to me when I was 26 years old.
I covered the Raiders as a freelancer for S&BI from 1999-2004, before resigning. The weight of two jobs and being newly married exacted a toll. Plus, the company that owned the magazine was forgetting a small item -- paying me on time, but that’s another story for another day.
Though the Raiders were terrible at the time I had left covering them. I still had an interest because a) their training camp home is where I live in Napa, CA, b) there were still players on the team that were there when I covered them and c) I wanted to watch them when this team became winners once more.
When I told my friends that I was covering the Raiders, I heard the screams, “How dare a 49er fan become a sellout and cover that team.” My response, “If you were in my shoes, would you act different?” I usually heard crickets. For lack of a better term, I went from 49er fan to Bay Area supporter. That got me a lot of slings and arrows but I was OK with that.
When I take a step back and look at the anatomy of the Raiders going to Las Vegas, I don’t blame Davis for taking a $750 million dollar deal when Oakland is no closer to a deal now than it was eons ago. I get it. The NFL is a sport and a business but not necessarily in that order. As much as I love watching sports, I do not believe tax dollars should be paid for billionaires.
So where do I stand on the Raiders? I’m not going to root against them like when they played in LA but now that they are headed to Las Vegas, victories will feel hollow. Las Vegas Raiders? I can’t say that interests me.
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